A coalition of pro-life leaders is urging Republican delegates to oppose the removal of pro-life language from the party’s new platform, arguing that protecting the unborn is a non-negotiable issue that underscores the party’s core values and principles.
“As Bible-believing Christians, we believe we have to stand up for the truth,” Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, one of the more outspoken leaders, said this week.
“As Bible-believing Christians, we must stand up for the truth.”
Thoughts on the GOP 2024 platform. pic.twitter.com/mUcarWAGAC
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) July 11, 2024
Several U.S. senators, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, criticized the new policy platform. Perkins and the other 19 members of the committee: Minority Report.
The new document, passed this week with the support of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, is the Republican Party’s first policy platform. Since 1972 The party’s failure to support federal protections for the unborn, let alone the word “fetus,” is a first since 1972. The 2016 platform removed the phrase, “We affirm the sanctity of human life and recognize that the unborn have a fundamental right to life that must not be infringed.” Similar language has appeared in every Republican platform since 1984.
but, New Platform Although it opposes late-term abortions, pro-life leaders emphasize that the majority of abortions occur in the first trimester and that this critical issue is not addressed in the platform.
The platform also includes, for the first time, support for contraception and in vitro fertilization – two hot topics among conservatives.
Supporters of the new platform say it reflects Trump’s beliefs, and Trump called the committee in support.
“We believe that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life or liberty without due process, and therefore states are free to enact laws to protect these rights,” the platform states. “After 51 years, we have placed that power in the hands of the states and the people in a vote. While we oppose late-term abortion, we support policies that promote mothers, prenatal care, access to contraception, and in vitro fertilization (IVF).”
The Republican platform has been consistently pro-life for more than a few decades, but “the party is moving away from that,” Perkins said.
“I refuse to conform to the cultural climate,” Perkins said, “whether the current popular party or candidate subscribes to it or not. I will stand up for the truth.”
Perkins, a member of the platform committee, Minority Report It criticized committee leaders for not allowing amendments. The committee meeting “was clearly a staged and scripted process,” the minority report said.
“At no time, and for no reason prompted by the exigencies of political circumstances, can and should we abandon the high principles on which, by the grace of God, this party was founded and which it has maintained for three centuries,” the report said.
Perkins said the platform committee process was “more fitting for a Third World dictatorship than the Republican National Committee.”
Holly Said“Life is the principle that unites Republicans.”
“We’ve had a pro-life policy since 1976,” Hawley told Washington Watch, “… and I’m concerned that this appears to be a departure from that.”
“[Republicans have] We have been a pro-life party since we first joined the party platform in 1976.”Holy MO Why Republicans must take a bold stand to protect the sanctity of human life. pic.twitter.com/1M5XNqhoCC
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) July 10, 2024
Senator Kevin Cramer (RN) Axios The new platform “could do us a lot of harm.”
“This is the only issue that could potentially divide Trump supporters and President Trump.“ “Right now, Republicans are enthusiastic about our candidate, but Democrats are clearly not enthusiastic about theirs,” Cramer said.
Republican Senators Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), James Lankford (Oklahoma) and Mike Lee (Utah) told Axios that they too were disappointed with the platform’s language on abortion.
Pence, who served in the Trump administration, called the platform “a huge disappointment to the millions of pro-life Republicans who have always counted on the Republican Party to be the party that stands for life.”“ He urged Republican delegates at the Republican convention in Milwaukee to reinsert pro-life language.
The RNC platform is a major disappointment to the millions of pro-life Republicans who have always expected the Republican Party to be the pro-life party. https://t.co/9mc6VddILM
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) July 9, 2024
“We urge delegates to next week’s Republican Convention to restore language to their party platform that recognizes the sanctity of human life and affirms that the unborn have a fundamental right to life that cannot be infringed.“ Pence said.
“The revised platform also cede this fight to the states, subjecting the unborn children of California and Illinois to the radical left’s abortion agenda.“ “The right to life is not just a state issue. It is a moral issue. Our party must continue to speak with moral clarity and compassion about advancing the cause of life at the federal, state and local levels,” Pence said.
“This is a big step forward for Iowa,” said Tamara Scott, Iowa representative and committee member. world “The Trump campaign strongly urged us to produce a clear and concise document.”“
“I think we can all agree on that, but it also has to convey our core principles and have an authentic Republican grassroots voice.“ She said, “And this platform doesn’t do that.”
The 2024 platform also removed language opposing same-sex marriage, an issue that first appeared in the Republican platform in 1992. (Trump spokesman Mark Humphreys said in 2019 that the issue was “not a violation of the Republican Party’s Constitution.”) Said Trump supported same-sex marriage.
According to The World, President Trump called the Platform Committee to approve the new platform.
“The law has included language for many years that says that an unborn child has a fundamental right to life that cannot be violated.“ “We’re not going to let it go,” Gail Ruzicka, a Utah representative and commissioner, told The World.[Pro-family activist] Phyllis Schlafly was the person responsible for putting it in years and years ago. Of course, she’s gone now. And now this year they’ve taken it all away. It’s embarrassing.”
🚨 ACTION ALERT!
On Monday, the Republican Party Platform Committee met and adopted a new party platform. The new platform provides a good foundation for President Trump’s campaign, but it lacks enduring principles the party can stand on, including key words on the topic of life… pic.twitter.com/aAKMCLJr6T
— FRCAction (@FRCAction) July 10, 2024
Related article: SBC President and Pro-Life Leaders Criticize Republican Abortion Policy Changes
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Anna Rose Layden/Stringer
Michael Faust He has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years, and his work has appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star and Knoxville News Sentinel.
