Did Trump call this woman a “murderer”?

The tagline for a video on Now This states, “The man who would become president called me a murderer on national television.”  The story behind this shocking claim is tragic on many levels.  The statement comes from Erika Christensen, founder of a pro-abortion political organization, and the president in question is President Donald Trump.  Contrary to Christensen’s claim, Trump never called her a murderer.  So, what is this all about?

Abort Mission Works to Elect Pro-Choice Candidates

'The man who would become president called me a murderer on national television.' — The founder of Abort Mission Org is fighting to change 'outdated' abortion laws

Posted by NowThis Politics on Wednesday, November 7, 2018

In 2016, Christensen and her husband Garin Marschall discovered that their preborn son likely had significant disabilities.  In an anonymous interview posted on Jezebel, Christensen explained how the pregnancy progressed with normal test results despite signs that their baby might have some form of disability.  Early screening did not show anything definitive, and, Christensen said, “That’s also when we found out we were having a boy.  We had a really fancy 4-D ultrasound, and he was waving at us.”

However, as the pregnancy progressed into the second trimester, their son showed signs of some form of muscular dystrophy, although they still did not have a diagnosis.  Christensen said, “Then we find out that his feet really are clubbed.  I was so upset at first, because he was officially not going to be perfect.  I know that sounds crazy, especially in retrospect—but you have that hope that he’ll be perfect.”

Despite no clear indication what might be wrong, Christensen chillingly observed, “Some people probably would’ve aborted earlier, maybe based on projected bad news [of the early scans].”  Christensen and her husband held on to hope and even considered baby names.  She said, “We were researching great warriors, because it felt right that this guy should have a warrior name, considering the odds he was fighting.”

After their son’s growth stalled significantly late in the pregnancy, doctors predicted that their son would not live long after birth, likely struggling to breathe.  This is devastating news that no parent should ever hear.   Christensen said she was told, “This baby was unviable, basically.  That’s what they say.  They say that the baby is ‘incompatible with life.’”  The medical team caring for Christensen and her son evidently did not offer perinatal hospice care or acknowledge the fact that her son they claimed was “incompatible with life” was living and they did not even know what his disability was.

Sadly, doctors recommended that Christensen travel to Colorado, one of the few places in the United States with an abortionist who will commit an abortion on a baby very close to birth.  Abortions are illegal after 24 weeks in New York.  When Christensen was 32 weeks pregnant, she and her husband traveled to Colorado and an abortionist injected a lethal substance into their preborn son, which over the course of an hour-and-a-half stopped his heart.  The lethal injection cost $10,000 cash.

They then traveled back to New York, where Christensen gave birth to her deceased baby.  She said, “I felt every body part coming out.  I felt the whole thing.”  There is never any doubt in Christensen’s story that her child is fully human, waving at an early ultrasound, fighting against the odds, and struggling for 90 minutes as a lethal injection stopped his beating heart.

What does Donald Trump have to do with this tragic story?  Since the anonymous interview, Christensen has been public about her story and founded an organization that works to elect extreme pro-abortion candidates.  Christensen’s goal is to change laws like the ban on abortions after 24 weeks in New York so that abortionists can kill preborn babies at any stage of pregnancy and for any reason.

In the Now This video, Christensen contends that in the presidential debate leading up to the 2016 election, Donald Trump called her a murderer.  She said, “A candidate for f**king president was literally calling me a murderer on national television.”

Except that he didn’t.  What Donald Trump said was, “In the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother, just prior to the birth of the baby.  Now, you can say that that’s ok.  And Hillary [Clinton] can say that that’s ok.  But it’s not ok with me.”  This is what a late-term abortion is.  Even when a late abortion is chosen in misguided compassion with a sincere desire to prevent a child with a disability from suffering, this does not change the fact that the abortionist is stopping that baby’s beating heart.

Parents facing a difficult diagnosis or uncertain future for their preborn baby deserve to know that abortion is not necessary and is not their only option.  Life-affirming options are available in perinatal hospice.  No child deserves to die because he or she has a disability, and no parent should be offered a torturous procedure (for both child and mother) rather than options that affirm the dignity of the child and bring comfort and healing to parents.  A terminal diagnosis for a preborn baby does not mean that we must choose death in the womb.