The pro-life movement has high expectations going into 2024, as SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser made clear this morning:
At a time when the life issue has been returned to the people to decide through their elected representatives…the pro-life movement needs bold advocates who pledge to fight for minimum national protections for the unborn, such as when they can feel pain or when their heartbeat can be detected.
As the most recent midterm elections clearly demonstrated, we need a nominee who will lead by driving a sharp contrast between the pro-life position and the extreme Democratic position of abortion on demand without limit. What cannot be tolerated are any candidates who shy away from this fight and state that the life issue is now strictly for states to decide. That is political failure and amounts to support for unlimited abortion on demand in the many blue states that allow it. It is the opposite of the leadership needed in the greatest human rights battle of our time.
SBA Pro-Life America looks forward to encouraging each candidate to put forward a bold vision and policy platform for the new Dobbs era so that pro-life voters know exactly where they stand.
Last night President Trump kicked off the presidential primary contest, announcing his run. Read our full statement here on President Trump’s announcement.
In her latest op-ed at at Fox News, Dannenfelser made plain what pro-life GOP candidates are up against and what they must do to win, pointing out that Democrats spent more on advertising than McDonald’s – a multi-billion-dollar international corporation – on the topic of abortion alone. That definitely will be something for contenders as well as donors and party committees to chew on at the start of this cycle.
Most importantly:
The clear takeaway for GOP candidates entering the 2024 presidential cycle is this: Winners define their opponents, contrasting their extremism with a well-articulated pro-life position centered around consensus measures such as protections for unborn babies when their heartbeat can be detected or when they can feel pain…
Republican primary candidates may have different views on what is achievable. We welcome that debate, especially in the general election setting. Doing so affords the best opportunity to show America the true extremists – Biden and the Democrats who refuse to support a single protection for the unborn.
Worst Elements of Biden’s Radical Pro-Abortion Agenda Are DOA
GOP control of the U.S. House of Representatives means the worst elements of Biden’s radical pro-abortion agenda are dead on arrival
As of this writing, Republicans are poised to win the U.S. House. The only question is by what margin. Barring any major surprises, it will likely end up around 222 R to 213 D.
The House GOP also held leadership elections yesterday. Nominees so far:
Speaker – Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA). McCarthy will need 218 votes to be elected Speaker in January
Majority Leader – Rep. Steve Scalise (LA)
Whip – Rep. Tom Emmer (MN)
Conference chair – Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY)
Democrats retain their Senate majority. The Georgia runoff election on December 6 will determine whether they will hold 50 or 51 seats. Every Senate seat matters, and it's a six-year term at stake in a key battleground state. We are keeping our troops on the ground in Georgia and expect to visit 100,000 homes to expose Sen. Raphael Warnock’s extremism and support Herschel Walker.
Creating divided government by winning back at least one chamber of Congress was a key part of SBA Pro-Life America’s strategy after the 2020 elections
From a policy perspective, this means denying pro-abortion Democrats the chance to enact the most radical parts of their agenda. That includes the Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act, adding justices to the Supreme Court, creating new states with pro-abortion Democrat senators, and more.
President Biden admits the Democrats do not have the votes to enshrine abortion on demand in federal law:
One person who didn’t get the memo was Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. From POLITICO:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she’d like to see her party once again introduce legislation to enshrine abortion rights and “make sure that every Republican is on the record on abortion.” But Warren isn’t calling for the Graham bill to come to the floor to squeeze the GOP.
“That thing is so horrible, I don’t want to see it any place except in the bottom of the trash barrel,” she said.
Perhaps Warren has confused the legislative process with what typically happens to the bodies of aborted children.
Fortunately, even if the Democrat-controlled Senate were to abolish the filibuster, pro-abortion legislation will be dead on arrival in the House where Republicans control the floor. Expect most congressional battles to center around spending fights and continued defense of longstanding pro-life policies such as the Hyde Amendment that have been under attack.
In addition to these fights, it is critical that congressional GOP lawmakers outline and clear pro-life policy vision in the new Dobbs era to prepare for the 2024 elections as we fight for full control of Congress and the White House.