GOP looks to quash Democrats’ advantage on abortion in new party platform

Republicans are looking to nullify any advantage Democrats have on the issue of abortion ahead of the November election by changing their party’s stance to leave decisions up to states.

The Republican National Committee released its updated platform this week that features new language that stopped short of calling for any constitutional amendments or a national ban on abortion while urging the protection of life from “within the States.” The new language has been praised by some anti-abortion groups for establishing a “pro-life position” that still allows Republicans to thwart Democrats, who typically dominate messaging on the issue and at the ballot box.

“We are a pro-life party. We’re going to be a pro-life party. We’re going to be a pro-family party,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who served as the chairwoman of the RNC platform committee, told the Washington Examiner. “The language needed to be changed because the goal of setting aside[[Roe v. Wade]was achieved, and it recognizes that that goal was achieved after 50 years.”

The platform change happened just in time for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week, when delegates will elevate former President Donald Trump as their party’s nominee. Trump has urged GOP lawmakers to go on the offensive regarding abortion and has made it a crucial part of his campaign by taking credit for the reversal of Roe through his appointment of three Supreme Court justices.

Since then, Trump has argued abortion decisions should now be left up to states, which Republicans say helps to declaw Democrats on one of their top issues.

“If you go back a year ago, [Trump’s] been very clear that now that Roe v. Wade has been addressed by the Supreme Court, that it’s going to be up to the states, not the federal government,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told the Washington Examiner. “And he staked that claim very early off and, I think, to the frustration of a lot of Democrats who wanted to make that an issue. President Trump pretty much took it off the table.”

The updated language could also serve to help vulnerable Republicans running in competitive districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020 by giving them an extra line of defense against Democratic attacks on the issue.

“I think that the more we can do to show that we respect women, no matter the choice they feel they must make, the better off we are,” Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), who is running in one of the most competitive House districts of the 2024 cycle, said. “We recognize that any decision to bring life in the world or to seek an abortion is just a tremendously difficult decision for a woman and for families, and the more we can do to respect that and support those difficult choices, the better off we are.”

But some RNC delegates have pushed back against the language changes, arguing it goes too far to water down the party’s stance in a way that GOP voters don’t support.

“I understand where former President Trump is coming from,” Mike McMullin, a GOP delegate from Pennsylvania, told the Washington Examiner. “But I also have heard enough from my constituents like, ‘Don’t change the platform. Stick to the pro-life. Don’t waver.’”

Another delegate from Pennsylvania, former state Rep. Richard Saccone, emphasized that coming out against the platform should not be equated with crossing Trump, but he argued the national party should consider “all the angles” of the issue.

“Especially [from] the base,” Saccone told the Washington Examiner. “And the base doesn’t want something like that. They want the current platform. And [party leaders] need to hear why. Part of the reason is that the current platform delineates very well.”

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Democrats have already pushed against the updated platform, arguing it does not provide for more protections and amounts to a “lie” to “continue to take our rights away.”

“They haven’t softened anything. I don’t believe anything the RNC says,” Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) said. “I don’t believe anything Trump says. They are so adamantly against women having the right to choose. So, this framing that it’s a softening — no. What it is is trying to, once again, be completely not truthful about what it is that [Trump has] been working on.”

Rachel Schilke contributed to this report.