Tomorrow, I hope to feature a detailed post on President Trump’s second State of the Union (SOTU) address, which he delivered to both Houses of Congress on Tuesday, February 5, 2019.

In his speech, the US president spoke persuasively about cherishing life in the womb. From LifeNews.com (emphases mine):

“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb,” the president said. “Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life.”

And:

He added, “Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. Let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.”

This is contrary to the Democrats wanting to legalise abortion in various states up to birth. This is now possible in New York.

Some call that late-term abortion, some call it at-birth abortion, and others of us call it infanticide.

The day after Trump’s SOTU address, an interviewer from The Daily Caller asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) what she thought of the president’s stance in wanting a ban on late-term abortions.

Speaker Pelosi replied that Trump’s desire to prohibit late-term abortion was ‘sad’. The Daily Caller reported:

“It’s really quite a sad thing when you know that we’ll be talking about something that applies to the health and life — health and ability to have other children of women,” she said when asked by The Daily Caller. “I hope that in his family, he never has to face that crisis and apply his attitude toward it.”

I’m not sure all of that quite makes rhetorical sense, but, despite the word salad, it’s pretty clear she’s against.

The only Democrat to stand and applaud when Trump spoke against late-term abortion was Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia). He told The Daily Caller:

“To me, it shouldn’t be a fight at all. It’s just totally immoral to do that. I think.”

“I just think it’s just horrendous,” Manchin noted. “I don’t know how anyone could even fathom supporting anything such as late-term abortion.”

Like many of today’s Democrats, both Pelosi and Manchin are nominal Catholics. Their views on abortion and Planned Parenthood go against Church teaching.

Interestingly, in 2018, Church Militant featured a profile of both Manchin and his Republican opponent — also Catholic — Patrick Morrissey, described as being ‘100% pro-life’.

The article says that Manchin spoke of an abortion debate in 2017:

“These are social issues, not political issues,” Manchin said of the abortion debate last year. “You are what you are — I was born and raised that way. Life is very sacred to me.”

Yet, we learn from Morrissey — and this is rather surprising for a socially conservative state — that late-term abortion is legal in West Virginia:

In 2014 — his second year as attorney general — he rallied fellow pro-lifers: “In West Virginia, abortion is legally permitted until birth — one of nine states where that is allowed. I will gladly defend new laws that change this terrible fact. Let’s do something about our lack of protection for unborn children now.”

Wow. Who knew?

Manchin holds some contradictory positions. Could he, a former governor of West Virginia (2005-2010), be having a change of heart?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi’s position on the matter seems to be more mainstream among today’s Democrats.