EXCLUSIVE – Live Action founder and pro-life leader Lila Rose told Americans to trust their conscience when voting for president in 2024, and argued that former President Trump was backsliding on pro-life issues, despite his role in the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court a year ago this week, ending nearly 50 years of a national right to abortion enshrined in law. In the nearly 12 months since that historic ruling, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, some of the most influential voices in the pro-life movement are pushing for a new frontier — complete and equal protection for children, according to Rose.
"I'm very hopeful. And it's not just empty optimism," Rose said of the future of the pro-life movement.
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Over the last year, Rose said, "360 pro-life bills were filed in state legislatures. There were 24,000 fewer abortions post-Dobbs. And that's even with increases in places like California. So these are steps forward."
Some of those steps, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade, have been monumental.
"The chokehold of Roe is now gone," Rose said. But the pro-life movement is not done in America, she argued.
"If we spend our time listening to what our opponents are telling us is politically possible and what the media says is politically possible, we would make no progress," she said. "The mission is complete legal protection for the unborn child. And so that means being aggressive and bold with our pro-life strategy, not making compromises."
"The pro-life movement needs to be aggressive," Rose said.
Rose herself has not shied away from battling with major political personalities. She made waves on Twitter after she declared in April that Trump "disqualified" himself from the Republican nomination by "calling the human right to life merely a ‘state-level' issue."
During the interview with Fox News Digital, she doubled down on that statement.
"It's really unfortunate," she said, responding to Trump’s comments on the six-week abortion ban in Florida. "States rights," Trump reportedly told advisors in private when discussing the ban, indicating that he wanted to stay away from the issue.
"I do think it is disqualifying," Rose said.
But Rose conceded that Trump "surrounded himself" with strong pro-life leaders while he was in office. He also nominated three justices to the Supreme Court that were instrumental in the Dobbs decision in Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
"I think when President Trump was in office, there were great people that joined his administration that he surrounded himself with. Vice President Pence was a stalwart pro-life leader. He had been stalwart as a governor of Indiana when he led there," she said.
A Trump spokesperson responded to Rose's comments in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"President Trump’s unmatched record speaks for itself—nominating pro-life federal judges and Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade, ending taxpayer funded abortions, reinstated the Mexico City Policy that protects the life of the unborn abroad, and many other actions that championed the life of the unborn. There has been no bigger advocate for the movement than President Trump. SBA recently praised the Trump Presidency as ‘the most consequential in American history for the pro-life cause.’"
"Contrast that with Joe Biden’s abhorrent record of abortion on demand," the spokesperson continued, "and using American tax dollars to fund the killing of the most vulnerable, it is clear we need President Trump back in the White House."
Rose also acknowledged that Trump appointed "really solid" judges to the Supreme Court "who supported the right to life" and helped overturn Roe v. Wade.
But she said that since then, Trump has gone backwards on pro-life issues. "On life, he is backpedaling and he's actually attacking the pro-life movement," Rose said of Trump. She also pushed back strongly on arguments from Trump fans that the pro-life movement has to follow Trump’s lead.
"The argument that we should be endlessly loyal to Trump because of what an incredible thing it was that Roe was overruled" is not a "good argument," Rose said. "I do think there are other issues with Trump's candidacy."
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She continued, "We can say, yes, this was a good thing that Roe v Wade was overruled. And yes, it was because the Trump administration and ultimately Trump appointed these justices. But there are a lot of other factors at play."
In particular, Rose was critical of what she called "blind loyalty" on the part of some "diehard Trump supporters" on the former president's record on abortion and pro-life issues.
When asked if she supported any candidate in particular, Rose emphasized that her organization, Live Action, has not and cannot endorse a political candidate. But in her personal capacity, Rose said, she might be open to endorsing a candidate in the future.
Rose emphasized that Americans should "vote their conscience," saying that there is no "perfect mathematical analysis that you can make when it comes to choosing between candidates."
She was harsh on most news media for being "pro-abortion."
"The bias in the media is infuriating," she said. "It's ridiculous. It is. It needs to be exposed… I would not let the media tell you who is really winning or losing because they're probably lying to you."
Rose concluded by pointing ahead to the future of the pro-life movement.
"What is the North Star of our movement?" she asked. "It is complete legal protection for the pre-born, as promised by the 14th Amendment of our U.S. Constitution."
"So I'm very excited about that because that will help us achieve the mission," Rose said. "We are going to raise even complete legal protection. Abortion is illegal and unthinkable in this country."
"We're going to get there," she added.
