“Protecting life” and strengthening “traditional marriage” remain the stated priorities for the Faith and Freedom Coalition, an organization that has spent nearly two decades mobilizing conservative Christian voters.
But abortion and same-sex marriage received scant attention as the group gathered in the nation’s capital on Friday, including in the lengthy remarks from the event’s headline speaker: President Donald Trump.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has largely sidestepped causes long championed by the conservative faith movement that helped him propel him back to office, privately arguing that issues such as abortion are political liabilities for a Republican Party trying to protect its narrow majorities in Congress. Even as some activists have grown frustrated, they Activists have largely refrained from publicly pressuring Trump to act, mindful of his unparalleled influence over their voters.
Yet, there are growing signs that social conservatives are preparing to revive those fights — and open new ones — as Republicans begin looking forward to a post-Trump future.
SBA Pro-Life America, one of the nation’s leading anti-abortion groups, is already plotting how it can shape the early nominating fight to succeed Trump in Iowa and South Carolina and force Republican presidential candidates to take a stand on establishing a nationwide cutoff on abortions after a certain point in pregnancy. The group has said it plans to spend $80 million in the 2028 presidential election to back aligned candidates.
