VP Mike Pence stops in Westmoreland, rallies pro-life voters at Murrysville church

Anti-abortion activists from across the region gathered Wednesday at Cornerstone Ministries in Murrysville as Vice President Mike Pence addressed the kick-off of the Susan B. Anthony List’s campaign to engage pro-life voters in Pennsylvania.

The visit to the large, nondenominational church marked Pence’s third appearance with the group. Long a favorite with evangelicals and pro-life voters for his anti-abortion stance, Pence previously addressed Susan B. Anthony List rallies in Florida and North Carolina.

Addressing the local crowd in a so-called fireside chat from a stage set up to mimic a living room setting, Pence thanked them for working to support pro-life initiatives and slammed the Democratic presidential ticket.

“Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris stand with a party that stands for abortion right up to the moment of birth. … They support people who will legislate from the bench rather than preserve our most-cherished values,” Pence charged.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List and author of “Life Is Winning,” said the group plans to spend about $52 million nationally in its quest to elect pro-life candidates this year with the ultimate goal of overturning the landmark 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling.

The group committed about $1.5 million to its effort in Pennsylvania, she said. The effort here includes a series of ads in newspapers across the state as well as a goal of knocking on 175,000 doors.

“We are here because this is where pro-life voters are swayed by the pro-life coalition,” Dannenfelser said. She said President Trump and Pence have made good on their promise to appoint pro-life judges who may ultimately accomplish the group’s goals.

Emily Callen, executive director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, slammed the Trump administration for what she called its efforts to limit sexual and reproductive health care. She said Planned Parenthood also is organizing a seven-figure voter engagement campaign around reproductive health issues in Pennsylvania.

Their campaigns come as abortion in Pennsylvania and across the nation has tumbled to 40-year lows.

The most recent numbers available show the abortion rate among women ages 15 to 44 in Pennsylvania declined to 11.8 per 1,000 females by 2017, or about half of the 1980 abortion rate of 23.1 per 1,000 females in that age group.

Pro-life activists were among the coalition of blue-collar workers, evangelicals and disaffected voters from rural and suburban counties — including Westmoreland, where Trump won by a 2-to-1 margin over Hillary Clinton — who pushed Trump to a 44,000 vote victory in Pennsylvania in 2016. Those margins helped him overcome voters in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties — the state’s largest districts, which went for Clinton.

The Cornerstone event that attracted several hundred pro-life activists, including U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, and John Joyce, R-Blair, was by invitation.

Leaving for a “Workers for Trump” rally in Beaver County, Pence said pro-life activists must continue their efforts at the ballot box.

“We have more work to do,” Pence said.

He cited the Supreme Court’s failure to uphold the Louisiana law that required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

“That leads me to believe we need more conservatives on the Supreme Court,” he said, eliciting cheers from the crowd.