“Protecting life” and strengthening “traditional marriage” remain the stated priorities for the Faith and Freedom Coalition, an organization that has spent nearly two decades mobilizing conservative Christian voters.
But abortion and same-sex marriage received scant attention as the group gathered in the nation’s capital on Friday, including in the lengthy remarks from the event’s headline speaker: President Donald Trump.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has largely sidestepped causes long championed by the conservative faith movement that helped him propel him back to office, privately arguing that issues such as abortion are political liabilities for a Republican Party trying to protect its narrow majorities in Congress. Even as some activists have grown frustrated, they Activists have largely refrained from publicly pressuring Trump to act, mindful of his unparalleled influence over their voters.
Yet, there are growing signs that social conservatives are preparing to revive those fights — and open new ones — as Republicans begin looking forward to a post-Trump future.
SBA Pro-Life America, one of the nation’s leading anti-abortion groups, is already plotting how it can shape the early nominating fight to succeed Trump in Iowa and South Carolina and force Republican presidential candidates to take a stand on establishing a nationwide cutoff on abortions after a certain point in pregnancy. The group has said it plans to spend $80 million in the 2028 presidential election to back aligned candidates.
“We’re being clear early on … if you want to win in Iowa and South Carolina and to be the GOP nominee and become president, you have to have a bold and clear position on abortion and commitment to life,” said Kelsey Pritchard, spokeswoman for SBA Pro-Life.
Meanwhile, a coalition of groups launched an initiative earlier this year aimed at challenging the legal foundations of same-sex marriage and preventing gay and lesbian couples from adopting children. It’s a topic that has largely faded away from Republican campaigns since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015 — and one Trump removed from the party platform entirely when he won the nomination in 2024.
Other conservatives are pressing into new territory. A growing number of Republican officials have called for new restrictions on surrogacy, a move that could further limit family-building options for LGBTQ+ couples. Republican House members introduced legislation targeting commercial surrogacy, while Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier recently described the practice as “modern day slavery” and said it “must be stopped.”
Steve Deace, a conservative talk show host, said Trump occupies a uniquely dominant place in Republican politics that allowed him to sideline issues important to many Evangelical activists without suffering political consequences.
“We’re never going to have a personality like Trump again — that combination of brand and political power will never rest in the hands of one figure ever again,” Deace said. “And some of the ideological skirmishes that Trump has kept at bay will come to the forefront as soon as 2028.”