(LifeSiteNews) — First of all, let there be no doubt that I am in favor of banning all abortions, period. Moreover, as a Florida resident, I disagree with President Trump that our state’s ban on abortion at six weeks was a “terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” as he suggested to NBC’s Kristen Welker. The law was passed by our state legislature, signed into law by our governor, and represents the views of the majority of the people of Florida.
But Trump’s criticism of our Florida law is not news. Back in May, the president had already expressed the opinion that the law was “too harsh.”
Trump’s candor on the issue is disconcerting and refreshing at the same time: disconcerting because we were hoping for more from the most pro-life president in a generation. Refreshing because he is far more candid on this issue than most politicians, who generally tell you only what they think you want to hear.
Like it or not – and the reaction from some pro-life leaders has been decidedly negative – Trump’s views on the life issue mirror those held by most Americans. The polls show that, while the majority of Americans oppose late- and even mid-term abortions, they balk at banning early abortions. And they by and large support exceptions, even while opposing the use of taxpayer dollars to fund them.
Trump has also drawn fire from some for suggesting that pro-life candidates position themselves all wrong. But in this he is obviously correct. Tudor Dixon was crushed in the Michigan gubernatorial race 54-45 because she allowed herself to be framed as a “anti-abortion extremist.” Even she herself recently admitted this.
On this question, President Trump leads by example. He relentlessly paints the Democrats as pro-abortion extremists. In the interview with Kristen Welker, for instance, he talks about how Virginia Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam’s defended out-and-out infanticide. And in response to Welker’s claim that no one argues for abortion-on-demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy, Trump was quick to point out that New York’s so-called Reproductive Health Act of 2019 does exactly that.
It is from this perspective that his recent remark on “mediating a compromise” on the abortion issue must be understood. For what he is really doing is setting and baiting a trap for the pro-abortion movement.
Remember, Trump has spent his entire life negotiating business deals. His The Art of the Deal is one of the best books ever written on the subject. His skill in this area is legendary. It is how he became a multi-billionaire.
So let me spell out for you exactly how Trump’s 4-D chess strategy works.
When he says, “I am going to be a mediator between the pro-life and pro-abortion side,” he is positioning himself to be the only adult in the room. He is the one, he is telling the American people, who is going to be reasonable on the issue and reach some kind of mutually agreeable compromise.
He does this knowing – although many Americans do not – that the Democrats are absolutely intransigent on the issue of abortion, loudly and angrily rejecting all efforts at compromise.
So what happens when he actually invites both sides to come to the negotiating table over abortion legislation?
READ: Dear Trump: Abortion isn’t a business deal where ‘both sides’ have valid points
Pro-lifers will hasten to take a seat, eager to make the case for the babies. Their goal, they will tell Trump – and, by extension, the American public – is to save as many unborn lives as possible with the end goal of ending the scourge of abortion once and for all.
In stark contrast to pro-life Republicans, however, there is a good chance that the pro-abortion seat at the table will remain empty.
Remember, the Democrat Party is the Party of Abortion. The belief that all women (and men) are entitled to taxpayer-funded abortions at any point in pregnancy up to birth defines who they are. Just last year, every single House Democrat but one voted for legislation to make abortion on demand the law of the land. And the one outlier, Dan Lipinski, was purged in that year’s Democrat primary.
So committed are the House Democrats to abortion that they even voted as a bloc against a law that would have required that infants born alive after a failed abortion receive basic medical care. Only two (!) Democrats out of over 200 opposed what amounts to infanticide.
When the Democrats refuse Trump’s offer of mediation – and refuse even to show up for discussions – they will stand revealed before all America as being the radical abortion extremists that they are.
Who wins? Donald Trump and the pro-life movement.
In the unlikely event that the Democrats actually show up for negotiations, the outcome will be the same.
Whatever Trump suggests, such as banning late term abortions, will be rejected by the Democrats out of hand. They will refuse to accept any restrictions on abortion, as Vice President Kamala Harris recently made clear. The American public will learn, for example, that in 2020 only two Senate Democrats were willing to ban abortion at 20 weeks.
Trump will cut through euphemisms like “reproductive health care” and force the Democrats to explicitly state their position. He made this clear during the NBC interview when he said, “what’s going to happen is you’re going to come up with a number of weeks or months, you’re going to come up with a number that’s going to make people happy. Because 92 percent of the Democrats don’t want to see abortion after a certain period of time.”
READ: Trump calls six-week abortion ban ‘terrible,’ gets slammed by pro-life leaders
The Democrats will refuse to compromise. Instead, they will demand that abortion be legalized up to the point of childbirth. They will demand that babies born alive after failed abortions be left to die. They will demand that pro-lifers pay for these atrocities. And they will once again stand revealed as the radical abortion extremists that they are.
The result: Trump and the pro-life movement win.
Don’t you see what President Trump is doing? He is dividing the Democrat Party, forcing moderate Democrat voters (and independents) to come to grips with just how far out of the mainstream the leaders of their party have become on the abortion issue.
Socially conservative minorities and Catholics will exit the Democrat Party in large numbers, while American public opinion will move in a pro-life direction.
At the end of the day, Trump’s strategy of negotiation will make it possible to save even more babies as we work towards the goal of zero abortions.
And isn’t this what we all want?
Steven W. Mosher is the President of the Population Research Institute and the author of Bully of Asia and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Pandemics.