Young Conservatives' Criticisms of Ronald Reagan are Misplaced
GenZ conservatives are attacking Reagan on abortion and on immigration. That's a mistake, as well as an injustice. I was there.
by Rod D. Martin
November 12, 2024
Some GenZ conservatives are attacking Ronald Reagan on abortion and on immigration. That's a mistake, as well as an injustice. I was there.
Our young friends correctly state that then-Governor Reagan signed the bill that legalized abortion in California, six years before Roe v. Wade. They miss his conversion on the issue, which was far more genuine and profound than any other I’ve seen in American politics.
(It’s also worth noting that when Reagan signed the California bill, and for the first few years after Roe, even most Evangelicals supported abortion. They didn’t understand the issue. Once they did, the modern pro-life movement was born. But it took a while.)
Reagan was the first post-Roe President to take a pro-life stand. And that stand was noticeably without the rape or incest exceptions Republicans adopted after him. His chief GOP opponent in 1980 was explicitly pro-abortion, as was the immediate-past GOP President, Gerald Ford.
No President has w…