Evangelical Leader Blames GOP Election Loss on God Punishing Them for Not Banning Abortion Drugs

Republican losses in Tuesday's US midterm elections may be a sign of God's judgement over loosened restrictions on abortion drugs, evangelical leader Tony Perkins told The Christian Post.

Under Joe Biden, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted the requirement that mifepristone be dispensed in person. Donald Trump's administration left the policy in place. Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, attributed part of the rise in US abortions to that change.

For Perkins, the question was whether America's policies matched its claim to be a Christian nation.

'We can't expect God's blessing to be upon our nation when we reject His teaching in the way we conduct our policy and business. We can't hold ourselves out as the gold standard when we're actually made of aluminum foil,' he stated.

Republican Platform Shift That Alarmed Perkins

As Democratic gains mounted, Perkins urged Republicans to examine what they had dropped from their platform. 'I think part of this may be a chastisement upon a party that became complacent on these moral and value issues,' he told former Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann in their election-night conversation.

For decades, Republican platforms had affirmed a fundamental right to life for the unborn. The party backed a constitutional 'human life amendment' and a proposed nationwide ban on abortion from 20 weeks of pregnancy.

In July 2024, the Republican National Convention adopted a platform that treated abortion as a matter for the states. The Christian Post noted that abortion drew 35 mentions in the party's 2016 platform and one in the 2024 document, which emphasised the economy and immigration.

Evangelical Turnout Behind His Warning

White evangelicals accounted for 17 per cent of the national vote in the midterms, down from 23 per cent in 2024, according to exit poll figures cited by The Christian Post. Perkins suggested Republicans could face 'a reckoning' among Christians in the longer term.

Perkins praised some of the Trump administration's policies, particularly on transgender issues, but described its record on protecting the unborn as 'really bad'.

Christians should take a fresh look at a party they had long associated with opposition to abortion and support for marriage and family life, he argued. He urged them to stay politically active and speak up when they disagreed with Republicans.

The Abortion Pill Restrictions Perkins Backs

In his exchange with Bachmann, Perkins put the increase in US abortion rates at 'over 20 per cent' and attributed it to policies still in force. His quoted remarks specify no period for that comparison.

The Guttmacher Institute's historical figures trace a decline from a peak of around 1.6 million US abortions in 1990 to about 860,000 in the mid-2010s. Numbers were rising again before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

The institute put the number of clinician-provided abortions at roughly 930,000 in 2020. Despite bans in some states, the total exceeded 1 million in 2023 and in each subsequent year covered by the figures.

In September, Perkins was among 50 anti-abortion leaders who urged Dr Heidi Overton, the nominee for FDA commissioner, to restore earlier safeguards on mifepristone. By the time Perkins spoke to The Christian Post, the FDA was continuing a safety review of the drug announced in September 2025.