Republican Party Platform Proposal Keep Pro-Life Amendment on Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 26, 2008
Minneapolis, MN (LifeNews.com) — The proposed Republican Party platform takes a starkly different approach to the issue of abortion compared with the platform language Democrats approved yesterday. While the Democratic Party promotes abortion without limits, the GOP retains its support for a Constitutional amendment against abortion.
A 112-page draft of the proposed platform became available to Republican Party members on Tuesday who comprise the platform committee.
That is about half the length of the current platform, which advocates a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution that would afford legal protection to unborn children throughout pregnancy.
The new platform contains the language of the amendment and comments approving the Supreme Court’s decision last year affirming the partial-birth abortion ban as constitutional.
The draft also talks about more specific help to pregnant women who are contemplating abortion or are in difficult pregnancy situations.
It asserts "a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy."
"We salute those who provide them alternatives, including crisis pregnancy centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives," the proposed platform states.
Meanwhile, Ann Stone, national chairwoman of Republicans for Choice, said her small group wouldn’t fight the platform this year.
"This is not going to be the year that we make big changes," she told AP. "We know that we can’t get major things done."
The Republican Party has supported a pro-life amendment to the Constitution since 1976, the first convention after the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Republican Party activists have continually rebuffed efforts to remove the plank from the platform and pro-abortion GOP groups calling for its removal appear out of step with most Republican voters.
Post-election polling after the 2004 presidential elections found that President Bush’s pro-life stance gave him an edge over pro-abortion Sen. John Kerry.
A 2004 Wirthlin Worldwide post-election poll found that 39 percent of voters said abortion affected the way they voted for president. Twenty-four percent of those voters cast their ballots for President Bush while 15% voted for Kerry, giving Bush a 9 percent advantage on the issue of abortion.
Eight percent of voters in the Wirthlin poll indicated abortion was the "most important" issue affecting their votes and Bush won among those voters by a six to two percent margin, leading Kerry by four percentage points among the most intense abortion voters.
Most states, during the primaries, had exit polling showing a majority of Republicans take a pro-life position on abortion.
Exit Polling Shows Most States With
Pro-Life Republican Majorities
State Pro-Life v. Pro-Abortion Always Illegal Mostly Illegal Mostly Legal Always Legal Alabama 76-20% 32% 44% 15% 5% Arizona 58-37% 17% 42% 25% 13% Arkansas 80-18% 37% 43% 13% 6% California 54-42% 19% 35% 28% 14% Connecticut 46-50% 13% 33% 30% 20% Florida 54-44% 18% 35% 30% 14% Georgia 64-33% 25% 39% 24% 9% Illinois 64-33% 26% 38% 23% 10% Iowa 74-23% 25% 49% 16% 7% Louisiana 75-22% 38% 37% 15% 7% Maryland 56-42% 17% 39% 28% 14% Massachusetts 41-56% 13% 28% 37% 19% Missouri 74-23% 32% 43% 18% 6% New Hampshire 45-52% 15% 30% 32% 20% New Jersey 46-53% 16% 29% 34% 19% New York 48-49% 14% 34% 28% 21% Ohio 70-28% 27% 43% 22% 6% Oklahoma 76-22% 27% 49% 17% 6% South Carolina 71-28% 28% 43% 19% 9% Tennessee 75-22% 33% 42% 15% 7% Texas 68-29% 25% 44% 22% 7% Utah 85-13% 10% 75% 10% 3% Virginia 63-34% 25% 38% 25% 9% Wisconsin 74-25% 27% 47% 16% 9%
Source: LifeNews.com, compiled from CNN exit polling data
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