When a Republican president goes off course on the pro-life cause, what should anti-abortioners do?
If you’re Washington Examiner columnist Peter Laffin, the answer appears to be: lecture and deride any pro-life organization that continues engaging the administration in hopes of improving outcomes — preferably from the safe distance of an opinion column, where no vote is counted, no policy negotiated, and no child’s life is directly at stake.
We take a different view.
When President Donald Trump sends mixed or frustrating signals on life issues, pro-life organizations, including CatholicVote and our allies, do not look the other way. We address concerns directly, sometimes publicly, often privately, while also proposing concrete solutions. Chemical abortion, for example, remains one of the most urgent threats to unborn children, and pro-life organizations are actively pressing the administration to confront the spread of deadly abortion drugs.
Recent debates over healthcare and abortion policy have brought these challenges into sharper focus. One practical step the administration could take is clarifying to the IRS that abortion is not healthcare and therefore should not be treated as a tax-deductible medical expense. That’s not rhetorical posturing; it’s policy work.
Trump’s record gives pro-lifers reason to believe such engagement matters. Compared to previous Republican presidents, he has delivered more tangible results for the pro-life cause. He reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy. He implemented the Protect Life Rule to ensure domestic taxpayer dollars were not used to subsidize abortion; a rule later rescinded by former President Joe Biden and one we are urging Trump to restore. And most notably, he nominated three justices to the Supreme Court who overturned Roe v. Wade.
These achievements did not materialize through scolding op-eds or moral posturing. They came through pressure, persistence, negotiation, and yes, the unglamorous, frustrating work of engaging imperfect political actors in the real world.
Laffin suggests that pro-lifers who continue working with the administration are merely trying to “cozy up” to power or angle for favors, implying indifference to the moral gravity of abortion itself. This kind of snark may play well on social media but it contributes exactly nothing to saving lives. It’s easy to question motives from a comfortable perch; it’s harder, and far more meaningful, to deliver actual results.
There is a legitimate debate within the pro-life movement about strategy: about when to confront publicly, when to negotiate privately, and how best to move the needle in a divided country. That debate is healthy. What isn’t healthy is mistaking performative purity for effectiveness, or confusing cynicism with courage.
TRUMP IS THE MOST ANTI-LIFE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT IN HISTORY
Pro-life advocates can disagree about tactics while recognizing a simple truth: progress has never come from the peanut gallery. It has come from those willing to walk into the room, take heat from all sides, and keep pushing anyway.
That’s not “cozying up.” That’s how victories are won.
Josh Mercer is the Vice President of Advocacy for CatholicVote.org.
