As his healthcare legislation flounders in the House of Representatives, battling to amass enough last-minute support from his own party to pass a vote later today, President Trump has made the cynical decision to use abortion as a bargaining chip.
The president needs to persuade enough members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus to support the American Health Care Act in order for the bill to pass.
Early this morning, he took to Twitter to apply some pressure to those members, writing, “The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!”
Many members of the Freedom Caucus have dedicated their political careers to fighting for the unborn. Now, just as his legislation is in urgent need of support, the president, a man who spoke positively of Planned Parenthood as recently as last year and once described himself as “very pro-choice,” dares to challenge their commitment to the cause, all in an effort to save his legislation.
By publicly questioning the Freedom Caucus’s dedication to defunding Planned Parenthood in the final hours of a weeks-long fight for the AHCA, Trump is deliberately exploiting an issue close to many members’ hearts, as well as the hearts of their conservative constituents. Now, if they vote against it, members should know the administration is prepared to suggest to the public that they voted to continue funding Planned Parenthood.
The real irony here is that many of them have been fighting to defund Planned Parenthood since before Donald Trump’s political career even began.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
