The relationship between the pro-life movement and Donald Trump has always been a tenuous one. Trump has never spoken our language, and his opposition to abortion has always seemed pragmatic at best. Yet, unlike previous Republican presidents who did speak our language, he was primarily responsible for achieving the Holy Grail of the movement: the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Achieving that long-sought goal strengthened the bonds between Trump and pro-lifers, and it seemed that the bond could never be broken. Apparently Trump himself wants to test that assumption.

Since his 2024 campaign for re-election began, Trump has appeared more squishy on abortion than before. Perhaps he saw how the abortion issue hurt the Republicans in the 2022 mid-terms and wanted to avoid that result. Or perhaps he felt that pro-lifers were solidly in his base, so he could reach out to form a broader coalition this time around.

Whatever the reason, Trump is doing all he can to distance himself from the pro-life cause.

At the Republican National Convention, the abortion plank in the Republican platform was softened considerably. Pro-abortion figures were given prominent speaking roles. Abortion was barely mentioned in any of the speeches.

That alone was concerning, but somewhat understandable from a political perspective. No matter how much pro-lifers want it to not be true, the reality is that the pro-life position is a losing proposition in national elections, so downplaying it makes political sense.

But Trump has gone much further than just downplaying abortion. He seems hell-bent (and I use that word purposefully) to prove the Harris campaign wrong for arguing that a Trump Administration will make abortion illegal. Frankly, Trump appears weak, desperately trying to convince people he’s not the anti-woman mean ogre the Harris campaign makes him out to be. Trump has gone much further than just downplaying abortion. He seems hell-bent (and I use that word purposefully) to prove the Harris campaign wrong for arguing that a Trump Administration will make abortion illegal.Tweet This

Last week he posted on Truth Social: “My Administration will be great for women and reproductive rights.” While some trumpsplainers tried to argue that “reproductive rights” doesn’t necessarily mean legalized abortion, all rational people know that’s exactly what reproductive rights means.

Then yesterday he dropped two bombs into the heart of the pro-life movement. First, he expressed support for Florida’s proposed amendment to constitutionally protect abortion, stating that the current law banning abortion after 6 weeks is “too early.” His campaign later backtracked a bit, but it’s clear Trump is opposed to any restrictions on abortion before at least 15 weeks.

But the final nail in the coffin was when Trump declared that his administration would have the government pay for IVF treatments or force insurance companies to pay for them. Let’s set aside the fundamentally anti-conservative notion that the government should be paying for optional services. This proposal not only would fund the destruction of human life; it would force Catholic institutions to pay for services they find deeply immoral.

During the Obama administration there was a part of Obamacare that would force companies to cover birth control. Catholics were rightly up in arms and many Catholic institutions fought against the mandate. Trump’s proposal is actually worse, as it would fund the destruction of human life on a massive scale.

At this point, it’s ridiculous to call Trump a pro-life candidate. He’s not. He’s pro-abortion by any reasonable definition. Perhaps not as pro-abortion as Harris, but pro-abortion, nonetheless. 

So does that mean Catholics should not vote for him?

Not necessarily. For years many Catholics have wrongly claimed, “No Catholic can vote for a pro-abortion candidate.” But this is not what the Church teaches. The reality is that a Catholic can vote for a candidate who supports intrinsic evil (as Trump does) as long as that’s not the reason he is voting for the candidate, and there are proportional reasons to support him.

In this case, while Trump is terrible on abortion, Harris is actually worse (although I don’t think she has called for government funding for IVF, at least not yet). And there are a whole host of other reasons to not vote for Harris. So a vote for Trump is morally acceptable (as is a vote for a better third-party candidate).

Yet we need to be honest with ourselves. The two major party tickets for president are both pro-abortion this year. That’s the country we’re living in. If you vote for one of them, you are voting for a pro-abortion ticket.

As I noted, this is allowed within Catholic morality, but there’s no point in pretending Trump is something he’s not. He is representative of our broader culture, which has become deeply pro-abortion. Until we change that, it’s likely we’ll be faced with this terrible choice for years to come.