The platform will have the Republican Party reaffirming its position against taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research and ask that government “not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage.”Posted on 08/21/2012 2:04:59 PM PDT by NYer
The approved draft of the Republican Party platform will have the GOP again adopting a strongly pro-life document that voters will be receptive to as they consider replacing pro-abortion President Barack Obama this November.
The Republican National Committee appears to be headed towards another pro-life platform, which has been pro-life since 1980, when the Republican Party adopted a position supporting the Human Life Amendment. The platform stood in stark contrast to the pro-abortion plank Democrats approved.
“Faithful to the ‘self-evident’ truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,” the draft GOP platform states. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”
The platform will have the Republican Party reaffirming its position against taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research and ask that government “not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage.”
Recognizing that previous Congresses, under Republican leadership, passed the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act and a ban on partial-birth abortions, the platform calls for legislation to ban abortions for sex-selection and to protect from abortion unborn children who are capable of feeling pain.
The platform “salutes” those who provide women facing an unplanned pregnancy with support and alternatives, empowering them to choose life. The platform also states that the Republican party opposes the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities.
According to a CNN report, “Republicans have also inserted a “salute” to states pushing “informed consent” laws – an apparent reference to ultrasound bills that have moved through some state legislatures – “mandatory waiting periods prior to an abortion, and health-protective clinic regulation.”
“I appreciate the good work that that committee did — in past platforms that has been hours of discussion — and I applaud the committee’s work in affirming our respect for human life,” said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, the chairman of the platform committee. “Well done.”
The platform was approved by the full platform committee today and must be accepted by delegates to the convention next week to be finalized. Not one member of the platform committee submitted any weakening amendments, according to Politico.
On the other hand, the Democratic National Committee has officially rejected an effort by pro-life Democrats to get the party to include them in its platform that calls for keeping unlimited abortions legal and paid for at taxpayer expense.
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats For Life of America, says the platform panel refuses to acknowledge any difference of opinion on abortion within the Democratic Party.
“For the good of the Democratic Party, we will continue to advocate that the platform language should reflect the true diversity of views within the Democratic Party,” said Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats For Life of America. “Our message is simple: If you are pro-life and a Democrat, you can make a difference, thus the case for recognition. Inclusion can make a critical difference in this fall’s election.”
“If we are going to increase our members and win the majority, we must recognize the contributions of pro-life Democrats within our party and the diverse position of Democrats on the issue of abortion,” said Day.
According to Day, almost one-third of all Democrats self-identify as pro-life. In the 2008 Election, about one-quarter of Obama’s supporters self-identified as pro-life.
The proposed Republican platform language is very similar to the 2008 GOP platform, which contained strong pro-life statements of position on abortion.
“Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,” the final 2008 GOP platform said. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children,” it added.
With the Supreme Court serving as the main arbiter of abortion law in the United States, the Republican Party expressed its support for the kind of sensible judges its presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he would nominate.
“We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life,” it said in 2008.
Ping!
Embattled Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin (R-Foot In Mouth) weighed in with his take: “There’s a national consensus building around the issue of abortion that is favorable to the pro-life position I fought for my whole career, but I’d like to ruin that progress with a few more ill-conceived, scientifically illiterate remarks...”
For the Love of God ... WHY do these people continue to support a political organization that champions the most foul and unnatural murder of babies???
Ironic! Biden tells a Black audience that Romney and the GOP want to put them back in chains and the media response is a small ripple as the dems suggest Biden was referring to a Republican comment on "unshackling". BS!
Akin meanwhile, also misspeaks and both Dems and Republicans demand he withdraw from the senate race. Akin probably had this woman in mind, when he defended the innocent victims of rape.
Rebecca is a living testimony that answers the 'rape exception' argument. She has been involved in all three aspects of adoption: as an adoptee, adoptive mother and adopted child of God. Rebecca has been speaking for the unborn since 1995, serves on the board of a crisis pregnancy, and, as a family law attorney, has litigated numerous high-profile cases defending pre-born human life. Rebecca has been married to Robert for eleven years and is the mother of five children.
The Republicans will cave any time the going gets tough on this matter. Whenever it looks like they might be called mean or prudish or whatever bullying tactic the left drags out. It’s why we find ourselves where we are today. It’s why the left owns this issue. I rarely hear Republicans take a real principled stand on the thornier issues on abortion because it’s not an easy subject. But you either believe it is killing another human being or you don’t. And if you think it’s killing a person, and you think that’s wrong, that’s where you start your argument. No one ever asks the interviewers how they wrestle with THAT. (no one is talking about the real issue here because they don’t want to deal with it).
I know of that woman. She’s a very articulate and effective advocate for the pro-life cause. In other words—the exact opposite of Todd Akin.
It's not about "caving." It's about being a competent advocate for the positions you claim to support. There are many ways Akin could have answered that question that emphasized his commitment to supporting life in all cases and turned the tables right back around on the Dems regarding their unpopular support for abortion on demand. Instead he showed himself to be an unthinking ingnoramus with the barest grasp of politics who plays directly into the hands of his enemies. Everything he has said since further proves my point.
It would not have mattered what he said. Republicans as a rule are terrified of the left. He may have been a bad candidate to begin with (I am completely unfamiliar with him). It doesn’t change the fact that Republicans have really not done much to further the idea that abortion is wrong because it is killing babies. No one wants to talk about the rape/incest thing because it’s hard.
Because they care more about a lot of things than they do about the murder of 56 million babies.
I seem to recall predictions that, if Romney were to be the nominee, the Republican platform would become pro-abortion.
Thanks NYer.
Good news bump!
paraphrase
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