September 4, 2024
Last week, Students for Life Action (SFLAction) documented the controversy surrounding President Donald Trump’s statements around abortion and IVF, specifically as it related to Amendment 4 in Florida. At the time, Trump said he thought six weeks was too short, causing a firestorm of reactions.
Thankfully, in the end, Trump said he was going to vote “No” on Amendment 4. And while it’s worth clarifying that his original statement that “six weeks was too short,” was not “I’m going to vote YES on 4,” we know that the former President will take the time to listen to the arguments of those who engage him in good faith.
Which is what SFLAction did both publicly and behind the scenes. The Washington Post covered this, noting “On Thursday night, hours after Trump’s comments on IVF and the Florida ban, a close Trump adviser took a call with six top female antiabortion leaders to hear their grievances and explain the campaign’s strategy on the issue, according to Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, one of the country’s largest antiabortion groups, who was on the call.”
Below is a recap of the media coverage of our efforts – and how we helped change the President’s mind.
THE GUARDIAN / YAHOO NEWS: Anti-abortion groups warn Trump’s row back on position risks losing votes
“But this strategy may leave anti-abortion voters feeling less energized to vote for him, warned Kristan Hawkins, president of the prominent anti-abortion group Students for Life of America.
“The pro-life movement didn’t always have a firm place in the Republican party. For many years, we were at the little kids’ table,” Hawkins said. “The young people that we work with, they don’t remember that. And so they’re absolutely shocked and saddened to see someone who they thought was pro-life, or who had always reaffirmed pro-life values, walking back on that.”
NBC NEWS / MSN: Trump comes out against Florida’s abortion rights ballot measure after conservative backlash
“Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life — which has helped organize tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists, mostly on college campuses — wrote Thursday on X: “My phone is blowing up with @SFLAction volunteers who no longer will door knock for President Trump if this is not corrected. With polls neck and neck, this is the last thing we need right now to defeat Kamala’s pro-abortion extremism.
She told NBC News the Trump campaign “personally” told leaders in her group that he’s undecided on the Florida measure. She said they expect him to vote “no” and warned that Trump’s waffling on the issue would likely hurt his support with many volunteers.
“When they hear the leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, walking back past pro-life statements, it’s devastating to them,” she said. “And it’s shocking to them that Republicans would betray this very important part of the Republican Party.”
“He needs to be very careful with his words,” she added.”
THE 19th: After conservative criticism, Trump said he is a ‘no’ on Florida’s abortion rights ballot measure
“Meanwhile, other prominent anti-abortion activists, such as Students for Life leader Kristan Hawkins, have argued they stand a better chance of restricting abortion under a Trump administration than one led by Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Trump’s latest comments drew praise from abortion opponents.
In a series of posts on the social media website X, Hawkins suggested Trump’s announcement shows abortion opponents will have better luck influencing a Republican White House.
“The last 24 hours the pro-life movement united calling on President Trump to do the right thing,” she posted, then inaccurately describing the Florida measure as one that would protect abortion in all trimesters. “It worked. He listened. He’s voting NO.”
“Kristan Hawkins, presidenta de Students for Life –que ha ayudado a organizar a decenas de miles de activistas contra el aborto, sobre todo en recintos universitarios– escribió el jueves en X: “Mi teléfono está explotando con voluntarios de @SFLAction que ya no llamarán a las puertas del presidente Trump si esto no se corrige. Con las encuestas empatadas, esto es lo último que necesitamos ahora para derrotar el extremismo pro-aborto de Kamala”.
POLITICO: Trump scrambles to do damage control on Florida abortion measure
“Anti-abortion groups that bristled at Trump’s comments about Florida’s six-week ban welcomed his latest remarks. Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, said in a statement to POLITICO that she was “pleased to see” he “listened to the pro-life generation and a large base of conservative voters.”
POLITICO / YAHOO: Trump’s Latest Move to Avoid Abortion Is His Strangest One Yet
“Congress has every right to protect life and to be concerned about mothers and their children,” said Kristi Hamrick, vice president of media & policy at Students for Life Action. “The fact that our nation’s capital, the District of Columbia, is actively engaging in barbaric late-term abortion should cause embarrassment, not celebration. It is a moral evil that children are slaughtered in the capital of the free world and never given the chance to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.”
READ: The “Abortion on the Ballot” Battle Just Took an Interesting Turn…
