Trump Administration’s Pro-Life Victories
Even though I’m a glass-half-full kinda gal, I think it’s fair to say that 2020 has been one crazy year, and most of us can’t wait for it to be over. So far, we’ve had to deal with murder hornets, jumping worms, the tegu lizard, cicadas, COVID-19, and there are still four months to go – with a presidential election just around the corner.
For the pro-life movement, the stakes of this election cycle couldn’t be higher. The far-left leaning stance of both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris leaves no doubt that they are dedicated to furthering the goals of the abortion lobby, and they support taxpayer-funded abortion on-demand. In fact, in June of this year, Biden announced his support for abortion “under any circumstance,” leaving no doubt that he believes in an unrestricted right to abortion up until the moment of birth.
As for Harris, as a senator, she cosponsored the most aggressively pro-abortion piece of federal legislation ever introduced, the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would override state restrictions on abortions during the last three months of pregnancy. The bill would quash any state law that prohibits “abortion after fetal viability when, in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating physician, continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant woman’s life or health.”
President Trump, on the other hand, has done more to protect unborn babies and their mothers than any other president in the history of the United States. He has repeatedly shown his commitment to the pro-life movement by consistently advancing policies that protect the unborn, and he’s not finished.
In just under four years in the White House, President Trump has implemented the following pro-life policies:
Reversed Obama-era policy discriminating against faith-based adoption agencies: President Trump issued an executive order on “Strengthening the Child Welfare System for America’s Children”, which includes ensuring that faith-based foster and adoption agencies are treated equally with regard to working with local governments to place children with loving families. One of the goals of this executive order is to increase the number of homes available to children currently in foster care and provide mothers who are contemplating abortion with a better choice – partner with a faith-based adoption agency that will place the baby in a home with two loving parents.
Reshaped the federal judiciary: During the final Presidential debate in 2016, candidate-Trump declared that, if elected, he would appoint pro-life judges, and he has done exactly that – 197 of President Trump’s judicial nominees have been confirmed including 2 Supreme Court Justices (Gorsich and Kavanaugh), 51 U.S. Court of Appeals judges, and 144 District Court judges.
Allowed states to defund Planned Parenthood of Title X funds: Just three months into his presidency, Trump signed a bill permitting states to defund Planned Parenthood of Title X family planning funds passed by Congress, and forever reversing an Obama-era rule that states cannot withhold Title X federal family planning money from certain recipients for any reason other than the provider’s “ability to deliver services to program beneficiaries in an effective manner.”
Reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy: Not only did President Trump reinstate the Mexico City policy, which states that the U.S. will not contribute to NGOs which perform or promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations, but he expanded it to guarantee that our tax dollars are protected from funding the abortion industry overseas across ALL global health spending, not just family planning dollars. This new policy is now called Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Program.
Required Health Insurance Companies to disclose whether their plans cover abortion: The Trump Administration Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued a rule requiring that insurers specify in each plan Summary of Benefits whether the plan covers abortion.
Established a new office at HHS for Conscience Protection: In May 2019, completed new regulations that strengthen the enforcement of federal laws protecting the conscience rights of those health care workers who do not wish to participate in abortion.
Permitted states to defund Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds: In January 2018, the Trump administration rescinded an Obama-era order preventing states to defund Planned Parenthood of Medicaid dollars.
Cut Planned Parenthood’s Tax Funding: In February 2019, President Trump issued the Protect Life Rule, which stops the flow of Title X federal funds to family planning clinics that perform abortions or do abortion referrals. It also requires that clinics receiving Title X funds be “physically and financially” separate from any entity providing abortions. This ends the long-running scam by organizations like Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, who have claimed for years that the Title X funds they receive are used for purposes other than abortion. Estimates are that this rule will reduce federal funding flowing to Planned Parenthood by some $60 million.
Protected certain organizations from being forced to pay for abortion drugs and contraceptives: President Trump signed an executive order offering an exemption to groups, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor”, that have religious objections to the contraceptive mandate in Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The new rule also exempts private employers and educational institutions that have sincerely held religious beliefs or moral objections against providing contraceptives or abortifacient drugs.
While I don’t usually worry too much about things I can’t control, I must admit, I’m gravely concerned about the possibility that the radical Left could change or remove these lifesaving policies. There’s no doubt that the goal of the left is to roll back the progress the pro-life movement has made over the last four years and implement policies that include, among others, abortion on demand until the moment of birth and providing Planned Parenthood with billions of taxpayer dollars.
So, I will leave you with a quote from Pope John Paul II that I think it most fitting, “America you are beautiful . . . and blessed . . . . The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless. If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life.
