Pro-Life Gov Bob McDonnell to Head Republican Platform Committee

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 2, 2012   |   6:21PM   |   Washington, DC

The Republican National Committee announced today that pro-life Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will head the GOP platform committee that will draft the new party platform when Republicans from across the country gather for the national convention later this summer.

At the convention, which is expected to nominate Mitt Romney to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama, Republicans will adopt another platform, which has been pro-life since 1980, when the Republican Party adopted a position supporting the Human Life Amendment. The platform stood in stark contrast to the pro-abortion plank Democrats approved.

Sen John Hoeven, a pro-life advocate from North Dakota, and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a pro-life stalwart from Tennessee, will serve as Co-Chairmen of the platform committee. Jim Bopp, a leading pro-life attorney who serves as the legal counsel for the National Right to Life Committee, will lead the social issues panel within the platform committee.

The 2008 GOP platform contains strong pro-life statements of position on abortion.

“Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,” the final GOP platform said. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children,” it added.

With the Supreme Court serving as the main arbiter of abortion law in the United States, the Republican Party expressed its support for the kind of sensible judges its presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he would nominate.

“We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life,” it said in 2008.

The platform talked about the progress pro-life advocates have made in moving towards the day when unborn children are protected under the law and applauded the Supreme Court for upholding the partial-birth abortion ban.

It also noted the party’s opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion and support for parental involvement initiatives.

The Republican Party platform also applauded the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which became an issue in the presidential election as Barack Obama opposed an Illinois version of that law, which required proper medical care for newborns who survive botched abortions.

The GOP also included strong statements supporting pregnant women, but went further than their Democratic counterparts.

“We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy,” it says. “At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. Women deserve better than abortion.”

“Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life,” it went on to say.

The GOP platform also included calls to oppose euthanasia and protect people with disabilities like Terri Schiavo.

“Respect for life requires efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, employment, the justice system, and civic participation,” it said.

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The final draft of the GOP platform read:

Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all 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, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

We have made progress. The Supreme Court has upheld prohibitions against the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. States are now permitted to extend health-care coverage to children before birth. And the Born Alive Infants Protection Act has become law; this law ensures that infants who are born alive during an abortion receive all treatment and care that is provided to all newborn infants and are not neglected and left to die. We must protect girls from exploitation and statutory rape through a parental notification requirement. We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. Women deserve better than abortion. Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life. We salute those who provide them alternatives, including pregnancy care centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives.

Respect for life requires efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, employment, the justice system, and civic participation. In keeping with that commitment, we oppose the non-consensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which endanger especially those on the margins of society….