What Will Pro-Life Voters With Trump's Evolving Positions on Abortion? [Updated]

See below for an update. 

Last night, Donald Trump told a reporter he isn't sure he'll vote for Florida's Amendment 4. A "yes" vote means that abortion would be enshrined in the state constitution and protected through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason. 

Earlier in the day, Trump had announced (in very Obama-esque fashion) that if elected, “the Government will pay for or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment."

I have never been more proud of a policy! #IVF pic.twitter.com/YfBWfbLK2T

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) August 30, 2024

Both things are anathema to many in the pro-life community, particularly those with deeply held religious views. 

Let's start with the IVF announcement. The reason pro-lifers of many faiths, including Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants, oppose IVF is that unused embryos (baby humans) are either destroyed or confined to a storage freezer in perpetuity. For those who believe life begins at the moment of conception, the destruction of human embryos is akin to murder.  

You can agree or disagree. You can call people names and bully them for their beliefs, but they exist, and many of them will now stay home on Election Day as a result of Trump's announcement. Trump is betting that the number of suburban women who will suddenly see the light, stop hating Trump, and vote for him will exceed the number of pro-life voters he loses with this announcement. He's hoping that freebies—paid for by Americans who already can't afford health insurance—will lure them in. It's the same thing that Biden is trying to do with student loan payoffs, only with life and death on the line. 

Now, on to the second issue. Florida Amendment 4 declares that "no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” Anyone who's been involved in the pro-life movement for more than three minutes knows that "health of the mother" can be used to justify abortion for any reason—physical complications, diabetes, depression, whatever—through all nine months of pregnancy. So a vote for Amendment 4 is a vote for unlimited abortion in Florida. Why isn't Trump out there trying to win on this issue instead of giving the Left what it wants? 

It must be noted that Trump hates Ron DeSantis, despite DeSantis bending over backward to placate him over the last several years. DeSantis "betrayed" Trump by running against him in the primary—you know, that democratic primary thing that separates us from third-world banana republics and Democrats. Trump has treated DeSantis like he's Public Enemy #1 and has done everything in his power to destroy the most successful Republican governor in my lifetime. All because he didn't like being challenged. 

Did Trump make this comment to deny DeSantis a win—at the expense of unborn babies? The question must be asked. 

At any rate, this is not how a pro-life person talks or votes. Trump claimed in June that he's proud to be "the most pro-life president" in U.S. history, and now he's saying he will vote for the most radical abortion law Flordia has ever seen—much more radical than under Roe, which allowed some restrictions on abortion. 

While it's true that Trump appointed conservative justices to the Supreme Court (with the help of Sen. Mitch McConnell), which led to overturning Roe v. Wade, it remains to be seen if throwing the decision back to the states will be a good thing. The Left has grand plans to go state by state to enshrine abortion into constitutions far and wide. They did it in Ohio—a solid red state—by lying to women, telling them that they wouldn't be allowed to get miscarriage care unless the amendment passed. Now, the Republican state legislature is impotent to pass any restrictions on abortion, including parental consent and a ban on late-term abortions. It's an abortion free-for-all in the Buckeye State. 

That's what they're trying to do in Florida and other states, and the radicals may very well win, especially now that they have Trump's tacit (or maybe explicit) support. We're all glad to have conservative justices on the Supreme Court, but the job is not done. Being pro-life is not a one-and-done proposition. Those of us who believe life is sacred from conception to natural death do not accept abortion anywhere. Every abortion is a tragedy and a crime against humanity, and we must never cease the fight to end it. 

For those of us who joined the Republican Party because it fought for the lives of the unborn, Trump's statement on Amendment 4 is completely unacceptable. It's letting the Left win without a fight. Barely even a whimper. And by the way, it's not lost on pro-life voters that Trump is running around campaigning with pro-abortion Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard. 

We're all supposed to get in line and join the rah-rah abortion team now because Trump is rah-rah abortion up to 15 weeks or whatever (when 96% of abortions occur). But guess what? Not everyone will. Again, ridicule and bully them all you want, but single-issue voters exist, and since the '80s, they've been one of the legs of the Republican stool. What's left of that leg—after half of it was hacked off when Republicans gave in to the Left on gay marriage—is hanging by a splinter. 

Single-issue voters who faithfully go to the polls every election to vote for pro-life candidates will now be soul-searching. Many will conclude that the Republican Party is no longer the party of life, at least at the presidential level. Some will reason that Kamala would be worse and hold their noses and vote for Trump, but others will not. 

Reading through online commentary and social media over the last 12 hours, I've seen a number of people say something like, "I was going back and forth about voting for Trump, but now I will not vote for him." These voters won't pull the lever for Kamala Harris—not the true pro-life ones anyway—they'll just quietly stay home. 

That's Trump's gamble. The polls have Trump and Harris within the margin of error right now, and Trump chose this moment to betray his most faithful voting block. Brilliant. If he loses in November, pro-life voters will be blamed. As convenient as that scapegoat would be, if Trump loses, the blame will lie squarely at his feet and his decision to jettison an issue near and dear to the hearts of many, many Republican voters. Politics is transactional: You do something for me, or promise me something, and I'll vote for you. No politician is owed our loyalty.

If Trump wants pro-life votes, he will have to earn them. Or he can hope for the best with a coalition of Democrat-leaning women who are predisposed not to believe anything that comes out of his mouth. 

Update: Shortly after publishing, Trump told a Fox News reporter that he would vote "no" on Amendment 4. I don't know what changed in less than 24 hours, but it's a good development, and I hope he sticks with it. 

#BREAKING: Former President Trump is "no" on Florida's abortion Amendment 4, saying the amendment is too extreme

"I'll be voting no." pic.twitter.com/YoGuIVMR1o

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) August 30, 2024

"At the same time, the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation that where you can do an abortion in the ninth month. And you know, some of the states, like Minnesota and other states have it where you could actually execute the baby after birth, and all of that stuff is unacceptable, so I'll be voting 'no' for that reason."

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether pro-life voters will trust Trump on this issue when they go into the voting booth in November. 

The original article incorrectly stated that a "no" vote would enshrine abortion in Florida's constitution. We apologize for the error.