In early 2016, there were 16 candidates vying for the Republican nomination for president. All except two—Donald Trump and Gov. George Pataki—were identified as allies of the pro-life movement.
Pataki was an unashamed, self-pronounced “pro-choicer” on the issue of abortion. While Trump’s campaign rhetoric was pro-life, there was serious skepticism due to past comments he made on the issue.
However, after four years of serving the nation, one thing is absolutely clear. Not only is Trump pro-life, he is the most pro-life president the nation has ever seen.
His policies are proof. Consider such Trump initiatives as defunding Planned Parenthood, reinstating the Mexico City Policy from the Reagan years, appointing constitutionalist federal judges, extending civil rights protection to pro-lifers in the workforce, and HHS promoting life-saving policies. All such actions show President Trump’s commitment to the most fundamental civil right of all: the right to life.
The recent Republican convention is further evidence of this fact. Speaker after speaker referenced Trump’s commitment to the unborn and ending abortion. Most moving among these were the speeches from Abby Johnson, former director of a major Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas, and Sister Dede Byrne, an Army surgeon in Iraq before she took her vows.
Johnson recounted the horrors she witnessed firsthand at an abortion clinic while Sister Dede Byrne articulately proclaimed the medical and scientific evidence of what every person knows in their heart. Abortion takes the life of a human child with a separate body and unique DNA, stopping one heart while it breaks many.
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In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its infamous Roe v. Wade decision. At that time, many presumed that the controversy over abortion had been settled. How wrong they were. Since then, more than 60 million unborn children have been killed by abortion. Abortion is the issue that will not go away.
With the advancement of the scientific technology of the ultrasound, Americans now understand that abortion is not an act that removes “pregnancy tissue,” as its proponents claim. Rather, abortion is the brutal killing of a tiny human being. Millions of Americans have joined the call for an end to such carnage, and the continuance of Roe is the No. 1 issue in this election for a vast number of voters.
Currently, the high court is at least one vote shy of abandoning Roe. Chief Justice John Roberts recently joined four pro-abortion justices to overturn the Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have local hospital admitting privileges. Given this fact, it seems unlikely that he would vote in favor of such a decision.
Our next president will appoint two to three SCOTUS justices. There is speculation about the health of Justice Ruth Ginsburg as she is in her mid-eighties. In addition, Chief Justice Roberts is 65 years old and has served on the court for over 17 years.
A President Biden would clearly replace any SCOTUS vacancy with an appointment of a justice committed to preserving Roe. It is also certain that his administration would fight to promote policies that support abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. A review of the current Democratic platform proves this without any doubt. On the other hand, President Trump will continue to do all he can to stop the destruction of innocent human life. The Republican platform proves this as well.
Now, the battle lines are drawn in this cultural war over life and death. The upcoming election will determine the ultimate destination America takes on the life issue. The choice is clear to the substantial number of Americans who correctly understand that the path we pursue on this issue will determine the ultimate fate of the nation.
Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in our nation’s history. Who would have believed this four years ago?
Thomas Glessner, J.D., is president and founder of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, or NIFLA, a national nonprofit that made history and headlines in the Supreme Court case NIFLA v. Becerra. To learn more about NIFLA's mission to serve and protect pregnancy centers, please visit nifla.org.
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