GOP Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake came out Thursday to announce that she opposes the Arizona law that bans almost all abortions. The law went into effect after the state Supreme Court ruled this week that it was indeed the law post-Dobbs. 

“This total ban on abortion that the Arizona Supreme Court just ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are,” said Lake in her video announcement while inspiring music played in the background to temper her betrayal of her prior pro-life position. “The issue is less about banning abortion and more about saving babies.”

Lake took it further, arguing that she believes pregnant women should have “more choices.”

“I chose life,” she said. “But I’m not every woman. I want to make sure that every woman who finds herself pregnant has more choices so that she can make that choice that I made.”

This is activism for legalizing abortion. This is full-throated support for the cause of killing children. 

It is also the necessary consequence of Trump’s announcement this week that he would not seek national restrictions on abortion. 

On Monday, Trump washed his hands clean and declared that he would cast aside the pro-life cause, on a national level, in order to get elected president. “You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember you must also win elections to restore our culture,” he said. 

What a politically prudent move! declared a large section of conservatives. 

Such a perspective reasons that (1) abortion has played terribly at the ballot box as of late, and (2) passing an abortion ban is unrealistic given the filibuster and the makeup of Congress — and that, therefore, surrendering for now on the issue of abortion at a national scale will allow conservatives to win elections and make the greatest possible strike against abortion.

The problem is that once a presidential candidate has come out and said he will not seek to make abortion illegal in our country, he has joined the pro-abortion cause. This might seem a harsh, unflinching statement detached from practical realities, but we have to remember what it is we’re talking about. This is the mass murder, on a genocidal scale, of children. This is the slaughter by evil doctors — usually by “medication” that is deadly poison to an unborn child — of millions upon millions of Americans. You cannot declare that as president you would wield none of your power against this unbelievable force of evil and then still claim you’re pro-life.

Trump stated this week that the issue of abortion is about “states’ rights” and “the will of the people.” Try saying that slavery is just a matter of “states’ rights.” Such a statement would be abhorrent. The same is true when the mass murder of innocent children is claimed to be about “states’ rights.”

Once you’ve adopted the “moderate” stance that abortion should be legal or illegal based upon the desire of the people or the states, you have surrendered. All moral authority you might have possessed on abortion has evaporated. You and the party you lead are no longer seeking an end to abortion — hence why Kari Lake’s pro-life position immediately crumbled upon Trump’s announcement. Moral leadership for the pro-life cause — in whatever form it may have existed — disappeared, and full-on abortion activism followed.

Sure, as a practical matter, a president may have to accept some concessions in order to have the greatest impact on decreasing abortions (although he should still be clear that this is only a concession). He might also focus on the issue less during a campaign given electoral realities. But a president cannot declare that he won’t seek to make abortion illegal and maintain any pretense that he is seeking an end to abortion. 

What will follow from Trump’s announcement is more Kari Lakes — more liberals claiming to be conservatives who advocate for the legalization of abortion. 

And those politicians — who are unattractive to virtually all voters — will not bring about those predicted electoral wins. 

You have to actually fight for something for people to believe in you. 

READ MORE: On Abortion, Trump Has Gravely Erred