President Donald Trump’s sixth State of the Union address had 10,599 words. Not one was about life.
US Christian news outlet The Washington Stand writes that: “For conservatives, the lack of even a single mention of the unborn in an almost two-hour running commentary of the last year was disappointing for a host of reasons.”
It pointed out that in listing his greatest second-term achievements, he omitted what a lot of Americans would consider some of his finest.
“Taxpayers are no longer living under a government that forces them to finance the culture of death.”
THE PRESIDENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS HE FAILED TO MENTION
Pro-life groups note the Trump administration has done everything from protecting conscience rights, to defunding Planned Parenthood, halting free abortions for illegal immigrants and rolling back policies that force insurance companies to cover abortions.
Since his first term, the use of the abortion pill has exploded, triggering fierce debate over its safety, its availability in states that outlaw it, the illegality of mailing it, and the government’s role in ensuring that women using it are under a doctor’s supervision when 11% encounter serious complications.
Insiders say The White House is concerned that abortion has become a losing issue for Republicans following the US Supreme Court’s overturning of the 49-year Roe v. Wade precedent in 2022.
In the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump stunned many by suggesting that Republicans shouldn’t be taking a hard line on abortion, because it makes it “very difficult to win elections.”
“This issue cost us dearly in the mid-terms — and unnecessarily,” he claimed.
“TOO MANY REPUBLICANS ARE SILENT ON ABORTION ISSUES”
Pro-lifers dismiss that claim, pointing out that every Republican governor who ran for re-election in 2022 after signing significant pro-life legislation, won by big margins.
The Washington Stand writes that: “The problem isn’t that life is a liability. The problem is that too many silent Republicans are.”
“We’ve seen what happens when we let Democrats define who we are and what we stand for,” one Republican leader argued at the height of the last presidential race.
“A lot of Republican candidates took their political consultants’ bad advice to ignore the subject,” she lamented.
“Then what happened? Democrats spent A$500 million running ads filled with lies about abortion, and most Republicans had no response.”
POLLSTER SAYS REPUBLICANS’ SILENCE IS THE WRONG STRATEGY
John Rogers of pollster Cygnal says silence on the issue is the wrong strategy.
His company’s latest research found Republicans could very well lose the November mid-term elections by misjudging this issue alone.
“Democratic Party enthusiasm is very high,” Rogers told Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on Washington Watch.
“We’ve seen Democrats overperform in a special election recently and we’re coming into a mid-term election year in which Republicans hold the presidency and both chambers of Congress.”
“Historically, that means it’s going to be a tough mid-term election for the party that’s in power.”
“REPUBLICANS MUST GALVANISE THEIR BASE VOTERS”
“It’s imperative that Republicans do everything to make sure that there is a strong high turnout among the Republican base voters,” asserted John Rogers.
Cygnal found that life is a “very important topic” to GOP primary voters.
A third of them said they wouldn’t be nearly as enthusiastic about voting in the elections if they felt like their leaders were “abandoning or weakening pro-life principles.”
“We found that 84% of Republican primary voters across the country oppose federal tax dollars being used for abortion,” Rogers revealed.
CONSERVATIVE VOTERS FRUSTRATED BY ABORTION PILL POLICY
These same voters are also frustrated with the Trump administration’s policy on the abortion pill drug mifepristone.
Cygnal’s polling found large majorities of Republicans don’t understand its refusal to overturn President Biden’s dangerous policy on mifepristone, which erased all protections for women.
A whopping 80% want to see the regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, restore the safety requirement of in-person doctor’s visits,.
Another 74% insist the president should start enforcing the laws against mailing the drug across state lines.
WHY THE MID-TERM ELECTIONS ARE CRUCIAL FOR REPUBLICANS
“This is not a marginal constituency. It is the GOP primary core,” John Rogers stressed.
“Any decrease in enthusiasm or any decrease in the turnout of GOP voters, even if it’s just 5%, could have really a catastrophic effect in some of those key battleground districts.”
The Republican majority in both chambers of Congress is already whisper-thin, and the last thing the party can afford is for anyone to stay home in November.
President Trump won’t be on the ballot and the people who turned out just for him will be less motivated to vote.
“Republicans are now the party of the non-college voter, which means that mid-term elections are harder and harder, because the non-college voter may not turn out if Trump’s not on the ticket,” observed the pollster.
REMEMBERING RONALD REAGAN’S TOUGH STAND ON ABORTION
That’s why the pro-life movement is seeing this week’s speech as a missed opportunity.
Chuck Donovan, a longtime pro-life champion, longs for the days of moral clarity from his old boss.
February 6, 1985, State of the Union, Ronald Reagan, he posted with this quote from the former president::
The question of abortion grips our nation. Abortion is either the taking of a human life or it isn’t. And if it is — and medical technology is increasingly showing it is — it must be stopped.
It is a terrible irony that while some turn to abortion, so many others who cannot become parents cry out for children to adopt. We have room for these children. We can fill the cradles of those who want a child to love.
Tonight, I ask you in the Congress to move this year on legislation to protect the unborn.
“WE FIGHT ABORTION AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE, JUSTICE AND HUMAN DIGNITY”
The Washington Stand concludes: “Abortion isn’t something we fight because it’s politically advantageous — although it could be. It’s something we fight as a matter of principle, justice and human dignity.”
“If the White House insists on basing its decision-making on what will benefit them in the mid-term elections, then it’s time to rethink Trump’s strategy.”
“Because the only time life is a losing issue is when Republicans refuse to address it.”
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