One of the defining issues of the 2024 campaign was largely absent from this year’s Republican convention, underscoring the party’s desire to sidestep its own effort to enact restrictive abortion policies in red states across the country.
At the 2020 Republican Party convention, anti-abortion activists Abby Johnson and Deirdre Byrne were given speaking space to argue that Democrats were extremists on the issue. This year, only one of the “ordinary Americans” who spoke at the convention brought up the issue.
The company’s owner, Diane Hendricks, told the crowd that she became pregnant when she was 17 years old.
“This was not part of my plan, but I truly believe that each life is a sacred gift from God. I am grateful every day for my son,” she said, going on to detail her career as a businesswoman.
The lack of attention to abortion underscores the degree to which Trump has changed the party’s rhetoric on the issue. And it reflects how it is seen as perhaps the party’s greatest vulnerability in November, the first presidential election since a conservative majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade.
In Trump’s 2020 RNC speech, he criticized Democrats for supporting “extreme late-term abortion of defenseless babies” and promised that “all children, born and unborn, have a God-given right to life.”
The former president regularly boasts about ending Roe v. Wade. Wade and return the abortion issue to the states, but in his keynote address Thursday night, there was no mention of abortion or talk about ending Roe v. Wade.
His vice presidential nominee, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), also made no mention of abortion in his remarks Wednesday night, as his previous comments supporting a federal abortion ban and opposing exceptions for rape and incest received new attention.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), head of the Senate GOP campaign operation, told the audience Thursday night that the Republican majority would build the border wall, “drill, baby, drill,” protect gun rights, support the military, support Israel, and keep men out of women’s sports.
But there was no mention of limiting abortion at the federal level or protecting the unborn, as would have been common at conventions before Roe was overturned.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), head of the House GOP campaign arm, also made no reference to abortion when outlining what a Republican House majority could provide.
Abortion has become a central focus of the 2024 campaign for Democrats, whose voters have been energized since the Supreme Court ruling in June 2022. The issue has helped Democrats maintain control of the Kentucky governor’s mansion and the Kentucky Legislature. Virginia and winning other important races, and the party hopes to deliver again in November.
Trump has tried to portray himself as more moderate than others in his party on this issue, highlighting his support for certain exceptions to allowing abortion, saying states should be left to decide how to handle the issue and dodging calls to support a federal limit on abortion. the procedure. Vance also moderated his position.
The Republican Party on Monday adopted a platform that significantly scaled back its language on reproductive rights. It dropped previous language calling for an amendment to the Constitution to extend protections to unborn children and dropped language opposing same-sex marriage.
“I think it is a recognition of the reality of politics in the country. The states are dealing with this,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said at a CNN-Politico Grill event on Thursday, rejecting that Republicans will now accept blue states approving abortion access.
There were some signs at the convention of a conservative movement still focused on limiting abortion.
The Faith and Freedom coalition, a conservative evangelical group that advocates legislation at the state and federal level to curb abortion, hosted a breakfast Thursday with Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and the governor. of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin (R). , between others.
RNC co-chair Michael Whatley told social conservatives in attendance that the party has “put together a very strong pro-life platform.”
Johnson highlighted in his remarks that a central part of the Republican Party’s world vision is the “sanctity of human life.”
Faith and Freedom coalition founder Ralph Reed introduced Youngkin as a man “who defends the unborn, traditional marriage and the conservative faith-based values we hold dear.”
Concerned Women for America, a conservative group, had a large pink bus parked near the convention center with the words “American Women Want…” painted on the side and “choose life” listed among the priorities.
Trump has significant credibility with these groups due to his first term, when he appointed anti-abortion judges and reduced federal support for abortion.
But he and those around him have largely ignored the concerns of anti-abortion activists during the 2024 campaign, arguing that it is more important to be able to win the election than to take a clear stance on the issue.
“He was always present in these matters to tell the truth. I think it reflects who my father is and what he believes in… and my wife Lara, who runs the RNC, and what she believes in,” Eric Trump told NBC News this week. “At the end of the day, this country has real holes in its roof, and you have to fix those holes and stop worrying about the stain on your basement wall.”
Democrats have shown they are unwilling to let Trump off the hook or portray themselves as a moderate on this issue.
The Biden campaign has aggressively linked Trump to Project 2025, a policy project from the conservative Heritage Foundation that outlines how the next GOP administration could severely restrict access to abortion. The campaign also highlighted the stories of women who had medical emergencies or had to leave their home state to receive care in the face of abortion bans.
Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left think tank Third Way, said the GOP’s efforts to minimize abortion “is kind of a desperate attempt to, you know, divert people’s attention from an issue that is very, very important.” harmful to them.” .
“Trump gave evangelicals what they wanted, which was a majority on the court that would overturn Roe and send this decision to the states,” he said. “And what he didn’t tell you was how radical the states would be and how horrible the stories that would come out of those states would be. … I mean, these are terrifying, very real stories and the Republicans just didn’t see this coming and now it’s a gigantic problem for them.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
