Msgr. Richard C. Antall: Heartbeat Laws Are Not a “Terrible Mistake,” President Trump

By Msgr. Richard C. Antall, Crisis Magazine, Sept. 22, 2023

Monsignor Antall is pastor of Holy Name Parish in the Diocese of Cleveland. He is the author of The X-Mass Files (Atmosphere Press, 2021), and The Wedding (Lambing Press, 2019).

While president, Donald Trump achieved many pro-life goals. But now he hides in ambiguity, trying to sound ethical while opening a loophole for abortion that should outrage many of his supporters.

I happened to be reading The Scalpel and the Soul by Haywood Robinson and his late wife, Noreen Johnson, when former President Trump disparaged the heartbeat law for the protection of unborn children in the womb as “stupid” and “a terrible mistake.” His later offer to pardon the pro-life protesters who have been arrested because of the FACE law and his vague words about a federal law limiting abortion (as if he could get something like that through Congress and get around the various state constitutional amendments proclaiming a “right” to abortion) cannot make up for a tacit consent/approval to the destruction of the unborn baby whose heart has already begun to beat. Freeing pro-lifers is a good thing; tolerating abortion at any time, but especially after the baby has a heartbeat, is just plain wrong. …

Continue reading >>>>