What Will a Trump Presidency Mean for the Protection of Life?

Exit polls showed that more than 4 in 5 evangelical Christian voters turned out at the polls for Donald Trump, and new research from the American Culture & Faith Institute found that two-thirds preferred his stance on key issues.

The Institute, led by social science researcher George Barna, surveyed 1,000 SAGE Cons—Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservatives—who reported the following:

• Sixty-seven percent preferred Trump’s stance on key issues.
• Nearly 6 out of 10 (58 percent) said they disliked Hillary Clinton.
• The most important issues were abortion (53 percent) and Supreme Court nominations (49 percent).

Dr. Richard Land, evangelical leader and president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES), has been speaking and writing about these key issues for many years and said he is encouraged that so many Christians considered them when voting.

“First of all, President-elect Trump’s election means that the Hyde Amendment (1976), which severely restricts federal taxpayers’ money being used to fund for abortions on demand domestically, and the Helms Amendment (1973), which prohibits federal funds being used to underwrite abortions as a means of birth control overseas, will stay in place,” Land said. “The Democrat Party’s platform and their presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, called for the repeal of both these measures. It means that the federal government will not reach into the pockets of pro-life citizens to pay for that which they believe to be unconscionable. Second, Mr. Trump has said he will give us original intent jurists who will not usurp their power to expand abortion rights through judicial imperialism. Additionally, Mr. Trump has made it clear he does not want federal funds to go to Planned Parenthood to subsidize abortion. Increasingly, states will have far more discretion in how they regulate and impede abortion-on-demand in their own states. Bottom line, a lot more babies will live, and a lot fewer mothers will experience post-traumatic stress as a result of abortion.”

Conversely, Land added, Hillary Clinton’s abortion policies would have been a direct disconnect with those who respect life.

“If Mrs. Clinton, the most pro-abortion candidate to be nominated by a major party, had been elected, her policies would have greatly expanded abortion on demand in America,” Land continued. “In fact, a presidential biographer wrote that Hillary Clinton’s own OB-GYN in Arkansas performed more than 20,000 abortions in his lifetime, and that doctor said Mrs. Clinton viewed a women’s right to choose as sacred (read more at lifenews.com). Thankfully, Donald Trump’s election means that the U.S. will perhaps make progress in moving down the list as one of the most abortive nations in the world—and that’s not a list we want to be on.”

In 2015, the Charlotte Lozier Institute reported that, as a country, only China performs more annual abortions than the U.S. does.