Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Three and a half years ago, after 50 years of toil, the pro-life movement achieved the victory of a lifetime in reversing Roe v. Wade, finally freeing the people to take democratic action to protect women and children from abortion. By appointing three Supreme Court justices to the majority that handed down the historic decision, President Donald Trump was indispensable to this accomplishment.
Yet on the eve of the 53rd March for Life, the largest annual pro-life demonstration in America, some in the Republican Party are in danger of throwing away the victory — and with it their most reliable constituency.
We celebrate that 20 states now have laws in effect protecting unborn children and their mothers before the first trimester ends. Yet there are more abortions now than before — at least 1 million a year. That makes abortion the nation’s top cause of death by far, driven by covid-era policies implemented under President Joe Biden that allow abortion drugs like mifepristone to be bought online and shipped without the patient ever seeing a doctor in person. Flooded with these mail-order drugs, even the most pro-life states cannot enforce their laws — undermining Trump’s “back to the states” position. The Trump-Vance administration has not only allowed this to continue but has made things worse by approving a new generic form of the drug, expanding its availability.
The White House has suggested we’re blowing things out of proportion. Really? Abortion drugs cost more American lives than fentanyl, cocaine and heroin combined. Women are landing in the ER with severe complications, or suffering terrifying assaults and coercion. In a large national survey by one of the president’s own pollsters, 57 percent ofliberal voters indicated they thought the Biden-era policy, which eliminated the requirement for in-person doctor visits, defies common sense. Yet the Trump administration slow-walks a promised safety study, while a short list of priorities it has found time to address includes redesigning the food pyramid, rescheduling marijuana, “running” Venezuela, shutting down puppy mills, championing whole milk, phasing out food dyes and naming the Gulf of America.
Trump deserves much gratitude for his first-term successes. But he’s flat-out wrong to suggest that it’s time to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, the long-standing policy preventing taxpayer funding of most abortions, for the sake of short-term expediency. Nearly as old as Roe, the Hyde Amendment is already a compromise: If it must be legal to end the lives of fellow human beings, at least do not force those who object to be complicit through their tax dollars. Almost 60 percent of independents agree that shouldn’t happen.
After the pro-life movement erupted with one voice, the Trump-Vance administration appeared to try to walk back — sorry, clarify — the comment. Unfortunately, 17 House Republicans already embraced “flexibility” and sided with Democrats to advance a three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies without Hyde protections. A sham “compromise” in the Senate, which would merely increase audits that confirm tax dollars are subsidizing abortions, appears dead under Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) but won’t be forgotten.
The White House later released its own proposal, with a vague pledge to seek the “strongest possible pro-life protections” — but making no mention of the gold standard of Hyde. What’s so hard about this simple commitment?
The GOP should learn from the Democrats.
When the inaptly titled Affordable Care Act originally passed, Rep. Bart Stupak (Michigan), leader of what was once a healthy bloc of pro-life House Democrats, found out the hard way that it only takes minutes to destroy a lifetime of earned trust.
Democrats knew there were no true Hyde protections in Obamacare, only an accounting gimmick. It was the last crucial sticking point in the debate, and the votes of pro-life members of their caucus were essential. Two days before the final vote, Stupak appeared to be holding firm. Then President Barack Obama dangled an executive order, with no force of law, to appease them — and all except one member (Rep. Daniel Lipinski of Illinois) caved.
Stupak’s betrayal won him no love from abortion lobbying groups, who endorsed a primary opponent. He chose retirement over embarrassing defeat. More than a dozen of his House colleagues also lost their seats — with our help and that of their former supporters. For Republicans, it was the beginning of a new ascendancy in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Now, 16 years later, the GOP is making the very same mistake. And just like it did then, it will cost those who sell out. For starters, that means: No passionate door-knockers. No literature. No endorsements. This will result in the loss of much-needed votes.
One self-described pro-choice consultant claims pro-lifers are “the cheapest dates in all of American politics. Mostly, what they want to hear is somebody say, ‘I’m pro-life.’” But my organization has spent over 17 years building a voter contact program that was capable, in the 2024 cycle, of reaching 10 million voters in key states — with 4.3 million visits directly to homes — to educate and persuade as well as turn out base voters precisely so that votes have consequences. Our message is that if you say you are pro-life, you have to act like it.
Soon, the National Mall will be filled with pro-life advocates from all over the country. Vice President JD Vance has been announced as the headliner. The only consequential topics the vice president could address are this administration’s plans to immediately reinstate the requirement for in-person dispensing of abortion drugs, which was the rule all through Trump’s first term, and to set a clear standard that no health care plan with anything less than true Hyde protections is acceptable.
The “pro-life party” needs to honor its promises. If Republicans won’t take their base seriously, they should expect a grim midterm year — with only themselves to blame.
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