The Republican National Committee has reportedly adopted a new platform on abortion — no longer calling for a federal ban, instead saying the issue should be left to the states. Not everyone agrees with it.
The closed-door vote occurred Monday. After the panel’s vote, there will be a vote at the upcoming July GOP convention in Milwaukee.
Some abortion opponents have come out in opposition to the change, and others — including six nationally-known pro-life groups — have supported the platform change.
Utah GOP chair Rob Axson said he doesn’t think the party’s position changed so much as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 Supreme Court decision, means the Republican Party is operating in different circumstances.
The platform, which NPR obtained, says “Republicans Will Protect and Defend a Vote of the People, from within the States, on the Issue of Life.” The party “will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).”
It also takes the position that states should decide their own abortion laws by saying the 14th Amendment to the Constitution “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 document makes no other mention of abortion.
In an interview with the Deseret News, Axson said he thinks it’s key to remember that the legal and political landscape shifted when Roe was overturned.
When the Supreme Court decided Roe, it identified what the role of the federal government was, Axson said.
“So, it would be consistent to promote a pro-life agenda and pro-life support by trying to advocate for constitutional change, which would have been required under Roe,” he said.
But, Axson added, Dobbs returned the power to the states under the principles of federalism. He said from his vantage point, it’s not so much a change in position as it is a change in the landscape after Dobbs.
By leaving abortion to the states, Axson said people from both sides of the issue are empowered to dialogue.
“The national Republican Party remains pro-life, but we articulate it in different ways and I think the proof is in the pudding,” said Axson. “More important than the words, however important they are, are the actions.”
Axson said the Republican Party and the American public need to consistently celebrate life, promote parenthood, and support women and children.
Gayle Ruzicka, RNC platform committee member and president of the Utah Eagle Forum, told Matt Smith with ABC-affiliate WISN 12 News she has done this several times and the process this time around was different.
Previously, there were subcommittees to debate amendments, said Ruzicka. But this year, she said there was no discussion and they were not given time to read through the platform.
“I’ve never seen this happen before. I don’t understand why they did it, and I’m extremely disappointed that we do not have any pro-life language,” said Ruzicka, adding she supports parts of the platform, but did not vote for it because of the lack of pro-life language.
Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, said the platform change will alienate passionate supporters.
“President Trump won in 2016 running on protections for life that have been in the GOP platform for 40 years and his promise to appoint strong constitutional judges,” said Rose in a social media post. “Trump’s recent statements on life, and the downgraded GOP platform protections on life he’s approved, are alienating some of his most passionate supporters and will win exactly zero fence sitters.”
Leaders from six “life advocate” organizations, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Americans United for Life, signed a letter in support of the new party platform, according to a social media post from the GOP’s official account.
The GOP party platform on abortion in previous years
This new platform would significantly trim down the party’s position on abortion as articulated in the 2016 party platform, which was also used in 2020. The more extensive section on abortion in the 2016 and 2020 platform said the party supported a human life amendment to the Constitution and affirmed unborn children have a right to life that cannot be infringed.
It opposed the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion and called on Congress to ban the sale of fetal body parts and to ban abortions based on sex-selection and disabilities. The platform also supported funding for ultrasounds and adoption assistance as well as legislation requiring the financial responsibility of a child to fall equally on the mother and the father.
“We affirm our moral obligation to assist, rather than penalize, women who face an unplanned pregnancy,” said the 2016 platform, adding the party was proud to protect human life and offer solutions for women.
Republicans have historically called for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but there hasn’t been agreement in the party about whether or not abortion should be legislated at the state or federal level.
After Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, the Republican Party platform in 1976 said it supported the efforts of those who were advocating for a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.
By 1980 (Ronald Reagan was the party’s nominee and later the election winner), the Republican Party’s platform explicitly issued support for a constitutional amendment to protect unborn children’s right to life.
“While we recognize differing views on this question among Americans in general — and in our own Party — we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children” said the platform. ”We also support the Congressional efforts to restrict the use of taxpayers’ dollars for abortion.”
If the convention votes to adopt the new platform, it would mark a significant departure from the party’s platform, which has historically maintained support of a right-to-life amendment.
Trump has staked out the position that abortion should be legislated at the state level. He praised the newly voted-on platform in a social media post.
“Ours is a forward-looking Agenda with strong promises that we will accomplish very quickly when we win the White House and Republican Majorities in the House and Senate,” said Trump. “We are, quite simply, the Party of Common Sense!”
Other Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence, have expressed support for legislating abortion at the federal level.
The Republican Party’s path forward
Going forward, Axson said, it will be key for pro-life advocates to depolarize the issue and make it nonpartisan.
“This is where I think the spirit of the Dobbs decision is fantastic to return it to the states, so it becomes a point of conversation on a more local level that requires people to weigh into it and maybe wrestle with their own position of what they believe rather than just deferring to decisions coming out of Washington, D.C.,” said Axson.
This means that places like New York and California will have different laws than Utah and Alabama, said Axson. “And I think that shouldn’t be something that we’re afraid of.”
Axson said the party will also need to focus on cultural change and he loves that the platform articulates the importance of supporting women.
“If life is cheap in our societies and our neighborhoods and in our families, you will see bad policy and bad outcomes, whether it’s abortion or whether it’s the treatment one to another — the way we disregard and discard people,” said Axson. “I think it’s better for us to lean into the importance of family and connection and neighborhood.
“I’m personally of the opinion that as we do a better job in society of loving and connecting with one another and supporting one another, and also speaking truth, fewer people will choose abortion as an option even in the most dire situations because they’ll realize the severity of that choice.”