The platform echoes Trump’s leave-it-to-the-states approach. It doesn’t call for giving embryos or fetuses constitutional rights, nor does it endorse a national abortion ban.
This year was the first time the Republican National Committee (RNC) updated its platform since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and anti-abortion advocates were eager to make their mark.
But in an apparent nod to the Trump campaign’s desire not to be pinned down on endorsing specific limits, the new platform instead says states are “free to pass laws” protecting 14th Amendment rights.
“After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People. We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments),” the platform states.
In 2016, the platform backed “a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.”
It also called for a national ban on abortion — with some exceptions — after about 20 weeks of gestation.
Anti-abortion groups said the 14th Amendment language was key, despite the state-centric approach.
“It is important that the GOP reaffirmed its commitment to protect unborn life today through the 14th Amendment,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said.
Last week, Dannenfelser warned that moderating the 2016 language “would be a miscalculation that would hurt party unity and destroy pro-life enthusiasm between now and the election.”
Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins said the explicit nod to 14th Amendment protections is “the most significant contribution that the GOP platform makes for life.”
Ralph Reed, founder and chair of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, said the new language is “an unapologetically pro-life position.”
“The Republican Party platform makes clear the unborn child has a right to life that is protected by the Constitution under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment,” Reed said. “While aspirational, it applies to both the states and the federal government.”
