Trump is wrong: abortion opponents are looking for a national leader

By forming the Supreme Court majority that would finally reverse Roe v. Wade and restore the right of the people and their elected representatives to protect unborn children and their mothers in the law, President Trump can truly be called the most consequential pro-life president in history. The role of his leadership in creating the life-saving opportunity the pro-life movement spent 50 years working and praying for will never be forgotten.

Since the 2022 midterms, however, a narrative has taken hold that the life issue costs Republicans elections and is better left to the states, anyway – a narrative that threatens this great accomplishment. With policy platforms suddenly having very real consequences, many candidates became fearful, listened to consultants and opted for the "ostrich strategy" of burying their heads in the sand. These candidates fared badly. The left also struck back and found success in spending massive sums of money to rewrite the constitutions in pro-life states, leaving pro-life advocates outgunned on resources.

Now, in the midst of the 2024 campaign, President Trump's long-awaited announcement of his stance tragically pigeonholes abortion as a matter of states’ rights. It has met with disappointment from the pro-life community and the millions of Americans who are looking for a national leader who can build consensus and stand up to the pro-abortion extremism of Joe Biden and congressional Democrats.

It would be a disaster to cede a winnable fight to Biden and the radically pro-abortion Democrats, who unapologetically push their extreme agenda on every American. We can’t quit working to defeat them in the battleground states that will decide control of the White House and Congress, and the SBA Pro-Life America team remains focused on reaching 10 million voters – four million at their doors. As always, the key to changing hearts, minds and votes is contrast with the Democrat Party position of abortion any time for any reason.

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The historic Dobbs decision laid the groundwork for protecting women and unborn children from abortion brutality in this country by allowing both states and Congress to act. In response, states across the country have enacted pro-life laws that recognize the dignity of human life in the womb while also guarding the health and safety of women.

At the same time, the national conversation must continue. The geography of where you live shouldn’t determine whether you live. Post-Dobbs, a majority of Americans (seven in ten) support significant limits on painful second and third trimester abortions.  This consensus view is consistent with that of most European nations, with 47 out of 50 limiting abortions by the point when babies can feel excruciating pain. President Trump and the GOP should embrace and fight for this consensus – not abandon the fight nationally. Embracing this position is both smart policy and smart politics.

PENCE BLASTS TRUMP'S ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’ ANNOUNCEMENT

Former US President Donald Trump during a campaign event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, US, on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Trump said his presidential campaign will give more details next week about his stance on abortion rights, amid mounting pressure to define his position on a decisive issue for voters. Photographer: Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images(Daniel Steinle)

Biden’s pro-abortion extremism will not stop at state lines. Biden and national Democrats have made it clear that they stand for abortion on demand any time and for any reason, including abortion drugs by mail without so much as a doctor visit. They are already spending millions to fearmonger and lie about the Republican position on abortion, while failing to define any abortion limits of their own.

If Biden and Democrats gain complete control of Washington this November and their extreme abortion policies are enacted in law, state-level protections for life supported by the majority of the people of those states will be wiped out. Moreover, most women who’ve had abortions wish they’d had more help to keep their babies, and many of them suffer in silence – but the Democrats refuse to acknowledge the number of abortions that result from pressure and coercion. If Biden’s abortion-on-demand agenda becomes the law of the land, an even more onerous burden will fall on them and their babies as the Democrats work to shut down pregnancy resource centers and funnel women toward the abortion industry, with its one "solution" to unplanned pregnancy: ending the life of the child.

The lives of countless women and unborn children in this country are at stake, and they are worth fighting for. They deserve national protections and national pro-life leadership, not allowing pro-abortion extremists to determine the direction and future of our country.

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Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of SBA Pro-Life America.