by Jentezen Franklin
President Trump’s unwavering defense of religious liberty and the sanctity of human life, as well as his recognition of the value of America’s Christian heritage, are why I’m a charter member of the Evangelicals for Trump coalition that was just launched in Miami.
There are myriad reasons for Americans of faith, and evangelical Christians in particular, to support Donald Trump’s re-election, starting with the most important issue of all: abortion.
President Trump is the most pro-life president this nation has ever seen, taking strong steps to counter the left’s radical abortion agenda at home and abroad. Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund the taking of innocent lives, whether on our soil or on the soil of other nations.
Almost immediately after taking office, President Trump reinstated the Mexico City policy, banning organizations tied to the global abortion industry from receiving funding from the U.S. government. The people of this country generously provide billions of dollars in foreign aid every year, and we have every right to insist that those gifts are used in accordance with our fundamental values.
The Trump administration has taken similar steps to ensure that federal funding is not used to promote abortion here at home, either, establishing regulations prohibiting family-planning clinics that refer clients to abortion services from receiving taxpayer dollars. Rather than complying with the new rules, Planned Parenthood gave up $60 million per year so that it could continue its barbaric campaign of mass infanticide — in the process helping the President fulfill yet another campaign promise.
Donald Trump is also the first sitting president to address the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., and his forceful condemnation during last year’s State of the Union address of Democrat efforts to expand abortion access was a rallying cry for pro-life Americans to stand up to the left’s abortion-on-demand radicalism, which now includes support for killing babies even after they’re born.
Protecting the lives of unborn and newborn children is only part of the story, though. President Trump is also aggressively defending the rights guaranteed to people of faith in the U.S. Constitution.
During Barack Obama’s presidency, Democrats used the federal government as a cudgel against churches and religious organizations, withholding disaster relief and trying to punish faith-based institutions for their beliefs. With a landmark Executive Order early in his first year in office, President Trump reaffirmed the expansive understanding of First Amendment protections that the Founding Fathers intended. Even more significantly, perhaps, this President has reversed Democrat policies that forced religious institutions to act contrary to their own beliefs, issuing new rules absolving organizations such as the Little Sisters of the Poor from the requirement to provide contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
President Trump has brought the same approach to the realm of foreign policy, hosting the first-ever United Nations summit on religious freedom in order to call attention to the systematic persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, and also securing the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson from wrongful imprisonment in Turkey.
These accomplishments on behalf of religious liberty and traditional morality will prove to be far more enduring than the opposition-led efforts to persecute Americans of faith, because President Trump has been steadily reshaping the federal judiciary throughout his time in the White House. In just three years, he’s already gotten 187 solidly conservative judges — including two crucial Supreme Court justices — confirmed to the federal bench, where they will serve as the first line of defense against efforts to curtail our God-given freedoms for decades into the future.
President Trump’s support for evangelicals and other people of faith is unconditional and unwavering, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to let him shoulder the weight on his own. As he seeks re-election, the Evangelicals for Trump coalition is going to make sure that all Americans are aware of exactly what’s at stake on Election Day. The best way to ensure that our children are able to enjoy the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities that we do today is to register to vote and then vote your faith.
God bless America, and God bless President Trump.
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Jentezen Franklin is an American evangelical pastor, author, and New York Times best-selling author. He is the senior pastor of Free Chapel, a multi-site church based in Gainesville, Georgia.
