President Trump used tonight’s State of the Union to reassert the GOP not only as the party defending the unborn, but the party reflecting the conscience of the nation.
“Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth,” Trump said. “And then, we had the case of the governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth. To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb.”
In light of Democratic senators’ refusal to allow a vote on legislation which would protect infants born alive after attempted abortion procedures, Trump’s declaration rang of both moral courage and political savvy. While Democratic leadership long ago departed from the “safe, legal, and rare” standard, average Americans still abide by it. While the majority of Americans tepidly favor some legal abortion, just 13 percent of the country believes that third-trimester abortion should be legal. Fewer than one in five Democratic voters support legal third-trimester abortion. And just one in three Americans support legal second trimester abortions.
In demanding an abortion ban at the point of fetal pain — a point still debated by scientists but likely around the midpoint of gestation — Trump has taken the high road, not a polemical and politically unfeasible measure, but one that Democrats will look not only out of step with the public on for opposing, but downright disdainful for human life.
