When he drove a few blocks from the White House, Vice President Mike Pence sealed the fate of the Trump administration and the Republican Party.
On Friday, Pence became the first vice president to attend the national March for Life. Just by showing up, the vice president shed the risk-averse strategy of each previous Republican administration.
“I’m deeply humbled to stand here today,” he told the thousands of protestors gathered near the Washington Monument. “I’m deeply humbled to be the first vice president of the United States to have the privilege to attend.” Judging by their applause, the crowd was clearly appreciative.
It’s not that the Party of Lincoln has officially wavered on the issue. Since Reagan, Republicans have regularly courted and counted on voters opposed to legalized abortion. But evident by his attendance, Pence seems unsatisfied with promises and messaging.
During the campaign, Pence lent his social conservative credibility to a nominee who had a checkered past and a conflicting record. But that nominee, now the president, seems ready to deliver now. Already, the administration has reinstated the Mexico City policy, keeping taxpayer dollars from funding abortions and abortion lobbying abroad. As the original congressional architect of the effort to defund Planned Parenthood, Pence is leading the effort to cut off the abortion giant from taxpayer funds. And soon, the vice president promises that Trump will nominate a Supreme Court justice “who will uphold the God given rights enshrined in the Constitution.”
Here, the symbolism is more important than the chance of success. Just as President Obama officially declared Democrats the party of abortion when he addressed Planned Parenthood after winning a second term, Pence has followed suit on the opposite side of the issue. On Friday, he raised the anti-abortion banner over the Republican party.
“Life is winning again in America,” he told Friday’s crowd. “It is no more evident in anyway than in the historic election of a president who stands for a stronger America, a more prosperous America, and a president, who I proudly say, stands for the right to life.”
After Pence returned to the White House, it became clear that there’s no turning back. There’s no middle ground between the parties on abortion.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
