The Republican Party is dropping language advocating federal abortion limits from its party platform, marking a major change for the GOP despite pushback from anti-abortion groups not to soften its stance ahead of the 2024 elections.
A proposal put before the Republican National Committee’s platform panel passed in an 84-18 vote Monday. The new language would establish that the GOP opposes late-term abortion but stop short of calling for any constitutional amendments or a national ban on the procedure, a source familiar confirmed to the Washington Examiner. Additionally, the platform would establish support for “mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments),” according to the draft text.
The language change happened just in time for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week, when delegates will nominate to the presidency former President Donald Trump, who has taken credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade through his appointment of three Supreme Court justices while also saying abortion decisions should now be left up to states.
The changes come despite pleas from anti-abortion groups urging Trump to “make clear that you do not intend to weaken the pro-life plank,” according to a letter sent to his campaign last month by 10 of the country’s top anti-abortion groups, according to the New York Times. Those who signed the letter include Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America.
But some antiabortion groups were quick to come out in support of the platform change, arguing it offers the party a “winning message to 10 million voters, with four million visits at the door in key battleground states.”
“It is important that the GOP reaffirmed its commitment to protect unborn life today through the 14th Amendment. Under this amendment, it is Congress that enacts and enforces its provisions. The Republican Party remains strongly pro-life at the national level,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement. “The mission of the pro-life movement, for the next four months, must be to defeat the Biden-Harris extreme abortion agenda.”
“The Republican Party platform makes clear the unborn child has a right to life that is protected by the Constitution under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment,” echoed Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, adding that, “it is an unapologetically pro-life position, and we are grateful to President Trump and the Republican Party for standing for life.”
Trump has urged GOP lawmakers to go on the offensive when it comes to abortion. In a closed-door meeting with House Republicans last month, Trump unveiled a strategy to hammer Democrats on abortion and to frame the opposite party as being too “radical,” a lawmaker told the Washington Examiner.
Some delegates have pushed back on the platform changes, arguing it waters down the party’s current stance on abortion.
The current GOP platform on abortion, which was established in 2016, states: “We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution.”
At least one delegate told the Washington Examiner the renewed language “takes away the strength” of their antiabortion arguments.
“I just want to make sure that all sides are being heard in this,” Richard Saccone, a former state representative from Pennsylvania who will be a delegate at the RNC next week, told the Washington Examiner.
Saccone emphasized that coming out against the platform should not be equated with crossing Trump, but he argued the national party should consider “all the angles” of the issue.
“Especially [from] the base,” he said. “And the base doesn’t want something like that. They want the current platform. And they need to hear why. Part of the reason is that the current platform delineates very well.”
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The platform also comes as Trump has said he would not sign a federal abortion ban, arguing the matter should be left to the states, which have taken various steps to block or expand abortion access in the aftermath of Roe being overturned.
Another delegate acknowledged the updated platform helps moderate the issue of abortion to give them a leg up on Democrats, who have typically dominated the conversation surrounding abortion by framing Republicans as restricting personal freedoms. That message has been used to motivate voter turnout, most recently evidenced in the 2022 midterm elections, in which Democrats managed to fend off a predicted “red wave” by targeting Republicans over the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
The platform also includes changes to language on key issues such as immigration, same-sex marriage, trade, and election integrity, according to the proposal. Other proposals include “ending” the Department of Education, fighting the so-called weaponization of the Justice Department, and protecting Social Security and Medicare from any spending cuts.
