Upholding the Declaration of Independence’s Right to Life
The year 2026 has arrived, and with it, the momentous 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. While the preparations for the celebration of this milestone are well underway, the witness of tens of thousands of Americans marching in Washington on January 23 gives us pause to reflect upon those who still believe in what the Founders committed us to in Philadelphia in 1776. With the Democrat party outright rejecting the plain meaning of the Declaration and certain voices within the Republican party going wobbly in their commitment to it, today the Declaration is up for grabs.
What did the Founders commit us to in 1776? It is worth repeating so as to remind us what we are supposed to be celebrating:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
Every Democrat leader today has rejected these words. For example, just three years ago, when then-Vice President Kamala Harris discussed the Declaration, she left out the words she didn’t agree with. The Democrat Party’s platform has for decades called to make alienable the right to life for all human beings not yet born. And just last month, Democrats in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, including the politician representing the area of Independence Hall where the Declaration was signed, began the process to eliminate the right to life for the unborn in Pennsylvania’s Constitution.
For those who still adhere to the entire Declaration, take heart. They are joined by the thousands who march for life in Washington, D.C. to demand that the federal government fulfill the Declaration’s promise. For much of the past half-century, these marchers have found a home in the Republican party, which was formed during an earlier era that saw a revival in the understanding of the Declaration. It was the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, who led that revival, and before he became president, he pleaded with his fellow citizens to reject doctrines that contradicted the “great landmarks” of our Declaration. Lincoln urged them to hold on to what the founders had called a self-evident truth, that we are created equal with inalienable rights.
Until recently, the party of Lincoln has affirmed unabashedly what the Declaration calls the unalienable right to life. Every GOP platform between 1980 and 2020 endorsed a constitutional amendment recognizing that unborn children possess the same right to life as every other human being. Yet today, some in the party of Lincoln are wavering. The GOP’s 2024 platform weakened the commitment to this foundational right, and this month, party leader President Trump called for “flexibility” regarding the long‑standing ban on taxpayer funding of abortion. The Trump administration also permitted a generic version of the abortion pill to enter the market, despite well‑documented complications associated with the existing drug, and Trump’s Department of Justice asked a court to dismiss a legal challenge to the Biden’s policy that expanded use of the drug.
Regrettably, the GOP’s wavering is not limited to abortion policy. It is also evident in the manner in which many Republicans uncritically defend the IVF industry. One hopes this stems from ignorance rather than indifference (or worse), because the reality inside IVF laboratories is deeply troubling. Countless human embryos—each a distinct human life—are routinely destroyed in the process as babies are manufactured. Such disregard for the inalienable right to life contradicts the Declaration and undermines the dignity of the smallest members of the human family. In their eagerness to defend the industry, some Republican leaders ignore other abuses, including Chinese billionaires using American IVF clinics to produce U.S.‑citizen children, and cases where surrogate mothers are left with unexpected medical bills and serious health complications.
Yet not all Republican leaders have abandoned the Declaration’s promise. Speaker Mike Johnson recently pushed back forcefully against efforts to weaken the prohibition on taxpayer‑funded abortion. It is essential that more Republicans follow Johnson’s – and Lincoln’s – lead.
With one major political party openly rejecting the Declaration’s central moral claim, it is more important than ever that the Republican Party remain committed to the Declaration in its entirety. If certain members of the party of Lincoln are unable to do that, then it may be time for some retirements.
(Congressman Keith Rothfus served 3 terms in the U.S. House. He is a Notre Dame Law School graduate living near Pittsburgh where he and his wife raised their family.)
