Conservatism vs. Republicanism: The Moral Divide

Modern politics often treats “conservative” and “Republican” as the same — but they are not. Being Republican is about party loyalty; being conservative is about moral conviction. Nowhere is that divide more visible than in the debate over abortion. The abolitionist conservative believes that to truly conserve moral order, one must seek not to regulate evil, but to abolish it. This essay explores the difference between pro-life pragmatism and the moral absolutism of abortion abolitionism, contrasting figures like Donald Trump and Matt Walsh to show what true conservatism looks like in practice.