Two genuinely pro-life NYT commentators, David French and Ross Douthat, are appalled at the GOP’s reaction to the Alabama and Arizona legal decisions. The only conclusion they can draw is that the GOP isn’t truly pro-life. For that, they largely blame Trump. Are they right?
The real test for a truly pro-life person is whether he is willing to support substantial enhancements to the welfare state at his expense to benefit the women who are compelled to give birth in exchange for giving up the right to abortion. Does that sound like a majority of the GOP to you? Can you ever think of a time when it did?
Not in my lifetime, that’s for sure. Trump may bear some responsibility for this, just as he can be blamed for making Christianity less attractive to young people, but the genuinely pro-life cohort of the GOP has always been a small minority. The vast majority of reactionaries are about power and pain, not love.