Donald Trump Blasts Abortion: Roe v. Wade Started a “Culture of Death” Killing Over 50 Million People

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jan 25, 2016   |   12:24PM   |   Washington, DC

In some of his clearest and most forceful remarks on the issue of abortion since becoming a presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump wrote a weekend op-ed in the Washington Examiner newspaper outlining his pro-life views and blasting both abortion and Roe v.Wade.

Trump opens the column explaining that he is pro-life with exceptions only for the very rarest abortions.

“Let me be clear — I am pro-life. I support that position with exceptions allowed for rape, incest or the life of the mother being at risk,” he said. “I did not always hold this position, but I had a significant personal experience that brought the precious gift of life into perspective for me.”

Trump said America has gone astray because it has moved away from the founding principles the nation’s founders put in most — most notably the right to life.

America, when it is at its best, follows a set of rules that have worked since our Founding. One of those rules is that we, as Americans, revere life and have done so since our Founders made it the first, and most important, of our “unalienable” rights.

Over time, our culture of life in this country has started sliding toward a culture of death. Perhaps the most significant piece of evidence to support this assertion is that since Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Count 43 years ago, over 50 million Americans never had the chance to enjoy the opportunities offered by this country. They never had the chance to become doctors, musicians, farmers, teachers, husbands, fathers, sons or daughters. They never had the chance to enrich the culture of this nation or to bring their skills, lives, loves or passions into the fabric of this country. They are missing, and they are missed.

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One of the top things any president can do is ensure that taxpayer funds are not used to pay for abortions or to fund groups like Planned Parenthood that promote and perform abortions. Trump  staked out a clear pro-life position opposing government funding of abortions — in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton, who is making a push for free abortions a hallmark of her campaign.

The Supreme Court in 1973 based its decision on imagining rights and liberties in the Constitution that are nowhere to be found. Even if we take the court at its word, that abortion is a matter of privacy, we should then extend the argument to the logical conclusion that private funds, then, should subsidize this choice rather than the half billion dollars given to abortion providers every year by Congress. Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best.

If using taxpayer money to facilitate our slide to a culture of death were not enough, the 1973 decision became a landmark decision demonstrating the utter contempt the court had for federalism and the 10th Amendment. Roe v. Wade gave the court an excuse to dismantle the decisions of state legislatures and the votes of the people. This is a pattern that the court has repeated over and over again since that decision. Roe v. Wade became yet another incidence of disconnect between the people and their government.

“The next president must follow those principles that work best and that reinforce the reverence Americans hold for life,” Trump concludes. “A culture of life is too important to let slip away for convenience or political correctness. It is by preserving our culture of life that we will Make America Great Again.”

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