Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, released the following statement responding to former President Trump’s position announcement on abortion:
Killing babies is always wrong. President Trump is not a pro-life candidate. He’s far less pro-abortion than Biden, but he supports killing some preborn children and will even make that his position in an attempt to get pro-abortion votes.
President Trump also says that abortion should come down to the “will of the people.” It is not right for democratic societies to vote on the fundamental rights of unpopular minorities. There is no more unpopular minority today than preborn Americans. Abortion is not about the “will of the people,” it’s about respecting the human right that we are endowed with by our creator. Our rights come from God, not the government. Those rights do not change because of the circumstances of our conception. Children conceived in rape do not deserve to be killed. Children conceived in IVF do not deserve to be killed, frozen indefinitely or subjected to lethal science experiments.
President Trump’s position also stands in opposition to the GOP platform, which has for decades advanced the idea that the federal government has a vigorous role in protecting children from abortion. The most recent GOP platform reads:
The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.
That position represents the views of the vast majority of Republican voters and supporters of former President Trump. It is tragic that President Trump is abandoning this long-held Republican position. President Trump’s new position is not leadership; it’s a stab in the back against his supporters. With a leader like this, the GOP has little hope of making meaningful progress to protect preborn children. President Trump’s mistake will also make it more challenging for the pro-life movement to win statewide referendums.
Human life begins at fertilization, and this is the true pro-life position. Human life deserves protection from the moment life begins.
The pro-life movement across our nation is strong and growing. I implore President Trump to reject this swamp-consultant-driven position to abandon families and children at risk from abortion. In 2016, President Trump won on the back of vigorous pro-life support, and that support was vindicated with the appointment of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. But that support will not materialize in 2024 if President Trump holds to this anti-human and cowardly position. Over 2,500 children are killed in our nation every day. They deserve legal protection, and our moment demands a champion who is not afraid to fight for them.
