The Republican Party under Donald Trump is pivoting on abortion.
I have covered that subject in this space a number of times, because this change is far more significant than many seem to realize. If the new pro-choice stance of the GOP becomes permanent, the American pro-life movement will face the same dismal political situation pro-lifers in Canada, the U.K., and other Western democracies face: no major political party willing to defend the rights of pre-born children. The fact that one major party has consistently upheld the right to life of the pre-born is one thing that has set the United States apart.
In the post-sexual revolution West, that has always been a profoundly counter-cultural position to hold. The “pro-choice” position is easy, politically speaking. Thus, the fact that so many politicians were willing to pay at least lip service to the pro-life cause for so long was genuinely impressive.
As I’ve often said, a key difference between the Conservative Party of Canada and the Republican Party is that to win the leadership of the Conservative Party as a pro-lifer, you must pretend you are not pro-life; for a pro-choice politician to win the leadership of the GOP, you must pretend to be pro-life. At least, until Donald Trump changed all that.
A significant example of the GOP shift from pro-life to MAGA is Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a devoted Trump supporter. She is now championing pro-choice policies and attacking pro-lifers as a matter of course. On October 14, she posted this video:
I’m a rape survivor, and survivor of domestic violence and abuse, and I’m a mom. To all women everywhere, I see you. I am THE LEADING VOICE on women’s issues in the party. Have a listen. 🇺🇸#LowcountryFirstpic.twitter.com/qBlFtFxO2d
I’m talking to all women across South Carolina. I want you to know that nobody’s going to work or fight harder for you. The reason that South Carolina has exceptions for rape and incest in its state law is because in 2019, I told my story about being raped as a teenager on the state house floor. I’ve worked very hard. I was the first member of Congress after the crazy Alabama IVF ruling in either party to file a bill to protect women and their access to IVF. I was the first Republican to speak out after the crazy 1864 Arizona ruling. I’ve spoken out about the unconstitutionality of court cases in Texas regarding Mifepristone and Trisomy 18. I’m the most vocal woman on women’s rights and women’s issues in the Republican Party.
To sum up, that is a Republican congresswoman running on a platform of support for the abortion pill, support for permitting women to abort babies with disabilities, calling a court ruling that affirmed the humanity of embryos “crazy,” and calling a state pro-life law “crazy,” for good measure. All of this, Mace makes clear, is about “women’s rights.” The difference between Mace’s talking points and Kamala Harris’s is one of degree, not kind. She accepts all of the pro-abortion premises. She’s campaigning on them. In fact, that’s not the only video she’s released recently – her “Mace for Congress” ad, posted the same day, positions her as fighting for “exceptions”:
She followed that up with another post: “Republicans can’t afford to stay quiet on women’s issues and abortion.” Republicans, of course, have not been quiet on abortion. What Mace is saying is that the GOP cannot afford to oppose abortion, at least in most circumstances.
The GOP, in short, cannot afford to be pro-life – and certainly cannot campaign against abortion. Many pro-lifers responded to Mace to point this out, with Seth Dillon of The Babylon Bee commenting: “We’re speaking up right now to tell you that abortion is always wrong.” Mace is using Planned Parenthood/Democrat talking points.
It has never been politically easy to defend the pro-life position when it comes to difficult circumstances, but many Republicans have at least made the attempt. Pro-life advocates such as Ryan Bomberger and Rebecca Kiessling, who were conceived in rape, have sought to put a human face to the “exceptions” that Nancy Mace is campaigning on. But what Nancy Mace is doing here is more significant than a single congresswoman running on a pro-choice platform. Mace is, in fact, following Donald Trump’s lead.
Trump has given GOP legislators permission to give up on the abortion issue; to lead with compromise; to affirm the premises of the Democrats when they call pro-life protections in early pregnancy “harsh” and “extreme,” which both Trump and Harris have done.
Pro-lifers should be paying attention to this pivot – and pushing back with whatever influence they have left.
