One of the largest pro-life groups in the nation on Thursday blasted Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump for saying he would work to change the GOP platform on abortion to include exceptions for rape, incest and threat to the life of the mother.
Live Action President Lila Rose said abortion is wrong regardless of how the child is conceived.
“If you are pro-life, you can’t say certain lives are less worthy or don’t deserve protection because of how they are conceived,” Ms. Rose said in a statement. “To say children conceived in rape are somehow less human and shouldn’t be allowed to live is a grave injustice.”
She also said more than 1,000 medical professionals have disputed the notion that abortion is ever medically necessary to save the life of a mother.
“While life-saving medical treatment may result in the death of the child in a mother’s womb, there is a fundamental difference between providing that legitimate treatment and elective abortion,” she said.
The current Republican Party platform does not take a position on whether abortion should be legal in the cases of rape and incest.
Mr. Trump said Thursday on NBC’s “Today” that he would “absolutely” work to change it to include exceptions.
The billionaire businessman, who publicly claimed to be pro-choice until 2011, has drawn the ire of the pro-life community several times this election cycle.
He has praised Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, on numerous occasions for their non-abortive health services, and suggested current abortion laws should not be changed.
Mr. Trump also said women who procure illegal abortion should face some sort of “punishment,” before quickly walking back the statement.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.