The approved draft of the Republican Party platform will have the GOP again adopting a strongly pro-life document that voters will be receptive to as they consider replacing pro-abortion President Barack Obama this November.
The Republican National Committee appears to be headed towards another pro-life 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.
“Faithful to the ‘self-evident’ truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,” the draft GOP platform states. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”
The platform will have the Republican Party reaffirming its position against taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research and ask that government “not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage.”
Recognizing that previous Congresses, under Republican leadership, passed the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act and a ban on partial-birth abortions, the platform calls for legislation to ban abortions for sex-selection and to protect from abortion unborn children who are capable of feeling pain.
The platform “salutes” those who provide women facing an unplanned pregnancy with support and alternatives, empowering them to choose life. The platform also states that the Republican party opposes the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities.
According to a CNN report, “Republicans have also inserted a “salute” to states pushing “informed consent” laws – an apparent reference to ultrasound bills that have moved through some state legislatures – “mandatory waiting periods prior to an abortion, and health-protective clinic regulation.”
“I appreciate the good work that that committee did — in past platforms that has been hours of discussion — and I applaud the committee’s work in affirming our respect for human life,” said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, the chairman of the platform committee. “Well done.”
The platform was approved by the full platform committee today and must be accepted by delegates to the convention next week to be finalized. Not one member of the platform committee submitted any weakening amendments, according to Politico.
On the other hand, the Democratic National Committee has officially rejected an effort by pro-life Democrats to get the party to include them in its platform that calls for keeping unlimited abortions legal and paid for at taxpayer expense.
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats For Life of America, says the platform panel refuses to acknowledge any difference of opinion on abortion within the Democratic Party.
“For the good of the Democratic Party, we will continue to advocate that the platform language should reflect the true diversity of views within the Democratic Party,” said Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats For Life of America. “Our message is simple: If you are pro-life and a Democrat, you can make a difference, thus the case for recognition. Inclusion can make a critical difference in this fall’s election.”
“If we are going to increase our members and win the majority, we must recognize the contributions of pro-life Democrats within our party and the diverse position of Democrats on the issue of abortion,” said Day.
According to Day, almost one-third of all Democrats self-identify as pro-life. In the 2008 Election, about one-quarter of Obama’s supporters self-identified as pro-life.
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The proposed Republican platform language is very similar to the 2008 GOP platform, which contained 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 2008 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.
