Originally Posted: Feb. 5, 2019
This is an excerpt from the USA Today article. To read the full article click here.
“(Trump’s) electoral winning coalition was razor-thin to being with, and he has done nothing to reach out to new constituencies,” said Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “The danger is that many moderate Republicans who were not Trump ‘base’ voters, but who gave him a chance in 2016, have been alienated and will either stay home or defect in 2020.”
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President Donald Trump – who once described himself as “very pro-choice” – burnished his anti-abortion credentials during his State of the Union addressTuesday night with harsh attacks on recent state actions.
Trump charged lawmakers in New York with having “cheered with delight” after recently passing legislation to “allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth.”
He accused Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam of “basically” stating that “he would execute a baby after birth.”
“There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days,” Trump said, in calling for legislation to curb third-trimester abortions. “Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children – born and unborn – are made in the holy image of God.”
It was the first time that Trump mentioned abortion in any of his three joint addresses to Congress since becoming president.
Republicans see abortion as an issue that will help fire up Trump’s base for his 2020 re-election. That’s despite the fact that the new-Democratic majority in the House will prevent any anti-abortion legislation from getting to his desk. (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s guests for the speech included Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen, who said Trump made “inaccurate and deliberately misleading claims about safe, legal abortion.”)
But if little is likely to happen in Congress over the next two years, there’s already plenty of action in the states.
“The Democratic Party has become so extreme they are now openly supporting the murder of newborn babies,” Camille Gallo, spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee said last week after Democrats in Virginia pushed to loosen restrictions on abortions later in pregnancy.
And the Supreme Court could decide this week whether Louisiana can enforce a law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The newly reconfigured high court that now includes two conservative justices appointed by Trump will also decide soon whether to review the constitutionality of Indiana’s attempt under then-Gov. Mike Pence to ban abortions sought because of race, sex or disability. READ MORE