President Donald Trump is expected to sign a religious liberty executive order as soon as Thursday. The order would protect Christian organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor from being forced to pay for abortions.
The expected religious liberty order will cover a number of issues but is of particular concern to pro-life advocates. Although the language of the order hasn’t been finalized, Thursday is the National Day of Prayer and the White House is planning to celebrate the occasion with Christian leaders and the executive order would be a nice compliment to that.
During the campaign, both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence promised pro-life advocates that their religious liberties would be protected in the wake of the Obama Administration forcing businesses like Hobby Lobby and groups like Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for abortions for their employees.
Politico first reported on the potential of the executive order and has more on it:
President Donald Trump has invited conservative leaders to the White House on Thursday for what they expect will be the ceremonial signing of a long-awaited—and highly controversial—executive order on religious liberty, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.
Two senior administration officials confirmed the plan, though one cautioned that it hasn’t yet been finalized, and noted that lawyers are currently reviewing and fine-tuning the draft language.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
Pence and a small team of conservative allies quickly began working behind the scenes to revise the language, and in recent weeks have ratcheted up the pressure on Trump to sign it. The new draft is being tightly held, but one influential conservative who saw the text said it hasn’t been dialed back much—if at all—since the February leak. “The language is very, very strong,” the source said.
Since taking office just over 100 days ago, President Donald Trump and his administration have provided the pro-life movement with several major victories.
Trump started with reinstating the Mexico City policy defunding International Planned Parenthood and continued with defunding the pro-abortion UNFPA and signing a bill to allow states to defund Planned Parenthood abortion company.
Trump also put pro-life advocates in key places such as Jess Sessions as Attorney General, Tom Price as HHS Secretary and Nikki Haley as UN Ambassador.
“Donald Trump ran as a pro-life candidate and pledged he would have a pro-life administration, and he has made good on his word,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “President Trump remains steadfast in his pro-life position, and we are excited by his pro-life accomplishments in his first 100 days in office. I have no doubt that President Trump’s leadership on behalf of the pro-life cause will continue to not only save lives of the unborn, but help pave the way for generations to come.”
Tobias added, “This is a great time for the right-to-life movement, and we take heart in knowing that the Trump Administration will continue its work to defend and protect the fundamental right to life in the United States.”
