Fr. Frank Pavone: A Year After Dobbs – Is Abortion Policy Still Being Imposed on Us?

Guest Post By Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

When Donald Trump vowed at the Road to Majority conference last month that if re-elected he would “continue to stand proudly for pro-life policies, as I did for four strong years,” I believed him. This is a man who keeps his campaign promises.

In his remarks, which I was privileged to hear from the audience of the DC conference, Trump said every child is a sacred child of God with an inherent right to life.

Some in our pro-life movement have misread the President lately, thinking he would not support federal limits on abortion. And some news reports and social media posts imply that our 45^th president has gone soft on abortion.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Just as he did while in office, in rally speeches and in State of the Union addresses, he has emphasized the radical nature of late-term abortion and called on Congress to end it. He has pointed out that allowing these brutal and incomprehensible procedures puts the U.S. on par with China and North Korea, nations where the inherent right to life is robustly overlooked.

A federal limit on abortion is more important than ever, as more abortion-friendly states remove all gestational limits on abortion. Maine is the latest example.

“There remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life,” he said on Saturday, putting any doubts aside. He’s proud of his work to expand the Mexico City policy that prevented the U.S. from exporting its poisonous abortion extremism along with foreign aid. A second Trump administration would redeploy the policy that Biden detonated soon after taking the oath of office.

Trump also is proud of his role in the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which brings together dozens of nations in a declaration about the centrality of the family and the right to life. This effort counters pro-abortion extremists in the United Nations who seek to make abortion an international right, and he vowed to rejoin the effort if he wins a second term.

“Every child, born and unborn, is a sacred gift from God,” he said, “Every human being has an inherent right to life.”

During his speech he mentioned the “radical” beliefs of the Democrats several times and among the most important things he stressed was that pro-life politicians have to point out that extremism every chance they get.

“They are the radical extremists; we’re not the radical extremists,” Trump said. “Politicians have to say that.”

This is one of a two-pronged strategy for every pro-life candidate who’s facing off against an abortion extremist at every level of government. Let the American people hear again, and again, how Democrats want abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, paid for by our tax dollars.

The second prong is this: show that we are the compassionate people on abortion. We care for the baby, the mother and the whole family. President Trump’s support of pregnancy centers and advocacy of streamlined adoption policies are just two examples of this.

President Trump recognizes that the American people are divided on abortion, but he also knows that thanks to his successful role in reversing Roe v. Wade, pro-life Americans have more bargaining power than ever to advance our goals. We can be assured if he returns to the White House, he will do everything in his power to work with us to advance those goals and expand protections for the most vulnerable among us, the children in the womb.

“I’ll fight for you like no president has ever fought before and we’ll get something done for the country,” he promised.

I believe him, and so should we all. He’s proven that he can do it.

About the author

Frank Pavone is national director of Priests for Life and the national pastoral director of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign. The books he has authored include Abolishing Abortion and Proclaiming the Message of Life.