After eight years of pro-choice judges, increased abortion funding, and terrible policymaking by President Barack Obama's administration, pro-lifers had reason to be hopeful when a Republican entered the White House in 2017. But two and a half years into Trump’s presidency, an honest analysis shows that his record on abortion isn’t exactly impeccable.

Let’s start with the good. Yes, Trump reenacted the Mexico City Policy, which forbids the use of federal funding for abortion overseas. His administration also recently stopped funding aborted fetal tissue research, and he is attempting to cut about $60 million in Title X funding to Planned Parenthood. According to Ballotpedia,Trump has confirmed 127 judges to federal judgeships, and these judges surely have a much stronger pro-life bent under his administration than they would have under Hillary Clinton’s.

But is there anything remarkable about any of this? This seems like the bare minimum for a solid pro-life policy agenda, not something deserving of brownie points or special admiration. Furthermore, these policies are not unique to the Trump administration by any means.

Every Republican administration since President Ronald Reagan’s has enforced the Mexico City Policy. The advance of embryonic stem cell research and aborted fetal tissue research began with Obama, who reversed President George W. Bush’s much more pro-life position on the issue. And as far as Planned Parenthood funding goes, Trump is actually worse than all his predecessors.

On the campaign trail, Trump did say he would defund Planned Parenthood. But despite having a Republican Congress for two years, Planned Parenthood has not been defunded, nor has its funding gone down, nor has the funding even remained stagnant. On Trump’s watch, Planned Parenthood funding has gone up and reached an all-time high of $563.8 million per year. If Trump is successful in reallocating Title X money, he would be on par with the Obama administration for Planned Parenthood funding. No honest conservative believes that’s something to brag about.

Additionally, few serious conservatives actually believe Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s most recent Supreme Court appointee, will overturn Roe v. Wade. Pro-lifers wanted Trump to nominate Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett last summer instead, and Trump disappointed with a more moderate choice.

Despite Trump’s inability to gain new ground in the abortion battle, many pro-life organizations sing his praises unconditionally, and conservative pundits such as Charlie Kirk have called him the “most pro-life President in US history.” Why?

Trump’s abortion policy looks better than it really is because it’s juxtaposed with that of Obama and 2020 Democrats running for president. Compared to candidates who want taxpayers directly funding abortion, any reasonable person looks fairly pro-life. The most pro-choice adversary President George W. Bush and his predecessors were compared to was President Bill Clinton, who said abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare,” a far more moderate position than that of today’s Democratic Party.

Many pro-life organizations sing Trump’s praises because honest criticism of Trump could turn off big donors who love him, and thus decrease the funding these organizations can use to do great pro-life work. They’re in a bit of a pickle, and it's sort of understandable why they tend to give a one-sided picture of Trump’s abortion policies.

But it's still important to call balls and strikes on this issue and every other. Pro-lifers should certainly be glad Trump won the White House rather than Hillary Clinton, but it's still crucial to be honest: Trump is no pro-life hero.