As we get closer to the Republican National Convention taking place this month, how the party plans to frame abortion for the party platform has come under scrutiny, with pro-life organizations and figures urging Republicans to keep fighting for the issue by keeping to a pro-life position and pro-life platform.
Last week, The New York Times put out a piece on "Social Conservatives Push Trump on the G.O.P.’s Anti-Abortion Platform," describing a letter from pro-life figures urging former and potentially future President Donald Trump to not weaken pro-life language in the party platform.
As the piece mentioned about the letter:
The letter urges Mr. Trump to “make clear that you do not intend to weaken the pro-life plank.” Specifically, it asks him to commit to keeping language in the platform that the party supports a “human life amendment to the Constitution” and legislation to “make clear that the 14th Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.”
It was co-signed by 10 anti-abortion leaders, including 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. Ms. Dannenfelser delivered the letter via email to Mr. Trump’s top adviser, Susie Wiles, on June 10, as the party prepares to hold its national convention in Milwaukee starting July 15.
While the conservative leaders praise Mr. Trump as “the most pro-life president in American history,” the subtext of their letter is the growing concern in social conservative circles that Mr. Trump may try to weaken the anti-abortion language in the party platform to make himself appear more moderate on the issue. Democrats are expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next four months reminding voters of Mr. Trump’s anti-abortion record as president.
Mr. Perkins, who is on the Republican National Committee’s platform committee, said that it was crucial for the party not to backtrack in its platform and that the Trump team had not sufficiently explained its plans to leaders of the anti-abortion movement.
“This has probably been the worst communication we’ve had of any preconvention R.N.C. or campaign that I’ve been involved with,” Mr. Perkins said in an interview. He warned that diluting language related to abortion “because now it’s once again somewhat politically tough” would incur its own backlash. “It is not going to sit well with the pro-life voters,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, Danielle Alvarez, said the platform committee had yet to convene to discuss what language should be in the final document and the campaign had sent a message to platform members about its plans to present “a streamlined platform in line with President Trump’s principled and popular vision for America’s future.”
Among those mentioned as a signer is Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, who delivered the email to the Trump campaign via email.
She also released a statement earlier this week, with a press release from SBA Pro-Life America highlighting how the organization "reiterated its call to preserve national protections for unborn children in the GOP platform."
Dannenfelser said in her statement emphasized how they've tried to receive assurances from Trump on the issue, with a mention of how pro-lifers have worked with the Republican Party before, and what could be at risk:
“If the Trump campaign decides to remove national protections for the unborn in the GOP platform, it would be a miscalculation that would hurt party unity and destroy pro-life enthusiasm between now and the election. For over a month, the pro-life movement has sought assurances from the Trump campaign that it will not gut the pro-life plank of the platform, which has for 40 years asserted a 14th Amendment justification for opposing the human rights tragedy of our time. We are now just two business days away from the platform committee meeting and no assurances have been made. Instead, every indication is that the campaign will muscle through changes behind closed doors.
“For decades, passionate pro-life activists have been the grassroots backbone of the Republican Party. They believed the Republican Party had an ironclad commitment to protect the unborn. This alliance is at risk of being severely weakened next week in Milwaukee.”
The group and its affiliated entities will spend $92 million this election, described as one to "protect life across America" and as their "largest-ever voter contact program."
The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, who is also mentioned and quoted in the excerpt above from The New York Times, has likewise spoken further about the need for the platform to include pro-life protections.
Earlier this week, FRC Action put out a press release on the Platform Integrity Project, described as an "open process that protects the Pro-Life, Pro-Family, and Pro-Israel platform."
"For first time ever, votes on the party platform will be tracked and scored," the press release emphasized.
Perkins also posted a lengthy statement on the importance of having a pro-life platform.
My statement on the Platform Integrity Project: An open process that protects the Pro-Life, Pro-Family, and Pro-Israel platform. https://t.co/284q87b07S pic.twitter.com/8vdS1nhhLj
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) July 2, 2024
Trump also spoke about the importance of having a moderate stance on abortion during last Thursday's debate against President Joe Biden. He indeed took credit for nominating the justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, emphasizing how abortion was an issue best left to the states. "Right now, the states control it. That’s the vote of the people," Trump said during the debate.
He also spoke about the importance of exceptions. Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes. And frankly, I think it’s important to believe in the exceptions. Some people – you have to follow your heart. Some people don’t believe in that. But I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I think it’s very important. Some people don’t. Follow your heart," he offered, also reminding "but you have to get elected also and – because that has to do with other things. You got to get elected."
Biden and the Democratic Party stand in stark contrast, as Trump reminded. "The problem they have is they’re radical, because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth – after birth," he also said during the debate.
Since taking office, Biden has pushed for the Women's Health Protection Act, and he's even willing to support nuking the filibuster in order to get it passed. While Biden and his White House claim it would codify Roe, it would expand the decision by allowing for abortion for any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy without legal limit in all 50 states.
Trump also isn't exaggerating when it comes to Democratic support for "tak[ing] the life of a child... even after birth." He brought up the example of former Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) who infamously supported leaving a child to die from a failed abortion. During Trump's first term as president, Senate Democrats failed to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act introduced by then Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE). The supposedly "very Catholic" then Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also refused to even bring such a bill to the floor for a vote, though it passed the House once Republicans took control of the chamber in the 118th Congress.
Biden tried to claim during the debate that Trump wasn't being truthful on the issue, but Madeline covered where the president is the one in the wrong on the issue.
The Democrats' party platform on the abortion issue has also become increasingly more extreme, refusing to support any regulations or limits on abortion and calling for taxpayer funded abortions. Long gone are the days of when Bill Clinton used the phrase of "safe, legal, and rare" during the 1992 presidential campaign.