First appearance on FOX – Pro-lifers, quietly disheartened by the abortion changes in the Republican platform, are being reinvigorated by a new Democratic frontrunner who many feel can be conveniently portrayed as an extremist on the issue.
The politics of abortion have shifted since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion rights up to individual states to decide. Democrats have seized the opportunity to blame the decision on former President Trump and his allies, and to convince voters that voting Democratic is, in a sense, restoring Roe.
Just before last week’s Republican National Convention, the Republican National Committee softened long-standing Republican language in its platform, removing a call for a nationwide abortion ban to be more inclusive of a broader base of voters.
Pro-life groups were still quick to endorse Trump, despite changes to the Republican platform, believing that a Republican administration would best serve their cause of strengthening protections for unborn children and pregnant women.
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Pro-life women celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Friday, June 24, 2022, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
But a new memo obtained by Fox News Digital makes it clear that pro-lifers are ready to unite behind a new goal: to paint Harris as an abortion “extremist” who “cannot name any restrictions on abortion that she supports.”
“Everyone expected abortion to be a major issue in the 2024 election, but with Kamala Harris as the top candidate, that issue has now intensified,” SBA Pro-Life America, one of the nation’s leading advocacy groups, argued in a memo sent Tuesday to Republican candidates, GOP leadership and officeholders, and Republican state leaders.
The memo contrasts President Joe Biden, an Irish Catholic who “can barely utter the word abortion but has supported at least some basic restrictions, including limits on taxpayer-funded abortion, for decades,” with Harris, who “shouts pro-abortion but has never voted for or expressed support for any restrictions on abortion,” the SBA said.
“Harris is so fixated on abortion that she has no regard for other factors, including the developmental stage of a child before birth and the real needs of women,” the memo said.
“The bill is immoral,” the memo said, pointing out that then-Senator Harris twice voted against bills that would have restricted abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions, even after science showed that fetuses can feel pain.
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A pro-life crowd outside the court reacts to the Supreme Court decision. (Joshua Comins/Fox News)
“She also voted twice against providing health care coverage to babies who survive attempted abortions,” the memo states.
The memo also noted that while she was California’s attorney general, Harris supported a bill that would have required pregnancy support centers to advertise abortion clinics, a bill that was ultimately struck down as unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.
The memo noted that in 2022, Harris supported closing pregnancy support centers that offer free medical care, baby formula, diapers and other necessities in lieu of abortion.
“Pro-life activists across the country are more emboldened than ever since Roe, rallying and educating Americans,” March for Life president Jeanne Mancini wrote in a post on X on Monday. [Harris’] A radical documentary on abortion.”
“There has certainly been disappointment and concern from grassroots pro-life activists about the changes to the Republican platform, but with Kamala Harris as leader, there is a renewed enthusiasm among pro-life activists to fight for unborn children during this election cycle,” a Republican pro-life activist told Fox News Digital.
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US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the presidential campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, July 22, 2024. (Erin Shaff/Pool via Reuters)
“Harris is a puppet of mass abortion, even voting against a bill that would have provided medical care for babies born alive after botched abortions, making it easy to portray her as an extremist,” the source said.
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Another pro-life activist told Fox that Ms Harris’s arrival as the new presidential candidate “should force President Trump and J.D. Vance to lean on this issue” and “show moderates what an extreme person Kamala is – someone who will allow abortion on demand, at any time, for any reason.”
