It’s been an interesting year-plus for the pro-life movement. The Supreme Court handed unborn babies and pro-life advocates a gift with the 2022 Dobbs decision, which reversed Roe v. Wade and returned the issue of abortion to the states.
Of course, we have Donald Trump to thank for the three pro-life Supreme Court justices who tipped the balance of the court and ruled in favor of life. In 2020, he became the first sitting president to give an in-person speech at the March for Life. Needless to say, he surprised many of us who wondered how much of a pro-life president he would be.
After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump is trying to make his way back into the White House, and at this point, signs point to him as the 2024 GOP nominee. In a lot of ways, the current election cycle has reminded me of 2016 all over again, with Trump as an unknown and unpredictable quantity. He has been so adamant in attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) — arguably his biggest rival for the nomination — that he’s gone at the governor from the left.
PJ Media’s Matt Margolis reported last week that Trump had a strange answer to Megyn Kelly’s question about whether he could define what a woman is. Just a few days later, he had a strange answer on abortion for “Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker.
Flashback: ‘They Don’t Know Pro-Life People Well’: the Bravery of Pregnancy Centers Facing Threats
Here’s how that exchange went:
Welker: Mr. President, I want to give voters who are going to be weighing in on this election a very clear sense of —
Trump: I think they’re all gonna like me. I think both sides are gonna like me. What will have to happen is —
[crosstalk]
Trump: Listen, you’re asking me a question — What’s going to happen is you’re going to come up with a number of weeks or months, you’re going to come up with a number that’s going to make people happy because 92% of the Democrats don’t want to see abortion after a certain period of time.
Welker: If a federal ban landed on your desk, if you were reelected, would you sign it at 15 —
Trump: Are you talking about a complete ban?
Welker: A ban at 15 weeks.
Trump: Well, people — people are starting to think of 15 weeks; that seems to be a number that people are talking about right now.
Welker: Would you sign?
Trump: I would — I would sit down with both sides and negotiate something and we’ll end up with peace in that issue for the first time in 52 years. I’m not going to say I would or I wouldn’t. I mean DeSanctus [sic 🙄] was willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban.
Welker: Would you support that? Do you think that —
Trump: I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.
I think it’s precious that Trump believes he can come up with an abortion compromise. For starters, the two sides of the abortion debate are about as far apart as any two sides of an issue can be. Democrats won’t opt for anything short of federally funded universal abortion with no restrictions, and many pro-lifers won’t settle for anything beyond 15 weeks at the most. The only people who would be happy with any compromise will be those for whom abortion is unimportant.
Second, we all know what happens when we try to compromise with Democrats. We wind up giving up far more than we wanted, and the Democrats always win.
I know that the pro-life movement after Dobbs has come across as the dog that caught the car and doesn’t know what to do with it. Some pro-lifers are overplaying their hand and trying to do too much in too short a time. Some people on the right — including some folks here at PJ Meda with whom I lovingly and respectfully disagree — insist that the issue of life is one the right should either downplay or compromise on.
But we cannot compromise or cave on abortion. There’s no calculus for a number of babies that are worth sacrificing to “make everybody happy” or for everybody to like Donald Trump. And for all the talk of electing Trump to save the republic, what’s the point if he is going to behave more like a Democrat on such a key issue?
I have to agree with my friend and colleague Stephen Kruiser when he said in our internal Slack chat, “If I have to be on board with killing babies to save the Republic then the Republic deserves to die.” Never, ever cede ground on life.
If you’ve read this far (bless your heart), celebrate with me because this is my 1,500th piece for PJ Media! Thank you for being a loyal reader because you make what I do possible.
You can help me and my colleagues continue to take on the left with unvarnished truth and a rollicking sense of humor by becoming a PJ Media VIP. Not only does your VIP membership net you some terrific benefits — exclusive content, podcasts, access to the comments section, and an ad-free experience — but it also helps us stay independent and avoid the self-appointed gatekeepers of the left-wing narrative.
VIP Gold gives you even more of the good stuff, with VIP benefits across the entire Townhall family of sites and live chats like Five O’Clock Somewhere. It’s all a great value on its own, but if you use the promo code SAVEAMERICA, you’ll get 50% off!
Help us take on the left again and again. Become a PJ Media VIP today!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member