Pro-life groups are vowing to put pressure on former President Donald Trump after the leading Republican 2024 candidate did an about-face on abortion and began opposing some restrictions.
Trump turned on the pro-life movement over a matter of days this week, labeling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week ban ‘a terrible thing’ and abandoning a push for federal-level restrictions. Now, many within the pro-life movement are prepared to pressure Trump back into the fold.
‘Are pro-lifers going to allow themselves to be a cheap date?’ Patrick Brown, a fellow with the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Life and Family Initiative, told Politico. ‘Are they going to sit back and take it when candidates are denigrating the cause they dedicated their life to?’
‘He won’t feel pressure until it’s applied, and we’re willing to apply it,’ Kristi Hamrick, chief policy strategist with Students for Life of America, told the outlet. ‘You cannot ignore the human rights issue of our time and still get our vote.’
Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action called Trump’s move ‘[p]athetic and unacceptable,’ saying the former president was ‘actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roe’s overturning.’
‘Heartbeat Laws have saved thousands of babies. But Trump wants to compromise on babies’ lives so pro-abort Dems ‘like him.’ Trump should not be the GOP nominee,’ she wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Trump GOP primary contenders have capitalized on his reversal, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warning pro-life voters that Trump is preparing to ‘sell you out.’
‘Anytime he did a deal with Democrats, whether it was on budget, whether it was on the criminal justice ‘First Step Act,’ they ended up taking him to the cleaners, and so, I think if he’s going into this thing, he’s gonna make the Democrats happy with respect to the right to life. I think all pro-lifers should know that he’s preparing to sell you out,’ DeSantis told Iowa Radio.
‘Protecting babies with heartbeats is not terrible. Donald Trump may think it’s terrible. I think protecting babies with heartbeats is noble and just, and I’m proud to have signed the heartbeat bill in Florida, and I know Iowa has similar legislation,’ DeSantis added.