⏩ Abortion opponents: At gala, president urges votes for conservative candidates.
WASHINGTON — President Trump this week issued a rallying call to opponents of abortion, encouraging them to head to the polls to elect conservative lawmakers.
Speaking at the Susan B. Anthony List’s annual “Campaign for Life Gala,” Trump took a victory lap for his antiabortion policies and nominations of conservative justices to federal courts. But he warned the group that they must show up at the polls to preserve their gains under his administration.
“Every day between now and November, we must work together to elect more lawmakers who share our values, cherish our heritage, and proudly stand for life,” Trump said. He summed it up for the roomful of enthusiastic supporters: “The story is, ’18 midterms, we need Republicans.”
Trump has long been an unlikely sweetheart for conservative and evangelical voters. But now, in the lead-up to the midterm elections, the thricemarried former Democrat who used to describe himself as “very prochoice” has been offering catnip to conservatives.
Last week, the administration unveiled a new push to strip funding from Planned Parenthood and other family planning clinics. The initiative, which was formally unveiled Tuesday, is aimed at resurrecting parts of a Reagan-era mandate banning federally funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions, or sharing space with abortion providers.
And it arrived just in time for Trump to highlight it Tuesday at the gala. The speech, said one administration official, had been aimed at a core constituency of conservative activists who are seen as key to energizing the party entering the fall midterm elections.
Trump, for his part, promised a “massive campaign” to assist Republicans this fall, and highlighted his role contributing toward the Republican National Committee’s fundraising haul.
“Your vote in 2018 is every bit as important as your vote in 2016,” Trump said, reading off a teleprompter. He paused before telling the crowd, “I’m not sure I really believe that.
“I don’t know who the hell wrote that line,” he said, prompting laughs.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion Susan B. Anthony List, branded Trump “the most pro-life President in history” at the Gala, and said the move “will help tremendously” in the midterms.
Abortion rights activists, meanwhile, argue that Trump’s moves on the issue will only embolden women to turn out at the polls, just as they took to the streets in marches after Trump’s election.