Trump first president to attend annual March for Life, and Lehigh Valley abortion foes take notice

Jan. 25--For decades, 63-year-old Carol Lemon has been coming to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life rally against abortion.

But this year for the first time, the Forks Township resident got to see a U.S. president standing with her and other advocates gathered on the National Mall.

Other Republican presidents who opposed abortion rights have been cautious in how closely they tied themselves to the anti-abortion movement, choosing to address the massive rally by phone or by inviting its organizers to the White House.

Trump and his administration, however, have embraced anti-abortion advocates. In 2017, shortly after he and Trump were sworn in, Mike Pence became the first vice president to address the event. On Friday, Trump was at the rally in person, traveling the few short blocks from the White House to the event stage.

The gesture was meaningful, Lemon said.

"We never had a president that actually came and supported us."

In his remarks, Trump blasted Democrats as embracing "the most radical and extreme positions" on abortion and detailed his administration's actions on the issue, including the appointment of two conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House," Trump told the crowd.

While Trump had described himself decades ago as supporting abortion rights, he's embraced the anti-abortion cause in recent years. White evangelicals have been loyal backers since Trump began his presidential bid, and energized support from his conservative base could be critical to whether he can win another four years.

"This is the only issue I vote on," said Rebekah Jacobus, 38, of Catasauqua. "I did not want to vote for Trump, but he was the only option. Now I love him."

This year's march, held every year in Washington to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, comes at a critical time for the issue in political campaigns, in state legislatures, and in the courts.

Energized by a conservative court

Advocates for and against abortion rights are ramping up to spend big during the 2020 elections. The Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion political action group, says it plans to spend $52 million to support the president and other Republican candidates this election cycle.

That's a record amount, according to the group, and Planned Parenthood's political action arm also has announced a similarly historic effort of $45 million, with an emphasis on reaching voters in nine battleground states. Both efforts will zero in on voters in Pennsylvania.

With any federal abortion legislation stalled due to a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and a Republican Senate, advocates for policy changes have focused on state legislatures, where a wave of new abortion laws were approved last year.

By the end of 2019, 58 new state laws restricting abortion were signed and 36 measures protecting abortion rights were enacted, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a policy organization that advocates for reproductive rights. Both represented a sharp rise compared to 2018.

Action at the state level

In Pennsylvania, state lawmakers debated a series of bills restricting abortion rights, including one that would have banned the procedure if performed in response to a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat who supports abortion rights, vetoed the bill. Another measure that passed the state House of Representatives would have required hospitals to either bury or cremate fetal remains after a miscarriage or death.

"These measures would have done nothing to improve the health of Pennsylvanians, and would have served only to stigmatize abortion care, shame and pressure pregnant people, limit access to necessary care, and burden providers with medically unnecessary mandates," said Maggie Groff, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates.

In March, the issue of abortion rights will be back before the nation's top court, where justices will hear debate over a 2014 Louisiana law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.

It's the first abortion case to be heard by the Supreme Court since both of Trump's appointees -- justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- were confirmed. If the law is upheld, Louisiana could become the first state not to have legal abortion access since the procedure was legalized.

Trump touted their appointments in his remarks, saying they will "apply the Constitution as written."

Among those listening was Bethlehem Catholic High School senior Lauren Paulus, who was wearing one of Trump's campaign hats, and abortion will be on her mind when she casts a ballot later this year.

Paulus said Trump's line about how each person's life has an effect on the lives around them resonated with her: "That just shouldn't be thrown away like it's nothing."

Washington correspondent Laura Olson can be reached at 202-780-9540 or [email protected].

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