The Republican National Convention begins today in Milwaukee. For the first time since 1980, and at the insistence of former President Donald Trump, the GOP platform will not include support for a nationwide ban on abortion.
Party platforms aren’t what they used to be because political parties aren’t what they used to be. With the passage of the McGovern-Fraser Commission Report in 1971, the process of nominating presidential candidates was taken out of the hands of party leaders and put into the hands of primary voters. In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Belt buckle in return for Valeo further weakened the party structure and strengthened the power of independent political action committees and special interest groups.
Conventions became coronations, and the drafting of a party platform often became a way for the nominee to appease a special interest group, but the nominee was never bound to the platform once elected. Platforms thus changed from being manifestos of government to ways of measuring the influence of special interest groups within each party. In the case of platform language around the issue of abortion, the changes show how the issue came to be dominated by those most invested in it, always with more extreme positions and less tolerance for opposing viewpoints.
After Deer in return for Wading Although a constitutional right to abortion was established in 1973, the language in both parties’ platforms reflected the deep ambivalence many Americans felt about abortion.
“We fully recognize the religious and ethical nature of the concerns which many Americans have on the subject of abortion,” the 1976 Democratic Party platform stated. “We believe, however, that it is undesirable to attempt to amend the Constitution of the United States to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision on this issue.” The party was prepared to allow Roe to stand.
The 1976 Republican Party platform similarly affirmed the stance of both its pro-life and pro-choice members. “The issue of abortion is one of the most difficult and controversial of our time. It is undoubtedly a moral and personal problem, but it also involves complex questions of medical science and criminal law,” the platform stated. “There are those in our party who fully support the Supreme Court decision permitting abortion on demand. There are others who share sincere convictions that the Supreme Court decision should be changed by a constitutional amendment banning all abortions. Others have yet to take a position, or have taken a position somewhere between the two poles.”
But the GOP went in the opposite direction of the Democrats when it came to rolling back Deer: “The Republican Party supports continued public dialogue on abortion and the efforts of those seeking to introduce a constitutional amendment to restore protections for the right to life of the unborn.”
In 1980, when Ronald Reagan became the nominee, the GOP platform became more explicitly pro-life as Reagan’s team recognized the importance of evangelical voters to their electoral prospects. “While we recognize differences of opinion on this issue among Americans generally — and within our own party — we reaffirm our support for a constitutional amendment to restore protections for the right to life of the unborn,” it said. “We also support efforts in Congress to restrict the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion.”
The Democratic Party’s 1992 platform went further on the issue of abortion than ever before. “Democrats support every woman’s right to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, regardless of ability to pay, and support a national law to protect that right,” the document stated. More significant than the platform language was the decision to bar Governor Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, the nation’s most prominent pro-life Democrat, from speaking at the national convention.
In 2008, the section of the Democratic platform dealing with abortion was labeled “choice,” and the tone was even more aggressive: “The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of her ability to pay, and we oppose all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.” Senator Robert Casey Jr., who was less extensively pro-life than his father but was still regarded as a champion of the cause within the party, was given a speaking slot at the national convention.
In 2016, the Republican convention nominated Donald Trump as the party’s presidential candidate, and the language on abortion remained steadfast. “The Constitution’s guarantee that no person ‘shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property’ is deliberately reminiscent of the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that ‘all men are endowed by their Creator’ with the inalienable right to life,” the text affirmed. “We therefore affirm the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life that cannot be infringed. We support a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment apply to children before birth.”
That was then. In the post-Dobbs In an era when referendums even in red states showed popular opposition to overly restrictive abortion laws, the political landscape has changed and Trump has decided to drastically change the language of the GOP platform on abortion. “We believe that the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life or liberty without due process of law, and that the states are therefore free to make laws protecting those rights,” the platform reads. “After 51 years, that power, thanks to us, has been given to the states and to a voice of the people.” There is no commitment to a national ban at any stage. The issue is left up to the states.
Right-to-life advocates have expressed dismay at the change. Former Vice President Mike Pence said the revised language is “a profound disappointment to the millions of pro-life Republicans who have always looked to the Republican Party to stand up for life.” Marjorie Dannenfelser, chair of the Susan B. Anthony List, pointed out the internal contradiction in the new platform language. “It is important that the GOP today reaffirmed its commitment to protecting unborn life through the 14th Amendment. Under that amendment, it is Congress that enacts and enforces its provisions,” she said.
No one should expect the pro-life movement to abandon the GOP. Dannenfelser made it clear that she believes the “mission of the pro-life movement, for the next six months, must be to defeat the Biden-Harris extreme abortion agenda.”
The problem with the pro-life strategy of focusing on overturning Roe has always been this: unless you convince the American people, overturning the court would only empower pro-choice groups. Both parties are now so entrenched that blue states are adopting extreme pro-choice positions that refuse to acknowledge the moral claims that the life of the unborn can and should have on our legal system. Pro-life groups have hitched their wagon to the most amoral person to even serve as president. For the foreseeable future, the abortion issue will plague our politics, and it’s hard to see what will change.
