- pro-life
- sway
- trimester
- 15weeks gestation
- the issue provides a nonstarter in practice
- Trump and Haley have charted a different course.
- incest
- filibuster
- judgment or contempt
- pull the same stunt
- political expediency
- fret
- alienating
- pro-choice
- contingent
- lives are at stake
- bully pulpit
- in the public square
**The 'pro-choice' term entered currency after 'pro-life' was coined by those who supported legal abortion as a response to the success of 'pro-life' branding.
GOP Finds a Winning Abortion Message
Donald Trump and Nikki Haley offer the pro-life movement its best chance at saving the unborn.
By
Tim Busch
Jan. 29, 2024 6:49 pm ET
The GOP hasn’t crowned its nominee for president, but the party has found what it’s sought for months: a winning message on abortion. Though different in style, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley strike similar notes on the issue. Both are pro-life, yet neither supports a federal ban. Their message resonates with a majority of Republicans and could sway a majority of Americans, 55% of whom told Gallup that they oppose abortion in the second trimester. Their position offers the pro-life movement the best chance at saving the unborn.
First, consider the candidates they beat. Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott and Mike Pence each supported enacting a federal abortion ban at 15 weeks gestation. While polling shows that many Americans support such a limit in theory, the issue has proved a nonstarter in practice. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, pro-life activists have suffered defeat in ballot measures in such states as Michigan, Ohio and Kansas. Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley have charted a different course.
Mr. Trump’s position seems more or less grounded in political calculation. At a town hall shortly before the Iowa caucuses, he took credit for appointing justices who overturned Roe. At the same time, he said he supported exceptions for the “life of the mother, rape, incest” and wouldn’t push for strict bans in a second term. “I want to get something where people are happy,” he said. “You have to win elections.”
Ms. Haley’s position is politically honest. As South Carolina governor, she signed a 20-week abortion ban, along with other measures such as the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. Though she said she would have signed a six-week restriction into law, Ms. Haley has also rightly noted that such policies have no chance of passing at the federal level. Doing so would require 60 senators to clear a filibuster. The GOP hasn’t had a majority that size since 1910. Given these constraints, Ms. Haley has promised to “find a consensus that allows us to save as many babies as we can while supporting women in difficult situations.” She wants Americans to “show love for one another, not judgment or contempt.”
Both candidates offer exactly what Americans are looking for: consensus. Polls show that voters want something of a compromise—neither strict bans nor limitless access. While Democrats have successfully run state and federal campaigns warning against national restrictions in the past two years, they’ll struggle to pull the same stunt with Mr. Trump or Ms. Haley. Both candidates can shake their heads, smile at the camera, and honestly say: “I stand with the American people.”
Many in the pro-life movement are fearful of this development, concerned that the Republican Party is abandoning its principles for the sake of political expediency. They needn’t fret. Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley haven’t gone soft on abortion. They’re simply doing the hard work of being pro-life without alienating the majority of Americans who describe themselves as pro-choice.
Critical to that approach is speaking up about abortion. There are many people, on the left and right, who would prefer the GOP to ignore the issue altogether. That would be political malpractice, alienating a significant contingent of the GOP base. More important, it would be wrong on principle. Lives are at stake, and if the Republican Party won’t defend them, no one in politics will. Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley aren’t shy on the issue and stick to principle even as they admit political reality.
In the post-Roe landscape, pro-lifers won’t be maximally effective unless we win elections, influence policy, and continue to shape hearts and minds. One of the most successful ways to persuade more people to the cause is with a pro-life president behind the bully pulpit: someone who can uniquely make the case in the public square that unborn children and pregnant mothers deserve protection. In Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley, the movement has its winning message for life.
Mr. Busch is founder of the Napa Institute, a Catholic organization.
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