A senior figure in conservative Christian politics has expressed concern about former President Donald Trump’s recent positions on issues including abortion and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Albert Mohler, a 64-year-old Southern Baptist leader based in Kentucky, made the comments this week, warning that the candidate’s inconsistency could be his downfall.
The comments came in response to Trump’s recent remarks on Truth Social, where he said his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.”
In April, the 78-year-old refused to back a national abortion ban, saying it should be up to each state to decide. In 2020, he said he wanted to overturn federal protections for the procedure and would support a near-total ban.
In an interview with The New York TimesThe president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary explained why this, along with Trump’s statements saying his administration would require insurers to cover IVF, could alienate loyal voters.
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Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler, 64, of Kentucky, made the comments this week, warning that the candidate’s inconsistency could be his undoing.
The comments came in response to Trump’s recent remarks saying his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights” and that the government or insurers would cover IVF.
“Trump is in grave danger,” Mohler told host Astead W. Herndon on the newspaper’s The Run-Up podcast.
“(He) is basically daring the pro-life movement to turn against him,” he added of the comments on Truth Social.
Referring to the deviations of Trump’s previous two presidential campaigns, Mohler added: “I have no idea what Donald Trump actually believes about abortion.”
“Donald Trump is either going to win or lose this election,” the Louisville Baptist newspaper concluded.
“And I think a lot of it will come down to that question in terms of how strongly conservative voters and pro-life voters vote for him or not.
“And that’s my warning.”
Mohler, who in 2020 was the subject of a petition of more than 11,000 people from fellow Christians for his “failure to condemn systemic racism and police violence” during the George Floyd protests, has since turned his attention to IVF.
The popular procedure that is legal in all states except Alabama allows women to extract eggs from their ovaries to be fertilized by sperm in a lab, although when frozen embryos are thawed and prepared for transfer, they are sometimes destroyed.
They also came in response to the former president’s recent remarks on Truth Social, where he said his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.”
In April, the 78-year-old declined to back a national abortion ban, after previously taking credit for overturning Roe v. Wade.
That has alarmed some who see the destruction of human embryos as immoral, concerns renewed after Trump said last week that the government or private insurance companies would cover the cost of procedures that cost tens of thousands of dollars with no guarantee of success.
“Under the Trump administration, we’re going to have to pay for that treatment,” Trump told NBC News and other news stations on the campaign trail on Aug. 29, during stops in Michigan and Wisconsin.
‘We’re going to force the insurance company to pay.’
The statement served as a swift about-face for the man who supported the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and came shortly after Trump received criticism for past policy proposals.
One standout policy was his 2017 tax plan that many said favored the wealthy, apparently prompting the Republican to abruptly announce last month that he would eliminate tip taxes for service workers.
Facing similar criticism for effectively eliminating federal abortion rights, the presidential hopeful is now advocating for IVF protections, no matter the cost.
This, coupled with Trump’s long back-and-forth on abortion, has frustrated Mohler to no end, the preacher said Thursday.
Mohler suggested that without the support of anti-abortion voters Trump’s path to victory could be jeopardized, saying Trump’s comments reflect “disorganization” and that his comments on IVF show a lack of understanding.
The preacher who was once the subject of a more than 11,000-person petition from his fellow Christians for his “failure to condemn systemic racism and police violence” during the George Floyd protests said these changes are certain to jeopardize his campaign.
“I think nothing less than the sacredness and dignity of human life is at stake,” Mohler said, saying younger evangelical voters are now showing less enthusiasm for the Republican than in previous election campaigns.
“I don’t think he understands everything that’s involved there,” she added of Trump’s newfound appreciation for IVF, which he has openly criticized in his own congregation.
“I hear much, much less enthusiasm for a Donald Trump campaign,” he said, though he admitted that compared to Harris, the politician remains “the lesser of two evils.”
Meanwhile, Trump continues to back away from support for national restrictions that could prove a hurdle for Republicans struggling to win back key groups — such as suburban women — who have drifted away from the GOP in recent years.
Yet he remains eager to take credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, despite shifting abortion authority to the states.
“States will decide by vote or by law, or perhaps by both. And what they decide should be the law of the land,” Trump said in April of abortion rights. “Now, it’s up to the states to do the right thing.”