I’m pro-life, and that’s why I oppose Trump

It’s a given that being pro-life means defending the dignity of the unborn. But from a strict ethical and logical perspective, our defense of unborn humans is based on a premise to which we have already assented, as a starting point: that all life has value, and that we are bound in responsibility to safeguard the lives of our fellow-humans because we are all interconnected.

Once you assent to that premise, the question that should arise, in any ethical dilemma, is “how can I best protect life”? That means that whatever problem we face, a solution that involves putting lives – especially human lives – in danger should be the very last on the list. If on the list at all.

So, when we look at the abortion issue, we need to find a solution that involves protecting the life of the unborn – and, also, safeguarding the well-being of the woman.

Last year, when Trump was still running against candidates who actually had a proven record of opposing abortion (though not of defending life), Trump, in his feeble effort to scramble into the pro-life camp, suggested that there should be some sort of punishment for women who have abortions. Once he realized that this wasn’t actually what people wanted him to say, he backtracked and said something else. It’s widely recognized among pro-life activists that we need to give women help and support, not judgment. That’s the principle on which good crisis pregnancy centers are based. That’s the principle driving pro-life, whole-life organizations.

But unfortunately, it’s not a principle shared by everyone who claims to be pro-life. In the past week I had three separate encounters with Catholics defending the idea that women should be punished for abortions. In only one of these cases (the one that took place on my turf) did any Catholics other than myself rise to object to this.

Now, even if you secretly think women should be punished for abortion (and if you think that, I suggest you educate yourelf), saying so sends a really bad message. It sends the message that pro-life advocates are exactly what our opponents have always said: cruel, misogynistic, veangeful. Not actually interested in defense of human life per se. Obsessed with a fetishized view of abortion because it gives them carte blanche to be as horrible as possible (“hey, at least I’m not murdering babies!”).

And this is what support of Trump says, too. And by “says” I mean “writes in big bold tacky letters across the sky.”

Add to that the fact that the Trump regime does not uphold that first premise of being pro-life, that I mentioned above. To quote from Matthew Tyson’s piece on our New Pro Life page:

We agree only on the ideological stance that abortion is wrong. Past that, the platform they represent is horribly and boldly anti-life, as seen in their stances on immigration, workers’ rights, healthcare, torture, war, and the death penalty. Furthermore, we see no evidence that the Trump administration shares our goal of alleviating the social and economic factors that create the demand for abortion in the first place.

I refuse to reject the fundamental principle of support of life, for the sake of the brief orgasm of power that Trump has offered to Christians. I refuse this on principle, but also because practically speaking, even if any short-term anti-abortion laws are put into place, the long term effect of this regime is going to be the antithesis of a culture of life.