As Donald Trump and J. D. Vance grow lax on abortion, many Republicans have begun to waver on the party’s pro-life platform. Some have ignored the inner-party political pressure to excuse the presidential ticket’s retreat on pro-life issues. Lila Rose, founder of LiveAction, is leading the pack of resolute Republicans for whom abortion remains an assault on human dignity, not a political prop.
“Trump/Vance have recently said: Trump would VETO a national ban on abortion,” Rose tweeted on Monday. “They support ‘access to’ abortion pills (60% of all abortions). They think it’s California’s ‘right’ to permit abortion up until birth, but if states like Arizona ban most abortions they ‘go too far.’ . . . Without some indication that they will work to make our nation a safer place for preborn children, they are making it impossible for pro-life voters to support them. Being less passionate about killing babies than Harris/Walz is not enough.”
Trump and Vance’s “increasingly pro-abortion position,” Rose added, is “stretching the lesser of two evils voting strategy to an untenable position.”
Rose refuses to sacrifice moral clarity for politics, and for that she deserves recognition as one of the most unwavering voices in the pro-life fight. Republicans have watered down the courage and doggedness they once displayed when combating the issue of abortion, in service of Trump’s ever-changing stance. You can, as Rose I think does, recognize that Vice President Kamala Harris’s abortion extremism would be disastrous for the pro-life cause. You can simultaneously criticize a Republican ticket that fails to pursue every available avenue to protect life.