Pro-life groups were dismayed when former President Donald Trump declined to support federal limits on abortion access, but one leading organization says that shouldn’t stop abortion foes from voting for him.
Operation Rescue, the 38-year-old anti-abortion group known for its civil disobedience, threw its support behind Mr. Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, citing the three Trump-nominated conservative justices who gave the Supreme Court the majority needed to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“He hit it out of the park with three pro-life justices!” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman in a Tuesday statement. “And we finally got what we had been asking for, for over 50 years: an overturn of Roe v. Wade. Additionally, President Trump is the only president in history to take money away from Planned Parenthood.”
Mr. Trump was accused of betraying the pro-life movement when he said last week that abortion policy should be left to the states, disappointing those who had urged him to support federal limits.
“Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing,” he said in his April 8 video statement. “Like Ronald Reagan, I am strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture, and in fact, to save our country.”
Asked two days later if he would sign a national abortion ban if reelected, he replied, “No.”
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, said afterward that “President Trump is not a pro-life candidate.”
“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,” she said. “But that support will not materialize in 2024 if President Trump holds to this anti-human and cowardly position.”
Mr. Newman argued that Mr. Trump did far more during his four-year tenure than previous Republican presidents, and that his stance “echoes the position of many statewide and national pro-life organizations.”
“The pro-life betrayal of Trump seems to lack reason,” Mr. Newman said. “Why is he held to a higher standard than anyone else when he has done more for us than any other President in history? The attacks on him make it look like pro-lifers are more concerned with getting their own way than they are with saving the lives of children and saving our nation.”
Mr. Trump drew a contrast between his position and that of Democrats, saying that “Democrats are the radical ones” on abortion.
President Biden, who has made unfettered abortion access a central theme of his reelection campaign, has not advocated publicly for any restrictions on the procedure.
“In November, we have two choices,” said Mr. Newman. “We can choose more tyranny and radical abortion policies or we can seize the opportunity to save our Republic. The time for equivocation and naysaying is over. It’s time to take a stand.”
The Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in June 2022, sending decision making on abortion back to the states.