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Trump Addresses Anti-Abortion March for Life Anti-Abortion Marchers Have ‘Never Had a Stronger Defender in the White House,’ Trump Says
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Demonstrators flooded the National Mall on Friday morning in anticipation of a historic moment for the anti-abortion movement: the first sitting president to address the annual March for Life in person.WASHINGTON — Demonstrators flooded the National Mall on Friday morning in anticipation of a historic moment for the anti-abortion movement: the first sitting president to address the annual March for Life in person.
Past Republican presidents who opposed abortion merely sent in video messages, or delegated a surrogate to speak in their place. But when President Trump announced last week on Twitter that he planned to speak in front of the group, he made it clear he was intent on solidifying his support with socially conservative voters on the day House Democrats were making their final formal argument for his removal from office. President Trump did not disappoint them.
Roy Hagemyer, 62, a pastor from Mohave Valley, Arizona, who was standing at the corner of 15th Street and Constitution Avenue giving out signs reading “Human Rights begin in the Womb,” could barely contain his excitement ahead of Mr. Trump’s speech. “Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House,” he told the crowd of religious-school groups and anti-abortion activists who packed the mall to hear him speak.
“The president is going to speak here today, the first time in history,” he said, smiling. “That really puts a lot of horse power behind our movement.” Past Republican presidents who opposed abortion sent video messages or delegated a surrogate to speak in their place at the march. But when Mr. Trump announced this week on Twitter that he planned to speak in front of the group, he made it clear he was intent on solidifying his support with socially conservative voters on the day House Democrats were making their final formal argument for his removal from office.
Mr. Hagemyer said Mr. Trump’s support makes him even more optimistic about the future. “I firmly believe that in my lifetime we will see Roe V. Wade overturned,” he said referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that extended federal protections to abortion. “The tide is turning. People are starting to realize abortion is not something we should be doing.” In his remarks, which he delivered on a gray day from behind a plate of bulletproof glass, Mr. Trump spoke about what was at stake in the next election.
Mr. Trump’s relationship with the anti-abortion movement has been a transactional one since he entered politics in 2016. He has focused his efforts in particular on white evangelicals and Catholics, a critical part of his base in 2016, who could also be equally important in November. “The far left is actively working to erase our God-given rights,” Mr. Trump said, adding that they wanted to “silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life.”
The president accused Democrats of supporting infanticide, singling out Gov. Ralph S. Northam of Virginia for supporting a late-term abortion bill that Mr. Trump falsely said would “execute a baby after birth.” In his chilling accusation, the president was reiterating a messaging strategy that conservative activists have been using to rally his base to the polls in November.
As if to emphasize his message on Friday, the Trump administration announced plans to withhold federal money from California if it did not drop a requirement that private insurers cover abortions. It gave the state 30 days to commit to lifting the requirement.
But at the march, it was Mr. Trump’s mere presence, more than any of his promises or his ominous warnings, that was cause for excitement.
Roy Hagemyer, 62, a pastor from Mohave Valley, Ariz., who was standing at the corner of 15th Street and Constitution Avenue and handing out signs reading, “Human Rights Begin in the Womb,” could barely contain his excitement before Mr. Trump’s speech.
“The president is going to speak here today, the first time in history,” he said, smiling. “That really puts a lot of horsepower behind our movement.”
Mr. Hagemyer said Mr. Trump’s support makes him even more optimistic about the future. “I firmly believe that in my lifetime we will see Roe v. Wade overturned,” he said referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that extended federal protections to abortion. “The tide is turning. People are starting to realize abortion is not something we should be doing.”
But Alexis McGill Johnson, the acting president and chief executive of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, pushed back on that idea in a statement after Mr. Trump’s appearance.
“While Trump stands with the small number of Americans who want politicians to interfere with their personal health decisions, we’ll be standing with the nearly 80 percent of Americans who support abortion access,” Ms. Johnson said. “We will never stop fighting for all of the people in this country who need access to sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion.”
Mr. Trump’s relationship with the anti-abortion movement has been a transactional one since he entered politics in the 2016 presidential campaign. He has focused his efforts in particular on white evangelicals and Catholics, a critical part of his base in that campaign who could be even more important this November.
In exchange for the appointment of anti-abortion judges, his unwavering support for Israel and his attempts to protect the rights of students to pray in schools, they have generally overlooked Mr. Trump’s own complicated past with the issue and his own history of three marriages and two divorces.In exchange for the appointment of anti-abortion judges, his unwavering support for Israel and his attempts to protect the rights of students to pray in schools, they have generally overlooked Mr. Trump’s own complicated past with the issue and his own history of three marriages and two divorces.
In a 1999 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he described himself as “pro-choice in every respect.” And four years ago this month, leading abortion opponents including Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, wrote a letter urging Iowans “to support anyone but Trump” in the Republican caucus, because “on the issue of defending unborn children and protecting women from the violence of abortion, Mr. Trump cannot be trusted.” In an interview in 1999 on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Trump described himself as “pro-choice in every respect,” but he officially reversed positions in 2011, when he was considering running against President Barack Obama, and told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, “I’m pro-life.” It was a move encouraged by his advisers at the time to get the issue out of the way early.
That changed once he won the Republican nomination. Ms. Dannenfelser led Mr. Trump’s Pro-Life Coalition. And evangelical misgivings about Mr. Trump, widely voiced during the 2016 campaign, have largely disappeared as a result of his efforts as president. It was not quite that easy. Four years ago this month, leading abortion opponents including Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony List, wrote a letter urging Iowans “to support anyone but Trump” in the Republican caucus because “on the issue of defending unborn children and protecting women from the violence of abortion, Mr. Trump cannot be trusted.”
But a critical editorial last month in Christianity Today, a flagship evangelical magazine, raised concerns in the White House about the depth of Mr. Trump’s evangelical support. That changed once he won the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Ms. Dannenfelser led Mr. Trump’s Pro-Life Coalition, and Mr. Trump wrote to anti-abortion leaders and publicly committed pursuing their core policy objectives, and they worked to elect him. And evangelical misgivings about Mr. Trump, widely voiced during the that campaign, have largely disappeared as a result of his efforts as president.
More than 80 percent of white evangelical voters supported him in 2016, and he needs to maintain or increase support in his core base to win in November. At campaign rallies, Mr. Trump now routinely talks about mothers “executing babies” and brands Democrats the “party of late-term abortion.” More than 80 percent of white evangelical voters supported him in 2016, but a critical editorial last month in Christianity Today, a flagship evangelical magazine, raised concerns in the White House about the depth of Mr. Trump’s support.
In fact, late-term abortions are extremely rare and doctors do not kill babies who survive abortions, as Mr. Trump has claimed. But the president now routinely talks about mothers “executing babies” and brands Democrats the “party of late-term abortion.” And the political movement to end legalized abortion has become even more interwoven into the core strategy of Republican efforts to re-elect Mr. Trump by motivating white evangelical and Catholic voters.
His aides, like Kellyanne Conway, the White House counselor, this week were quick to promote him as the “most pro-life president in history.” And hours before Mr. Trump took the stage in Washington, Vice President Mike Pence discussed the March for Life with Pope Francis during a trip to the Vatican, another sign that the alliance between evangelicals and Catholics is key to Mr. Trump’s continued success.
Mr. Trump’s appearance at the March for Life is the most significant moment for the movement since it began in 1974, the year after the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide. His presence signifies just how mainstream he has made their cause, which for years lacked power and resources as Planned Parenthood’s political influence grew.
That concern is hard to remember today. After he won the nomination, Mr. Trump wrote to anti-abortion leaders and publicly committed pursuing their core policy objectives, and they worked to elect him.
The political movement to end legalized abortion has become even more interwoven into the core strategy of Republican efforts to re-elect Mr. Trump in November, by motivating white evangelical and Catholic voters.
“The difference between 2016 and now is how fully the Republican Party has accepted the issue as a driving force at the center of elections,” Ms. Dannenfelser said in a phone interview.“The difference between 2016 and now is how fully the Republican Party has accepted the issue as a driving force at the center of elections,” Ms. Dannenfelser said in a phone interview.
“This president is the reason why,” she said. “He took it on, put it at the center of his campaign-fulfilled promises and is putting this cause at the center of his re-election this year.”“This president is the reason why,” she said. “He took it on, put it at the center of his campaign-fulfilled promises and is putting this cause at the center of his re-election this year.”
Mr. Trump has previously addressed the March for Life, but remotely. “He understands that physical presence communicates commitment and attachment,” Ms. Dannenfelser said. “Phoning it in is just what it sounds like — it was a signal that the life movement was to be kept at arms distance. But no more.” Aides like Kellyanne Conway, the White House counselor were quick to promote him this week as the “most pro-life president in history,” while hours before Mr. Trump took the stage in Washington, Vice President Mike Pence discussed the March for Life with Pope Francis during a trip to the Vatican.
For the anti-abortion movement, Mr. Trump’s appearance at the March for Life is its most significant moment since it began in 1974, the year after the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide. His presence signified just how mainstream he has made their cause, which for years lacked power and resources compared with Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups.
For many at the march, the president’s presence symbolized a victory after years of complaints that their views were dismissed by the mainstream news media.
“He understands that physical presence communicates commitment and attachment,” Ms. Dannenfelser said. “Phoning it in is just what it sounds like — it was a signal that the life movement was to be kept at arms distance. But no more.”
And for many in the crowd, seeing Mr. Trump and hearing his anti-abortion priorities far outweighed the impeachment trial happening in the Senate chamber at the other end of the mall.
Karen Rains, 42, a dental hygienist from Henderson, Texas, stood with her daughter, 19, and mother, 72, waiting to see the president. People in her small town, she said, were not paying attention to impeachment at all.
“It’s a waste of time; people are laughing at it,” she said, holding a pink “Women for Trump’ flag.
“I can’t believe we are getting to do this,” she went on. “It’s still not real!”
Maggie Haberman contributed reporting from New York.