Pence: Pro-Life Movement Has Made Huge Gains Under President Trump
On the last day of his first year in office and the same day as the annual March for Life, Vice President Mike Pence praised President Donald Trump’s commitment to an anti-abortion agenda.
Trump became the first sitting president in the march’s 45-year history to address participants with a live streaming message.
In an op-ed published Friday in National Review, Pence praised the “tens of thousands of Americans” who made the trip to Washington, D.C. for the March of Life.
“Thanks to their courage, and thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, life is winning in America again,” he wrote.
Pence recognized the historic value of Trump’s live address from the White House Rose Garden, which he said reflected the administration’s overall emphasis on ending abortion.
“In one of his very first acts in office, President Trump reinstated the Mexico City policy, to prevent American foreign aid from going to organizations that promote or perform abortions,” he wrote. “Our administration has also broadened this policy to cover nearly $9 billion in foreign aid.”
Trump’s decision to reinstate the policy was among the reasons the advocacy group Concerned Women for America named him the “most pro-life president in modern history.”
After describing himself as “very pro-choice” in a 1999 interview, Trump has taken a public U-turn on the issue, making outreach to pro-life voters a central theme of his 2016 presidential campaign.
Pence’s editorial offered several examples in making the case that Trump has kept his promise to protect the unborn.
“We’ve stopped U.S. funding for the United Nations Population Fund, so American taxpayers won’t have to support abortion in such countries as China,” he wrote.
“We’ve reversed the last administration’s policy and empowered states to defund Planned Parenthood and devote those resources to women’s-health providers. It was my great honor to cast the tie-breaking vote for this bill in the United States Senate.”
Pence wrote that the administration’s commitment to the cause can also be found in Trump’s judicial appointments, describing them as “men and women who will uphold the God-given liberties enshrined in our Constitution.”
His thesis — that “life is winning in America again” — extends beyond the March for Life and the Trump administration, however.
“Life is winning through the steady advance of science that illuminates when life begins,” Pence argued.
“Life is winning through the generosity of millions of adoptive families, who open their hearts and homes to children in need. Life is winning through the compassion of caregivers and volunteers at crisis-pregnancy centers and faith-based organizations who bring comfort and care to women, in cities and towns across this country,” he added.
“And life is winning through the quiet counsel between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters, between friends across kitchen tables, and over coffee on college campuses, where the truth is being told, and hope is defeating despair.”
Pence, who addressed participants during last year’s march, spoke to organizers Thursday evening, when he shared similar words of support for Trump’s track record on the issue of abortion.
“In one short year, President Donald Trump has made a difference for life,” he said.
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