A whirlwind of executive actions in the first week of President Donald J. Trump’s new administration have boded surprisingly well for the personhood movement.
Not too long ago, pro-life Americans were disappointed to see the gutting of the pro-life language in the GOP platform in July of 2024, as Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) reported last year. Despite the apparent shift away from a focus on defending life during the election season, the newly-elected executive branch has already effected a series of victories in the first business week in office (January 20-24) alone.
FACE Act Political Prisoners Freed
In last month’s Open Letter from GRTL President Ricardo Davis to incoming-President Trump, you may have noticed the request for Trump to “Pardon all peaceful, non-violent pro-life persons convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, and lobby Congress to fully repeal the FACE Act.”
At face value, the FACE Act prohibits protesters from blocking access to “reproductive health services” (which means both abortion mills and pregnancy aid clinics). It also extends these protections to “place[s] of religious worship.”
Despite the seemingly inclusive language, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) “brought a total of 24 FACE Act prosecutions against 55 defendants, with only two of these cases concerning attacks on pregnancy resource centers. To this day, the FACE Act has never been used in defense of a church since it was passed in 1994,” Representative Chip Roy explained. This is especially jarring in the wake of 436 attacks on churches by pro-aborts in the year 2023 alone.
On the 23rd of January, Trump took a step to remedy this injustice by pardoning 23 peaceful pro-lifers who had been prosecuted under the FACE Act by the Biden administration.
And the news gets even better. The very next day, a DOJ memo was released that both significantly curtails “abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions and civil actions” and dismisses three FACE Act cases currently underway.
While these immediate actions solve just the immediate issues, the legislative branch is also working to make lasting change. The FACE Act Repeal Act of 2025 has been reintroduced in the House of Representatives, and these aforementioned victories give cause for hope that the bill will progress this legislative session.
Acknowledging that Life Begins at Conception
In one of his day one executive orders, Trump signed “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
This executive order is consistent with Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” However, the verbiage of the order alludes to the Imago Dei in more ways than one.
The definition section reads (emphasis added):
(d) “Female” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell.
(e) “Male” means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.
While this order does not explicitly define life as beginning at fertilization, it certainly carries that implication, which lays the groundwork for doing so more formally at a federal level. Consequently, it is no surprise that just four days later, the legislative branch followed suit by introducing the Life at Conception Act in Congress.
Per a press release from Congressman Eric Burlison, “The Life at Conception Act ensures this promise [of the Fourteenth Amendment’s right to life] applies to the unborn, recognizing them as persons with equal protection under the law.”
Ending Federal Taxpayer Funding of Abortions
On January 24, Trump signed the executive order titled “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment.” As the order explains, the Hyde Amendment dates back nearly 50 years and was enacted annually by Congress to “prevent Federal funding of elective abortion.”
On the surface, this executive order does not seem groundbreaking. Though the Hyde Amendment has supposedly been in effect for roughly 50 years, it clearly has not been followed effectively. A 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office shows that Planned Parenthood alone received $1.78 billion in federal funding from 2019-2021.
However, the verbiage in the new executive order sets the stage for true enforcement: “It is the policy of the United States, consistent with the Hyde Amendment, to end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion.”
This line is key. The order does not just say that the US will follow the Hyde Amendment. It says that the country’s policy will be to end federal dollars paying for abortions and even promoting them.
The president also reinstated the Mexico Policy, which prevents federal funds from being used to promote abortion abroad.
Executive Presence at National March for Life
Despite the busyness of the first week in office, both Trump and Vice President JD Vance prioritized supporting the annual pro-life march in Washington D.C. The vice president spoke in person to the attendees, and the president spoke via a video message.
Following such a successful week for the movement in terms of governmental action, Vance affirmed that it will not stop there, saying, “no longer will the federal government direct FBI raids on the homes of people like Mark Houck and other Catholic and Christian activists who are fighting for the unborn every single day. And no longer will our government throw pro-life protesters and activists, elderly grandparents or anybody else in prison. It stopped on Monday, and we’re not going to let it come back to this country.”
Conclusion
The swift actions in favor of personhood by the new Trump administration have given the pro-life movement of 2025 a burst of momentum to start off the year strong. That being said, it is essential that we do not put our faith in the government but in God alone. As Psalm 118:9 posits, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.”
While the grassroots personhood movement (that’s you, dear reader!) continues to labor for the equal protection of all persons, inside and outside of the womb, these above-stated executive actions are still cause for rejoicing (Philippians 4:4). Despite the persecutions of pro-lifers in recent years, despite the increase in abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the tides are turning in favor of life. As the popular meme that has been circulating these past few weeks says, “We’re so back.”
Sources by Section
FACE Act Political Prisoners Freed:
Chip Roy Quote
Churches Attacked, no FACE Act Prosecutions
DOJ Memo to Limit FACE Act
Remarks by President Trump at Executive Order Signing
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994
Acknowledging that Life Begins at Conception:
English Standard Version Bible Online
Two Sexes Executive Order
Eric Burlison Press Release
Ending Federal Taxpayer Funding of Abortions:
Enforcing the Hyde Amendment
Memo to Reinstate Mexico City Policy
Government Accountability Office Report
Trump Administration Pro-life fact sheet
Executive Presence at National March for Life:
Full Transcript of Vance’s March for Life Speech
Rachel Krause
Georgia Right to Life
Newsletter Coordinator