By Janet E. Smith, Crisis Magazine, Nov. 4, 2024
Janet E. Smith, Ph.D., is a retired professor of moral theology.
Trump’s decision to retreat from advocacy of the pro-life cause and try to persuade those who remain reluctant to vote for him is defensible from a pro-life standpoint.
What Should Be Trump’s Position on Abortion?
Easy answer: Trump, like everyone, should oppose abortion and fight for the legal protection of all innocent human life from conception to natural death.
But he is running for president of the United States. So, in that context, the question should be rephrased: What position should Trump take on abortion—in this election? Is it wrong for him to have “adjusted” his position on abortion? Has he “thrown the unborn under the bus” (as an avid pro-lifer friend of mine has said)?
Some think that it would be better for Trump to lose than to abandon the pro-life cause—that it is better to take a principled stand and lose than to compromise on the truth and win. I think that would be disastrous, and a loss for that reason would work in the future to dissuade others from running on a pro-life platform. …