National pro-life leaders praised President Donald Trump for his condemnation of recent Democrat legislation that demands abortion at every stage of pregnancy, even at the moment of birth.
“The president was right to call out the atrocious actions of lawmakers in New York and Virginia in pushing America toward infanticide,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “President Trump has not only been the most passionate president in talking about the humanity of the unborn, he has been the most persistent in protecting them.”
Perkins, however, observed that Democrats are “unlikely” to “take up the president’s call to ‘work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life.’”
“President Trump seeks unity, but the president is not seeking unity at any cost,” he added. “The unity that the president is seeking is with the American people, not with many of those here in Washington who despise what America stands for and spend their days trying to keep this administration from succeeding.”
A recent Marist poll found 75 percent of Americans want substantial restrictions on abortion, including 60 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of those who identify as “pro-choice.”
Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins noted the presence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s guest at the address: Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen.
“Never before has the contrast between the two parties been clearer, as there seems to be no line that the Democratic Party will draw when it comes to protecting either life in the womb or the health of women in abortion facilities,” she said. “And as we saw with Pelosi’s guest, Planned Parenthood has friends in government as it draws in more than half-a-billion in taxpayer dollars.”
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said Trump has once again “proved he is our nation’s most pro-life president ever” and is “keeping his promise to the voters who fueled his victory.”
“The contrast between President Trump’s vision for the future and that of the Democratic Party, now dominated by abortion extremists, is stark,” she added, pointing out that, on Monday, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have protected babies born alive after abortion to receive medical care.
“Senate Democrats had the chance yesterday to prove they are not the party of infanticide, and instead they doubled down on a radical agenda of abortion on demand through birth and even beyond,” Dannenfelser said. “That position is simply irreconcilable with the values of the American people.”
In his address, Trump called upon Congress to pass legislation that would prohibit late-term abortion past five months of pregnancy — the time when science has shown an unborn baby can feel pain.
Maureen Ferguson, senior policy adviser with the Catholic Association, said the president “accurately called out the brutality of the 12,000 late-term abortions that happen annually after 20 weeks of pregnancy, the point at which a baby in the womb can feel pain.”
Research does not support the common pro-abortion-rights narrative that late-term abortions are performed primarily in cases of “severe deformities” or when the unborn baby is determined “non-viable.”
A study released in 2013 by the pro-abortion-rights Guttmacher Institute found that women who were seeking both first-trimester and late-term abortions provided the same reasons for delaying their abortions, including “not knowing about the pregnancy,” “trouble deciding about the abortion,” and “disagreeing about the abortion with the man involved.”
The study found that “most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.”
Tom McClusky, president of March for Life Action, said while Democrats such as Pelosi and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam are “in step with a powerful abortion lobby, they are out of touch with the American people.”
“We ask Congress to heed President Trump’s call to pass legislation prohibiting late-term abortion as well for a quick floor vote in the Senate on the Born-Alive bill so that Governor Northam’s infanticide fantasy may never be reality,” he added. “It is time for politicians, regardless of party, to stand up in favor of protecting innocent life.”
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