Live Action president Lila Rose is increasing her criticism of 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — arguing that his recent statements are alienating pro-life voters such as herself.
“Given the current situation, we have two pro-abortion tickets,” Rose said in a post on X on Thursday, Aug. 29.
“A Trump win is not a pro-life win right now,” she continued. “Pro-lifers will need to challenge both leaders either way. We only help Trump by sounding the alarm — Trump is losing pro-life votes regardless of what I say — because of his own actions.”
Rose, who is Catholic, argued that “expressions of disappointment are not enough” and that “the currency and the language in this season is votes.” She added that “it is wrong for Trump supporters to demand that pro-life activists be endlessly loyal to Trump in response to repeated betrayal.”
“We will continue to speak the truth and demand better from the Trump campaign for the sake of innocent babies who cannot speak for themselves,” Rose said. “Fear cannot keep us from doing and saying what is right. We are two months out from the election. It’s not too late for Trump to change course.”
Rose added: “I hope and pray that President Trump will change his course and stop supporting the legalization of the killing of babies.”
During his campaign, Trump has repeatedly taken credit for nominating three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which ended the country’s recognition of abortion as a constitutional right. For decades, this has been the biggest goal of the pro-life movement.
Trump further used his executive power to restrict foreign aid funding of abortion and to prevent Title X funding from going to the abortion industry. As president, Trump also signed an executive order to protect infants who were born alive after a failed abortion.
In June, Trump said in a speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition that, if elected, he would “rapidly review the cases” of pro-life activists and “every political prisoner” who has been jailed under President Joe Biden’s administration and get them “back to their families where they belong.”
Despite this, Trump’s rhetoric on abortion has frustrated some pro-life activists over the past few months.
In April, the former president said abortion policy is “up to the states to do the right thing” and shied away from federal restrictions. He said in a post on Truth Social last week that if he is elected, his administration will be “great for women and their reproductive rights” without expanding on what that meant. He also told CBS in an interview last week that he would not use the Comstock Act to restrict mail-in chemical abortion drugs and that such drugs would remain available.
Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, also said in an interview with NBC last weekend that Trump would not sign a national abortion ban if elected.
An abortion ban at the federal level would be unlikely to reach any president’s desk because it would need 60 votes in the Senate to overcome the filibuster. Republicans have 49 votes in the Senate, although some of them oppose a federal ban on abortion.
The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has vowed to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law, which would undo pro-life gains at the Supreme Court and prohibit states from passing laws that protect unborn life. This, too, is unlikely to reach any president’s desk because of Senate filibuster rules.
As a senator, Harris backed a bill to prevent states from passing abortion restrictions and voted against a bill that would have required doctors to provide medical care for a child who is born after a failed abortion attempt. As attorney general of California, Harris also backed a law that forced pro-life pregnancy centers to provide advertisements for abortion and oversaw a raid on the home of pro-life journalist David Daleiden, whom she claimed broke laws when obtaining undercover videos of Planned Parenthood officials.
In an interview with Politico published on Thursday, Rose said she “would not vote for Harris or Trump” if the election were held today and said there are “other candidates” and even “write-in candidates.”
“I think that it’s the job of the pro-life movement to demand protection for preborn lives,” Rose said. “It is not the job of the pro-life movement to vote for President Trump.”
Rose said she hopes Trump “embraces the pro-life movement again” and that he would make a better case for pro-life voters if he promises “we will do everything in our power through the executive branch to protect the lives of innocent children.”
Many other pro-life activists have taken a different approach to the 2024 election than Rose, such as Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Although she has criticized some of Trump’s rhetoric, Dannenfelser has urged pro-life voters to focus on the “short-term urgent threat” that Harris poses to the pro-life movement.
“The [pro-life] cause is way bigger and younger than Donald Trump. …” Dannenfelser said last week. “The short-term urgent threat? Harris-Walz and all Senate candidates promising unlimited six-, seven-, eight-, nine-month abortion as the only option for women.”
