As LifeNews.com has reported, the proposed Republican Party platform contains some of the most strongly-worded pro-life language condemning abortion and defending the right to life of unborn children. That language includes a call for defunding Planned Parenthood — something pro-life advocates are hailing.
The Republican Party Platform Committee adopted draft language on Tuesday that supports defunding Planned Parenthood and extending the Constitutional “right to life” to unborn children. It reads:
The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can be deprived of life, liberty, or property deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth. We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, that perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage.
Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, in currently in Cleveland with other pro-life advocates working to keep the platform pro-life. Newman also served as a founding board member of the Center for Medical Progress, the group that released undercover videos last year showing Planned Parenthood officials haggling over the price of aborted baby parts.
Newman told LifeNews, he’s delighted by the language.
“We are celebrating today on the streets of Cleveland. We got everything we have asked for in the party platform,” said Newman. “This shows that the pro-life movement is strong, influential, and here to stay until abortion is banned permanently.”
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Billy Valentine, director of government affairs at the Susan B. Anthony List, told Politico that the new Republican Party language could be “the strongest pro-life platform yet.”
“The life language that came out of the constitution subcommittee is even stronger than the 2012 language,” Valentine said.
Several strong pro-life leaders are in charge of drafting the new Republican Party platform. The Hill reports U.S. Sen. John Barrasso is the chair the Republican platform committee. Barrasso, who represents Wyoming, has a 100-percent pro-life voting record from the National Right to Life Committee. His appointment as chair signaled a strong party commitment to restoring unborn babies’ right to life.
There was some speculation that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would attempt to weaken the party’s pro-life position. In April, Trump said he “absolutely” wants to change the current pro-life platform to promote abortions in cases of rape and incest.
However, new reports indicate the party will not be swayed from its pro-life position. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who also is serving on the platform committee, confirmed in an interview with CNN last week that the party will “remain pro-life.”
“[Trump] will have representation — he’s going to be the presumptive Republican nominee — and certainly he will have a voice with his people, who will make recommendations, too,” Fallin said. “But in the end, this platform is driven by grassroots Republican people throughout the nation who will represent the very values and principles of the Republican Party.”
Some of the new Republican Party language appears to be in direct response to the radical new pro-abortion proposals in the Democratic Party’s platform.
The proposed Democratic Party platform this year is more extreme than it has ever been, calling for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment and full-fledged taxpayer funding of abortion. It also specifically names the abortion giant Planned Parenthood and calls for support of its work. The current Democratic Party platform already supports legalized abortion on demand for any reason up until birth.
The new Democratic proposals are so extreme on abortion that even some of its own party members are getting uncomfortable. Taxpayer funding of abortion and unlimited abortions up until birth are extreme positions that grate against most Americans’ views on the matter. However, the Democratic National Committee officially rejected an effort by pro-life Democrats in 2012 to get the party to include them in its platform.
Both platforms will be voted on during the parties’ conventions this summer.
