A pro-life battle is looming at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week with abortion and other reproductive health issues set to be a significant factor in the US presidential race and other federal and state elections in November, two-and-a-half years after the US Supreme Court’s historic decision to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling allowing nationwide abortion access.
The party has officially adopted the platform of the Trump campaign which opposes a federal ban on abortion and supports individual state abortion laws as well as contraception, access to the abortion pill and unregulated IVF services.
A coalition of pro-life leaders is urging Republican delegates at the convention to overturn the new platform, arguing that the defence of the unborn is a “non-negotiable issue that underscores the fundamental values and principles of the party.” The Family Research Council (FRC) said that Bible-believing Christians “must stand for truth.”
Michael Foust writes for crosswalk.com that the new Republican platform is the first since 1972 not to back federal protections for the unborn and not to mention the word “unborn.” It removed language from the 2016 platform that read: “We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.” Similar language has been used on every Republican platform since 1984.
While the new platform opposes late-term abortions, pro-life leaders point out that the vast majority of abortions occur early in pregnancy — a critical issue that the platform fails to address. For the first time, it includes support for contraceptives and IVF, two issues that are controversial within some conservative circles. Supporters of the new platform said it reflected the beliefs of former president Trump, who phoned the Republican National Committee to support it.
“We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights,” the platform says.
“After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People. We will oppose Late-Term Abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments),” it continued.
Although the GOP platform has been unwaveringly pro-life for more than decades, “the party is departing from that,” claimed FRC president Tony Perkins, declaring: “I refuse to go with the winds of the culture. Whether the current popular political party or candidate stands with that or not, I don’t care. I’m going to stand on truth.”
Senator Kevin Cramer told the Axios website that the new platform “has a lot of potential to hurt us. It’s the one issue that could divide the Trump base from President Trump. Right now, Republicans have enthusiasm for our nominee when the Democrats clearly do not for theirs.”
Donald Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence called the platform a “profound disappointment to the millions of pro-life Republicans that have always looked to the Republican Party to stand for life. I urge delegates attending the Republican Convention to restore language to our party’s platform recognising the sanctity of human life and affirming that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.”
“The updated platform also cedes this fight to the states, leaving the unborn in California and Illinois to the far left’s extremist abortion policies. The right to life is not only a state issue; it is a moral issue, and our party must continue to speak with moral clarity and compassion about advancing the cause of life at the federal, state, and local level,” Mr Pence asserted.
Six pro-life leaders, including Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler, Live Action’s Lila Rose, and March for Life Action’s Jeanne Mancini, released a letter at the weekend urging convention delegates to restore the pro-life platform.
