Policy | Family Talk

Checking In on the Presidential Transition

Written by Gary Bauer | December 06, 2024

We are about halfway through the transition period between the outgoing Biden-Harris administration and the incoming Trump-Vance team. Every day, President-elect Trump has been announcing appointments to key positions in his second administration. Those “personnel” will often determine policy.

We have some good news, particularly on the issue of the sanctity of life. President-elect Trump nominated pro-life Dr. Marty Makary as head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Makary is a surgical oncologist at Johns Hopkins University. He has been a regular contributor on Fox News for medical issues.

In a June 2002 Fox News interview, Dr. Makary explained in great detail the development of a baby in utero. He shared the horror of witnessing an abortion while he was a student in medical training. He said he saw the preborn child trying to avoid the abortionist’s instruments.

Dr. Makary was deeply impacted. He told Tucker Carlson, “It doesn’t matter which side you protest on around this issue, if you see the actual images of what’s happening and a baby resisting an abortion, it’ll weigh on your conscience.”

Makary also expressed anger over the extent to which the medical community has been compromised by pro-abortion pressure. “Today, you can barely talk about it. . . . Nurses can get fired if they don’t participate, medical students are ridiculed, most of the professional medical associations have taken a political stand now supporting abortion right up until the third trimester.”

Abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy is the position the Harris-Walz ticket promoted during the campaign. Analysts believe that over $400 million was spent on pro-abortion ads. Thankfully, voters rejected that extremism.

We welcome Dr. Makary as the new head of the FDA.

We also celebrate the nomination of Dr. David Weldon, new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Weldon served in Congress for fourteen years until his 2008 retirement. During that time, he consistently voted pro-life and authored a pro-life “conscience clause” to protect doctors and nurses from being forced to participate in abortions. He is well known in the pro-life, pro-family movement and is a long-time friend and ally of JDFI.

Dr. Weldon’s appointment will mark a major change at the CDC. The current director, Mandy Krauthamer Cohen, has a long history of pro-abortion advocacy and partnering with Planned Parenthood.

We look forward to working with the incoming Trump administration to advance the cause of life.

These appointments remind Christians that both their votes and their involvement in the “public square” are vital.