(AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – President-elect Donald Trump made many promises on the campaign trail to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States.



Pro-life leaders and members of the Trump campaign’s pro-life coalition are hopeful Wednesday that this long-time goal of their movement will be reached under a Trump presidency.



Trump made a specific promise in February in an interview with David Brody of CBN that as president, if a bill came to his desk that would defund Planned Parenthood he would sign it.



Trump also sent out a letter in September outlining his commitment to defunding the organization.



“I am committed to defunding Planned Parenthood as long as they continue to perform abortions and reallocating their funding to community health centers that provide comprehensive health care for women,” Trump wrote.



Vice President-elect Mike Pence also has a record of trying to defund Planned Parenthood. He introduced the first ever bill to defund Planned Parenthood in 2007 during his time in the House. The bill passed the House in 2011. As governor of Indiana, Pence cut public funding to Planned Parenthood by more than one million dollars.



He also signed a law banning abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome, a law that prompted a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood.



Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List and national chairman of the Trump campaign’s pro-life coalition, said, “this is an historic moment for the pro-life movement. There are four critical pro-life goals now within our reach: end painful late-term abortions, codify the Hyde Amendment, defund Planned Parenthood, and appoint pro-life Supreme Court Justices.”



Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life and national co-chair of Trump’s pro-life coalition, said, “this is our time. This morning we are closer than ever to defunding our nation’s largest abortion vendor, Planned Parenthood; appointing pro-life Supreme Court Justices; and blocking taxpayer funding of abortion by permanently enshrining the Hyde Amendment.”



“Donald Trump made many promises to pro-lifers over the course of his campaign, and the pro-life generation will make sure he keeps those promises as President,” Hawkins emphasized.



“Our nation rejected a party and a culture that supports not a single restriction on abortion. Abortion mattered in this election as it was the most-searched term in regards to the election on Google,” Hawkins added. “The bottom line is this: today's election results give us the momentum we need to achieve our mission of abolishing abortion in our lifetime.”



Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, said she was “delighted that tonight’s election results reflect America’s pro-life consensus in the House, Senate and Presidency.”



“We look forward to working together to fulfill President-elect Trump's campaign promises to ensure pro-life Supreme Court justices, pro-life policies, and defunding America’s primary abortion provider, Planned Parenthood,” she emphasized. “Acknowledging the divisiveness in our country we also commit to working for the day when all Americans know that abortion is unthinkable, and to building a lasting culture of life.”



“The House and Senate, last year, passed a budget reconciliation bill that would have defunded Planned Parenthood only to have it vetoed by President Obama,” Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, told CNSNews.com. “Donald Trump stated throughout the campaign that as long as Planned Parenthood performs abortions, they should not receive tax dollars. I am optimistic that we will now succeed in removing tax funding from the nation's largest abortion provider. Unborn children were the true winners in yesterday's elections.”



Clarke Forsythe, acting president of Americans United for Life, called the election “a triumph for life.”



“The difference between President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect Mike Pence and Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine on the life issue was one of the most significant in this race for the White House,” Forsythe argued.



“And pro-life Americans will be looking for some significant activity in the early days of the Trump administration, including repealing and replacing the anti-life Obamacare law, choosing a successor for Antonin Scalia for the Supreme Court, making the Hyde Amendment permanent to protect taxpayers from paying for most abortions, and protecting mother and infants with a limit on abortions at 5 months of pregnancy,” Forsythe added.



Lila Rose, president of Live Action, said this was “an opportunity to significantly move the pro-life agenda forward.”



“But it’s critical that we act immediately to hold Mr. Trump to those pledges and that we convince Congress to go along with them,” Rose added. “You know that all too often, politicians get elected, and many of their promises get put on the back burner.”