Iowa.- Republican hopefuls for the White House will seek support from influential religious conservatives at an event in Iowa that marks the unofficial kickoff of the state’s primary campaign ahead of the 2024 election.
The annual fundraising meeting of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition attracts, among others, former President Donald Trump, who has already proclaimed his candidacy, as well as former Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Tim Scott , which is expected to do so soon. Trump will speak via video link. Florida Gov. Ron deSantis, considered one of his top contenders, will not attend.
The event sponsored by a Christian group gives hopefuls a chance to present their positions to evangelicals in the state where the Republican nomination process will begin next year. It also allows them to meet activists who could seek an alternative to Trump, mired in legal trouble and who is on trial in New York for allegedly bribing a porn actress.
Abortion rights have re-emerged as a central election issue since the right achieved its long-sought goal of overturning Roe v. Wade, the ruling that had affirmed the federal right to terminate a pregnancy.
The Republican presidential caucus is trying to determine how far they can support abortion restrictions to satisfy the conservative base in the primaries without alienating voters in the general election, who are overwhelmingly in favor of legal abortion.
On Thursday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the nation’s leading anti-abortion group, condemned Trump’s position that abortion restrictions should be the state’s business, not the federal government’s. The group said it is a “morally indefensible position for a pro-life presidential candidate,” a sharp rebuke to the former president whose Supreme Court appointments allowed the ruling to be overturned.
The anti-abortion group has said that it will not support a candidate who does not declare himself at least for the ban on abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy.
Trump was praised for his judicial appointments but criticized after last year’s election for saying the Republicans’ poor performance was because anti-abortionists oppose exempting women victims of rape or incest from the restrictions or whose life is at risk.
Every Republican already in or about to run has supported the state restrictions. Most have been more cautious about a national ban.
