'Untenable for pro-life voters': Prominent GOP activist urges followers to not vote for Trump

29 August 2024

An influential Republican activist is now rebelling against former President Donald Trump, and is threatening to boycott the election over his position on her biggest issue.

In a recent interview with Politico, anti-abortion activist Lila Rose said that if the 2024 election were held today, she wouldn't vote for either major party's nominee. Because Rose's single biggest issue priority is abortion, she has no confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris or Minnesota Governor Tim Walz saying anything over the next two months to win her over. However, she noted that so far, the Republican ticket isn't giving her much confidence either.

"The recent statements that they have been making — increasingly pro-abortion statements — and the positions that they are choosing to take are making it untenable for pro-life voters to get out the vote for them," Rose said. "This is, unfortunately, the path that they’ve chosen."

Rose, who leads the anti-abortion group Live Action, called attention to a tweet she posted earlier this week in which she said the Republican ticket's cautious position on banning abortion was "not enough." She specifically took issue with both Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) giving cagey answers on whether they would go further on curtailing abortion rights if elected this fall.

"Trump would VETO a national ban on abortion. They support 'access to' abortion pills (60% of all abortions). They think it’s California’s 'right' to permit abortion up until birth, but if states like Arizona ban most abortions they 'go too far.' Due to their increasingly pro-abortion position, Trump/Vance is stretching the lesser of two evils voting strategy to an untenable position," she tweeted. "Without some indication that they will work to make our nation a safer place for preborn children, they are making it impossible for pro-life voters to support them."

Previously, Trump — who has bragged about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade — wrote on his Truth Social profile that his second administration "will be great for women and their reproductive rights." He's defended his decision to not endorse an outright national abortion ban by arguing Republicans "must also win elections," suggesting he knows that abortion bans are politically unpopular.

Rose argued that Republicans who hope Trump will embrace a strident anti-abortion platform should he win the election are engaging in "pie-in-the-sky thinking." She went on to say the former president was "alienating his base" while Vice President Kamala Harris is revving up the Democratic base by promising to protect abortion rights.

"I’ve received no confirmation from the Trump campaign that they’re going to secretly lie about abortion and then go do pro-life things afterward. I think that’s a narrative that there’s no proof to back up," she said. "And I think that if he actually is secretly pro-life and he’s just doing this to win both — I think it’s morally wrong and it’s extremely misguided politically."

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022, numerous Republican state legislatures have banned the practice outright. However, in every instance where abortion rights have come up on the ballot voters have opted to strengthen them – even in deep-red states like Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Ohio. Several other states, including Florida and Missouri, will also be voting on whether to enshrine abortion rights in their respective state constitutions this fall.

Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.

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