President Donald Trump is winning over voters with his strong pro-life record.
Marc Newman, a professor, author and leader of the pro-life organization Speakers for Life, admitted that he was a “Never Trumper” in 2016.
Writing at Townhall, Newman said he is voting for the Republican president this year and encouraging others to do the same because Trump has proven himself to be an advocate for unborn babies.
Four years ago, he said he did not believe Trump’s promises to be a pro-life president. He made a bet with a friend that he would publicly recant his position if Trump did three things: reinstate the Mexico City policy, place judges willing to overturn Roe v. Wade on the U.S. Supreme Court and defund Planned Parenthood.
“I didn’t get everything I wanted,” Newman said.
But it was enough for him to change his mind.
Trump did reinstate the Mexico City policy, which prohibits foreign aid recipients from promoting and/or providing abortions. Later, Trump expanded the pro-life policy by drastically increasing the amount of global health assistance funds and government programs that are covered under the policy. The move defunded the International Planned Parenthood Federation of about $100 million and the British abortion chain Marie Stopes of about $73 million in U.S. tax dollars.
Newman also expressed hope that Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, will be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Both justices recently ruled in favor of a pro-life Louisiana law that requires abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges for patient emergencies.
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“Defunding Planned Parenthood didn’t happen, but not because of Trump,” Newman continued. “It failed because two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, voted ‘no’ when the measure came up.”
These along with Trump administration’s pro-life advocacy at the United Nations, Trump’s speech at the March for Life, Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to a pro-life pregnancy center and other actions prompted Newman to reconsider.
“In virtually every area – both in word and deed – Trump has delivered for his pro-life constituents and, by extension, to innumerable innocent human beings in the womb who otherwise would have died,” he said.
Newman noted that there is nothing wrong with being a single-issue voter either – especially when the issue is as critical as the lives of millions of unborn babies.
“In 2016, I had no reason to believe that Trump would make good on his pro-life promises. But today I can evaluate a four-year track record. And compared with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ known policy positions, the choice is clear,” Newman concluded.
Trump’s strong actions for life have prompted other “Never Trump” voters to support him, too. Virginia Rev. John B. Carpenter refused to vote for Trump in 2016. The president’s past troubled him, and he questioned Trump’s sincerity on a number of issues, including abortion.
Slowly, however, Carpenter said he began to see Trump living up to his promises to Christians and pro-life advocates. He said the president has been “surprisingly good” on the sanctity of human life and religious freedom.
“He’s nominated consistently pro-life judges, done what he can do to defund Planned Parenthood, and spoken up more loudly on the issue than any president in history,” Carpenter said. “Since pro-life issues are the leading issues guiding Christians today, Mr. Trump has earned the support of Christians.”
