WASHINGTON, D.C., July 2, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pro-life Senator Rand Paul shocked listeners when he revealed that GOP Congressional leadership chose not to include a measure to defund Planned Parenthood in a spending bill because “we might win.”

Speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference in the nation’s capital, the Kentucky Republican explained that despite strides in the public’s attitudes against abortion, Republican lawmakers aren’t following the public’s lead.

“We still lose in the legislation,” observed Paul. “We lose because the people who come to you and give you lip service and say, ‘Oh I’m pro-life, I’m pro-life,’ and then they don’t seem to vote that way.”

Paul shared an example:

Last year, I tried to attach to a spending bill a prohibition to have any money spent by Planned Parenthood. You know what happened? [GOP leadership] sat me down and one of the senior Republican senators said, “We cannot have the vote today.” I said, “Why?” He said, “We might win.”

Paul’s disclosure elicited gasps from the crowd of mostly Evangelical Christians.

He said that he then turned to the senior senator and asked, “What does this mean? Does this mean that passing your spending bill, getting the Democrats to vote for your spending bill, is more important than life?”

“Then he just smiled,” said Paul.

“You have Republicans that are more concerned with spending money than protecting the unborn,” he concluded.

Paul, a licensed opthamologist, prefaced his remarks by explaining that during his medical training he refused to participate in abortions, adding, “I would never commit an abortion.”

The Bluegrass State senator assured the crowd that despite Congress’s failure to defund Planned Parenthood, “We are winning hearts and minds.”

“Less and less physicians want to be associated with the grisly practice,” said Paul.

“The repulsive idea of seeing Planned Parenthood selling body parts on video struck home for people,” he added. “We are winning sometimes the persuasive argument that this is an awful, degrading, and disgusting thing for anybody to be involved with.”

President Donald Trump kicked off the conference the previous day with a pro-life meessage: “We’re building a society that values the limitless potential of every person. And we’re strengthening the bonds that tie us together in the wondrous tapestry of creation.”

The president called the crowd’s attention to pro-life activist Katie Shaw, who has Down syndrome.

“Our nation is uplifted by incredible Americans like Katie who fight for the dignity of all humanity,” he said.