Party platforms are rarely read outside activist circles. As one author put it, “Political parties’ platforms – their statements of where they stand on issues – get little respect.”
But they should, as Professor Emeritus Marjorie Hershey writes, because they “help you predict what the national government will actually do during the next four years.”
Thus what the Republican Party and the Democrat Party have to say about abortion in 2020 is must reading for us. And they could not possibly be any more different.
Below is the entirety of the Republican platform on abortion—“The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Human Life ”—and the Democrats’—“Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice.”
They are best read without commentary from me or anyone else. Why? Simply because the platforms literally speak for themselves.
As you read them, ask yourself what is their first language, their mother tongue, if you will? Once you compare and contrast, you will be struck by the stunning differences in language, lexicon, and love.
Follow LifeNews.com on Instagram for pro-life pictures and videos.
2020 Democratic Party Platform on abortion: Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion. We will repeal the Title X domestic gag rule and restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides vital preventive and reproductive health care for millions of people, especially low-income people, and people of color, and LGBTQ+ people, including in underserved areas.
Democrats oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to reproductive health and rights. We will repeal the Hyde Amendment, and protect and codify the right to reproductive freedom. We condemn acts of violence, harassment, and intimidation of reproductive health providers, patients, and staff. We will address the discrimination and barriers that inhibit meaningful access to reproductive health care services, including those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, income, disability, geography, and other factors. Democrats oppose restrictions on medication abortion care that are inconsistent with the most recent medical and scientific evidence and that do not protect public health.
We recognize that quality, affordable comprehensive health care; medically accurate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, age-appropriate sex education; and the full range of family planning services are all essential to ensuring that people can decide if, when, and how to start a family. We are proud to be the party of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of sex and requires insurers to cover prescription contraceptives at no cost. These efforts have significantly reduced teen and unintended pregnancies by making it easier to decide whether, when, and how to have a child.
We believe that a person’s health should always come first. Democrats will protect the rights of all people to make personal health care decisions, and will reject the Trump Administration’s use of broad exemptions to allow medical providers, employers, and others to discriminate.
Click here to read the Republican Party platform.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in at National Right to Life News Today —- an online column on pro-life issues.
