Donald Trump has stated that
he could "shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose
voters." Speaking of killing, in 1999 the late Tim
Russert asked Donald Trump if he would support a ban on "abortion in
the third-trimester" or "partial-birth
abortion." "No," Trump replied. "I am pro-choice in every respect."
He said that his views may be the result of his "New York
background."
During the first
Republican presidential debate, Trump explained that he "evolved" on
the issue at some unknown point in the last 16 years. "Friends of mine
years ago were going to have a child, and it was going to be aborted. And it
wasn't aborted. And that child today is a total superstar, a great, great
child. And I saw that. And I saw other instances," Trump said. "I am
very, very proud to say that I am pro-life."
The Daily Caller's
Jamie Weinstein asked Trump if he would have become pro-life if that child
had been a loser instead of a "total superstar," Trump retorted:
"Probably not, but I've never thought of it. I would say no, but in this
case it was an easy one because he's such an outstanding person."
That Trump could go from
supporting third-trimester abortion-something indistinguishable from
infanticide, something that only 14 percent of Americans think should be
legal--to becoming pro-life because of that one experience is a bit hard to
believe. At the very least one might think that Trump is not capable of serious
moral reasoning.
The more important
question is not what Trump said in the past but what he would do in the future.
Trump says he's pro-life except in the cases when a pregnancy endangers the
life of the mother or is the result of rape or incest, although it remains
unclear if he thinks abortion should be generally legal in the first three
months of pregnancy (a position that is more accurately described as
"pro-choice").
Trump has said he'd sign
a ban on abortion during the last four months of pregnancy, when infants
can feel pain and are capable of surviving long-term outside the womb. But
after undercover videos were released showing Planned Parenthood involved in
the trafficking of aborted baby body parts, "The Donald" said he
wasn't sure if the Planned Parenthood should lose all of its federal funding.
He later flipped, saying: "I wouldn't do any funding as long as they
are performing abortions."
Even if Trump followed
through on his promises to sign pro-life legislation, what if he appointed
liberal justices to the Supreme Court? The Court is just one appointment away
from a solid liberal majority that would likely find a right to taxpayer-funded
and late-term abortion. Hmmmm.......
