Trump shouldn't shy away from pro-life legacy. We need more restrictions on abortion. | Opinion
Creating a durable pro-life majority on the Supreme Court was Donald Trump's most significant accomplishment in his first term. At the outset of his second term, he should seek to bolster that legacy.
This year, the March for Life and the presidential inauguration occur only four days apart. After four years of the Biden administration aggressively pushing abortion on demand, the new Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress have significant opportunities to quickly enact commonsense policies that protect preborn lives.
In 2017, Donald Trump began his first term with Republican control of Congress, creating a pivotal moment to advance crucial legislation and priorities. Those early wins were key to overturning Roe v. Wade − a monumental obstacle in the fight to protect the preborn.
Creating a durable pro-life majority on the Supreme Court was easily Trump’s most significant accomplishment in his first term. At the outset of his second term, he should seek to bolster that legacy, not shy away from it.
Given the close margins in Congress, we conservatives must of course be realistic about what can be accomplished. But that political reality should not make policy ambivalence the default mode in the White House or on Capitol Hill.
Trump can take several immediate actions to protect life. Executive orders must be enacted to reaffirm the Hyde Amendment and to reinstate the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy (formerly known as the Mexico City Policy).
Additional early measures should include repealing changes to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, rolling back expanded contraceptive mandates and reversing Veterans Affairs rules that allow taxpayer-funded travel for an abortion.
Abortion pills can harm women. President Trump must restrict chemical abortions.
A crucial step in dismantling the pro-abortion policies of the past four years is restoring the previous Food and Drug Administration restrictions on mifepristone. Chemical abortions now account for more than 60% of all abortions, and the Biden administration's relaxed regulations recklessly expanded access to these drugs.
Allowing telehealth doctors to prescribe abortion pills, despite evidence that women who take them can experience serious medical complications, prioritizes the profits of the abortion industry over women's health. Reinstating these restrictions would immediately curb the expanded access to abortion that has taken place in recent years. Such action would protect more women from the harmful effects of these drugs and save many preborn lives.
Additionally, Congress should swiftly pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Thankfully, the House passed it Thursday, but Senate Democrats have blocked a version of the bill from coming to a final vote in that chamber. Proposed in every Congress since 2015, and now three times passed by the House, this legislation requires that any child born after a failed abortion attempt must receive the same medical care as any other newborn child.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune should be commended for bringing this vital piece of legislation up for a vote this week, although Democrats blocked passage of the legislation in the Senate.
Trump should defund Planned Parenthood
Furthermore, we are encouraged by the promise made to include Planned Parenthood as one of the organizations targeted for evaluation by the incoming administration. Trump and congressional Republicans must work to eliminate federal funding for this organization, whether through standalone legislation or the reconciliation process.
Washington should instead redirect those funds to resources that support women and families, like the pregnancy centers that provide health care and aid for mothers; or expanding the child tax credit to help moms and dads; or expanding the adoption tax credit to offset the high costs of adoption for families.
These policy goals are achievable for Trump, Johnson and Thune in the coming days. However, legislative victories alone are insufficient. Pro-life advocates must continue grassroots efforts to ensure the historic win inDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization is not an isolated success.
The same election in November that delivered a Republican control of the White House and Congress and rejected progressive ideology also delivered mixed results on abortion at the ballot box. We rejoice that Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota rejected pro-abortion referenda. However, we lament that seven states, including red states such as Missouri and Montana, did not. These outcomes indicate a significant need to continue cultivating a culture of life in America.
The pro-life issue is, at heart, a moral and spiritual issue. It is downstream from a half-century of cultural formation in secular ideologies. For more than 50 years, laws, Supreme Court rulings, politicians and pop cultural narratives have perpetuated the lies of "it's just a clump of cells" and "my body, my choice."
It is clear that a majority of Americans, even many who are otherwise conservative and vote Republican, still do not see what science and Scripture tell us: The baby in the womb is fully human and deserving of the rights promised in our nation’s founding documents.
Instead of being discouraged, I would submit now is the time for the pro-life movement to more powerfully proclaim our objective of promoting a culture of life. Every justice movement in history was one that took the long view.
Christians, churches must not stay silent about being pro-life
Today, more than ever, faithful Christians have the opportunity to counter pro-abortion deceptions. The cultural rejection of progressive ideology, both at the ballot box in November and in some elite spaces, suggests an openness to hearing the message of hope anew.
Churches should not be silent about being pro-life. Instead, we should continue to present the rich vision for humanity that sees every human life as made in the image of God worthy of protection.
And there is no institution better suited to herald that message than the local church, whose mission is defined by service, evangelism, discipleship and formation.
Building a culture of life requires churches to double down on their investment in their communities. It’s the kind of work that happens every day, regardless of what goes on in Washington, D.C., and in state legislatures.
Christians must continue to support young women in crisis facing unplanned pregnancies and help bring community and stability to struggling marriages and families. Our witness must include both steadfast conviction in confronting the powerful abortion industry as well as compassion and sacrifice, sharing resources with those in crisis.
Ultimately, this effort is fueled by Christian hope − a hope that works beyond what we can see, in the lives of people we may never know and toward outcomes we cannot predict. OverturningRoe once seemed impossible, except to those who trusted in a God who accomplishes the impossible.
Similarly, an unplanned pregnancy may seem like a life-ending crisis, except to those who believe God brings goodness and beauty from brokenness.
This perspective is essential as we consider both this political moment and the work required for future generations. As President Trump and other Republican leaders begin this hopeful new chapter, we must pray that they remain mindful of how their actions will affect preborn lives and shape generations to come.
And we must pray that the country we love will fully live up to the creed that “all men are created equal” and will embrace a true culture of life.
Brent Leatherwood is the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.