Christian voters hesitate: Trump’s abortion record in doubt

You and I can’t understand how a professing Christian could vote for a rabid abortion warrior like Kamala Harris or a mostly-lefty like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or give someone half a vote by writing in another candidate. But based on the many Christian women I talk to every day, I can tell you their calculation. I know you disagree with them. I disagree with them too.

But so you know, this is generally their thinking: Abortion is the main issue, and they see every candidate as functionally pro-choice. To true pro-lifers, there is no moral difference between abortion at 16 weeks (Donald Trump’s position), abortion at 40 weeks (Kamala Harris), or an abortion somewhere in between (RFK), since all human life is equal in worth. Most abortions happen before 12 weeks anyway.

But don’t criticize persuadable voters — and ignore them at your peril. Instead, convince them.

Trump condemned Florida’s heartbeat law. If it’s truly a “states' rights” issue, then the president probably won’t make a big difference anyway. The “follow your heart” language is also, theologically, a huge turnoff to Christians (see Jeremiah 17:9). When Christians for Kamala puts out an ad demonstrating that Trump doesn’t know the gospel, the kind of Christian woman the group is actually impacting is not the one who will vote Harris. These women know Kamala doesn’t know the Bible from the Kama Sutra and that her policies are evil.

But now they may see that Trump also seems unfamiliar with the Bible and consider that his abortion policy may not be that much better. So they are likely to be demoralized altogether or have reason to vote for someone else. So a vital percentage of pro-lifers either will not vote for president or they’ll write in someone else.

Another smaller percentage of these women tell me they think RFK’s policies will help lower abortions through other means and that medical freedom is key to their support. But as I engage with these voters, I can tell that most if not all of their votes are still up for grabs. They can be persuaded. And these votes, once secured, are more reliable and therefore more valuable than the secular, independent liberals Trump seems to be vying for.

Persuade those people too, sure, but that crowd is fickle. Many of them can’t even be trusted to vote, much less enthusiastically, publicly support Republicans. Trump must fight to secure every single pro-life Christian vote. He cannot win without them. And if you think, “They’ll vote Trump because they have nowhere else to go,” you’ve made a fatal miscalculation. They see voting for a pro-choice candidate as rewarding compromise, and yes, they’d rather Republicans lose than play a role in that. You can call that insane, but maybe try to persuade them instead.

Harris' and Walz's record on abortion and straight-up infanticide is so bleak. Their positions on immigration and economics are destructive. They are agents of chaos. All of this has a huge, tangible effect on our children and the neighbors whom we are called to love. A percentage of professing Christian women will vote for Kamala Harris, but they’re not in my audience and they probably can’t be persuaded to switch their votes, as their support for her speaks to some very fundamental errors about human nature, good and evil, and the role of government that we don’t have time to correct in the next few months.

But don’t criticize persuadable voters — and ignore them at your peril. Instead, convince them. Remind them of the chaos they’re voting against and the security, stability, and normalcy they’re voting for when they vote for Trump.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally on X (formerly Twitter).