Prominent anti-abortion groups, evangelicals and social conservatives are pressuring the Republican National Committee not to moderate its stance on abortion ahead of a meeting to write a new Republican platform next week.
New efforts from groups including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Students for Life and a coalition led by the Family Research Council are aimed at ensuring that Republicans do not pursue former President Trump’s proposal to leave abortion to states get closer to the official party position.
Anti-abortion leaders have expressed concern about Trump’s approach throughout the campaign, as he has tried to avoid taking a firm stance and entering the political minefield of abortion.
However, as the RNC closes ranks around Trump ahead of the convention in Milwaukee, these groups are becoming increasingly concerned.
They argue that weakening the platform would represent the abandonment of all the progress the movement has made in limiting access to the procedure and risk a split between the parties when they should be united.
The campaign and the RNC apparently rejected these entreaties.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the anti-abortion movement has been seeking assurances from the Trump campaign for more than a month “that it will not destroy the platform’s pro-life platform” but has heard nothing .
“Everything indicates that the campaign will force change behind closed doors,” Dannenfelser said in a statement. “If the Trump campaign decides to remove national protections for the unborn in the Republican Party platform, it would be a miscalculation that would harm party unity and destroy pro-life enthusiasm between now and the election.”
Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins hosted a webcast Monday night with Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), where she urged young anti-abortion activists to contact their state and local Republican Party leaders.
Hawkins said he has had several conversations with the Trump campaign since February about what the platform should reflect.
During the webcast, Hawkins and Lankford criticized the idea that abortion is a state-only issue.
“I am well aware that we do not have the 60 votes in the Senate. But the worst thing we can do is not talk about it, and somehow make people assume that it’s no longer a value… the way to win the argument is to keep talking about it, and not talk about it less. So as Republicans, we need to have that national focus, talk about it,” Lankford said.
The Republican Party platform has long condemned abortion and expressed support for a national ban.
In 2016, the platform supported “a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment apply to children before birth.”
It also included language opposing any public funding to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations like Planned Parenthood.
However, the platform has not been updated since then, as the RNC, citing COVID-19, passed an interim measure in 2020.
This year is especially significant as it is the first time the party will come together to make changes since Roe v. Wade. Wade was overruled. Anti-abortion advocates, including members of the RNC, are eager to make their mark.
But the Trump campaign is pushing back to avoid any vulnerabilities. Trump has a history of avoiding taking a direct stance on controversial issues, often leaving room to change positions or back down when politically expedient.
The campaign aims to present a “simplified” platform, and reportedly there will be no media outlets or spectators in the room when the platform is presented and voted on, although it may be open to other RNC members.
Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said the platform committee “has not yet met to discuss what language should be in the final document,” so any speculation is premature.
But the campaign is also ensuring that the platform committee is made up of members loyal to the campaign who are not necessarily anti-abortion hardliners.
“I’m a little concerned about some of the heavy-handed tactics that were used in trying to get some people on the platform committee, and also in making sure that certain people couldn’t serve on the platform committee,” said an RNC member.
The platform committee hopefuls didn’t want to do anything to prevent Trump’s election, “but they don’t want this to be watered down to the point where it’s nothing more than vanilla mush. If the platform doesn’t represent anything, why have anything?” the member said.
In an effort to increase the transparency of platform meetings, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who is a member of the platform committee, launched a new initiative to monitor and score individual platform delegate votes.
But Arizona state Rep. Alex Kolodin, who is also a member of the platform committee, said he believes anti-abortion leaders are reacting to the perception of change rather than hard evidence that something will happen.
“I’m sure there will be some moderate attempts to dilute the strong pro-life stance we’ve taken on our platform, and we absolutely have to be vigilant about that. I mean, the establishment is a real thing,” Kolodin said.
He acknowledged that people might be suspicious of holding the meeting behind closed doors.
“But I would simply say that before we start pointing fingers one way or the other, maybe we should have some really direct conversations… I haven’t seen any kind of evidence that the campaign weighed in on this. And that’s something I think people should be skeptical about.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
