President Trump framed himself as a fierce defender for the anti-abortion movement on Friday, in the first-ever speech delivered at the March for Life by a standing president.
“They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice. And we will win because we know how to win,” Trump said in a speech on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
He called on the Senate to pass a bill that would ban abortions after 20 week of gestation and touted his accomplishments for the anti-abortion cause. Trump is the first president in history to speak at the March for Life, a protest that has happened every year since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
The turn of events is in a stunning turnaround relative to Trump’s rhetoric before he went into politics, when he called himself “very pro-choice” and touted his prowess with women. Since coming into the White House, however, activists within the movement have celebrated him the “most pro-life president in history.”
Trump invoked Christian language throughout his speech, encouraging the protesters to keep up their fight. He told them they were “powered by prayer and motivated by pure, unselfish love” and that “you make it you life’s mission to help spread God’s grace.”
“As the Bible tells us, each person is wonderfully made,” said Trump, quoting loosely from Psalm 139:14, which says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” and is often quoted by Christians as a reason to oppose abortion from the moment of conception.
He tore into “far-left” Democrats for their “radical and extreme” support to let the government pay for abortions, and noted that liberal states have loosened abortions throughout pregnancy, which he said “allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb right up until delivery.”
Anti-abortion advocates have cheered his directness in talking about the issue. Approximately 1%, or 8,600 abortions a year, happen in the third trimester.
Abortion rights activists have pressed states to have no gestational limits on abortion, a position that polling finds is out of step with most voters. When arguing in favor of such a policy, Democrats tend to point to circumstances in which a fetus would either be deeply disabled or wouldn’t survive long after birth, and describe painful circumstances in which families must terminate a wanted pregnancy but didn’t learn of a diagnosis until closer to birth.
It’s not clear what percentage of abortions in the third trimester involve these circumstances, and anti-abortion advocates tend to argue in favor of hospice care or adoption as alternatives.
Seven states and the District of Columbia have no gestational limits on abortion, while most states limit the procedure in some way, including through waiting periods, gestational limits, or regulations on providers. The Roe decision said states must legalize abortions for up to fetal viability, which is generally understood to be at 24 weeks of gestation.
Trump has kept his promises to the anti-abortion movement. He has made court appointments more likely to restrict access to abortion, and on Friday he took a victory lap of his accomplishments, including his protections on religious healthcare workers who object to participating in abortions.
Just ahead of the march, his administration announced that it was taking action against California for forcing all health insurers to cover abortions.
“I am truly proud to stand with you,” Trump said.
