On the other side of a stressful presidential election, many believe that the task before us is to unify as a nation, to move forward to a place where we can find common ground and the common good. After all, President Biden promised, “I’ll be a president for all Americans. Not just the ones who vote for me.”
Biden even selected “America united” as the theme for his inauguration. And yet, those of us with pro-life views must brace ourselves for a very different presidential term from the past four years, especially with Democratic control of Congress. During his campaign, Biden stated his support for legal abortion “under any circumstance,” and he has now tweeted his pledge to enshrine Roe v. Wade into law.
Biden also plans to rescind the Mexico City policy, which ensures that U.S. taxpayer dollars aren’t used to provide or promote abortions overseas. He opposes the Hyde Amendment, a long-standing federal law preventing Medicaid funds from being used for elective abortions. And, of course, the Democratic Party platform commits to codifying a right to abortion, fighting against existing laws that protect the unborn, and mandating taxpayer-funded abortion.
It doesn’t have to be that way, and it shouldn’t. The most recent Gallup polling shows attitudes about abortion holding steady: 47% of people believe it is morally wrong, and 55% believe abortion should be illegal in most or all circumstances. Passing laws that half of the public views as unethical is no way to govern a nation, let alone unite one. Forcing a majority of people to fund a procedure they believe to be deeply immoral is sure to keep us divided.
Reason would suggest that Biden should resist the pressure of abortion activists and preserve protections for the sanctity of life that so many of us support. On a personal level, Biden has acknowledged his belief, as a Catholic, in the Vatican’s position on life: that life begins at conception. We know that Biden staunchly supported the Hyde Amendment’s prohibitions on public Medicaid funding of abortion for 31 years in Congress and only flipped his position in June 2019.
The Biden administration, as did the Trump administration, will have a lot of power over abortion policy. A president not only sets a legislative agenda, dictating Congress’s priorities that he will support and presumably sign into law, but also wields broad authority to implement policies through the executive branch.
Under the previous administration, we saw executive agencies and departments promulgate robust protections for life. These pro-life administrative regulations included redirecting Title X funds away from organizations that perform elective abortions and providing conscience exemptions for employers that wish to decline on moral or religious grounds to covering abortive drugs in their health plans. Also, the Department of Justice protected pro-life views and unborn life itself from legal attacks in court, a perennial battleground for abortion issues.
For instance, in 2018, the DOJ filed supporting briefs and participated in oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in a case called National Institute of Family & Life Advocates v. Becerra, in which my clients were challenging a California law forcing pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise for abortion. The U.S. deputy solicitor general argued alongside Alliance Defending Freedom that the compelled speech violated my clients’ constitutional rights to hold and express pro-life views. The force and weight of DOJ backing for legal principles is immeasurable and can be used for good or harm.
These are just a few ways in which a Biden administration can govern from the center and unify the country through stability in life-protecting policies. A move toward radical pro-abortion laws would instead alienate half of our nation at a time when we can’t afford more division.
Biden should honor his word and be a president for every voter, every pro-life citizen, and every unborn American, too.
Denise Harle is senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom Center for Life (@AllianceDefends). Harle served as Florida’s deputy solicitor general from 2015 to 2017.
