This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Donald Trump has moderated his pro-life position since eight years ago, when he was described as strongly pro-life. Of late, he's admitted the possibility for early abortions, within limits.
But he's been under criticism for changing his policy at all.
And that's not entirely fair, according one of the more prominent pro-life organizations in the country, Operation Rescue, run by chief Troy Newman, who long has been integral in America's fight against abortion.
It's because society has seen a drastic shift in recent years, largely prompted by the nonstop campaign from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on behalf of the members of the lucrative abortion industry.
In a statement, Newman said, "As the saying goes, 'politics is downstream from culture.' Unfortunately, 'woke' pro-abortion influencers have been dumping anti-life sewage into our society's 'river' for years. This has polluted our culture worse than Lake Erie in the 1960s and shifted politics away from the ideals championed by the first Trump administration that boldly promoted the sanctity of human life."
He pointed out that just before the 2016 vote, Gallup showed 46% of Americans identified as pro-life.
"That year pro-life Americans placed a high importance on ending abortion and were more likely to cast their votes only for candidates that shared their pro-life views. I believe this was due, at least in part, to the gruesome videos Operation Rescue released one year previous as part of my leadership in the Center for Medical Progress (for which I was convicted of RICO and now owe $18M to Planned Parenthood). In any case, President Trump rode that pro-life enthusiasm into the White House in 2016. By nearly all media reports, it was the support of pro-life Americans and their grave concerns over the pro-abortion majority in the Supreme Court that earned him the surprise victory," Newman wrote.
Then Trump kept his campaign promises, appointing Supreme Court justices who eventually overturned the faulty Roe v. Wade and also denied Title X tax money to abortion industry giant Planned Parenthood.
The 2020 election, long past, now gives way to 2024, when society is in a "completely different position" than 2016.
"Gallup Polls taken this year show that the pro-life position now sits at a historical low," he said, with only 12% of respondents wanting to end it.
"Since the demise of Roe, we have lost eight statewide referendums on abortion. Bolstered by these victories, pro-abortion forces have placed abortion expansion initiatives on the 2024 general election ballots in ten more states," Newman said. "The tide has turned, and the pro-life message is now considered a political liability that could prevent President Trump's victorious return to the White House."
He continued, "The radical extremist team of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz threatens to demolish the America we love by dramatically expanding abortion, increasing persecution of pro-life activists, and amping up censorship along with other oppressive measures such as open borders, higher taxes, and continuing involvement in forever wars. An America under a Harris/Walz administration would be a bloody, morally debased Communist dystopia with increased abortions, a wrecked economy, non-existent border security, possible nuclear war with Russia and fewer freedoms."
That's why a Trump victory is essential, he said, and while "still pro-life, Trump's current position on abortion, which is more moderate than many pro-life supporters would like, is simply a reflection of the will of the people."
He explained, "As a staunch supporter of President Trump and the right to life, it pains me to point this out. So, whose fault is it that we find ourselves in a climate where the pro-life position is no longer a winner at the ballot box, as it was for so many years?"
He said since Roe was created, five decades have passed and still the culture's love affair with abortion exists.
"Although the pro-life movement has been responsible for closing 70% of the abortion clinics, saving millions of children, and electing scores of pro-life politicians, the disappointing result is that the American population is more pro-abortion than ever," he said.
"We also must stop pointing fingers at politicians like President Trump, expecting them to meet ideals that are unreasonable in the current hostile political and social climate – a climate that our own ministries have failed to mitigate," he said.
He said seminaries and churches today, while describing themselves as Christian, advocate for the wanton destruction of the unborn.
"If we are to ever create a government that values and protects innocent life, we must start in our own homes, churches and communities. The purified water of our own lives and movement would then flow downward into proper public governance. For streams do not run backwards."
