Republicans Act at Trump's Behest to Change Their Opposition to Abortion

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican National Committee's platform committee has adopted a policy document that mirrors former President Donald Trump's position opposing a federal abortion ban and ceding limits to states, omitting the explicit basis for a national ban for the first time in 40 years.

According to two people briefed on the matter, the committee agreed on the following text: “We believe that the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that no person shall be denied life or liberty without due process of law and that states are therefore free to enact laws protecting these rights.”

Two leading anti-abortion activists spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party deliberations.

The move comes as Trump has pushed his agenda on the commission, seeking to avoid strict language on abortion while taking credit for prompting the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. Trump appointed three of the six justices who voted in a majority vote to overturn the 1973 precedent on abortion rights.

The abortion-related language was first reported by The New York Times.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, praised the committee for reaffirming its commitment to protecting unborn life through the 14th Amendment.

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Dannenfelser did not endorse the document, which reflects Trump's view that the issue is entirely within the jurisdiction of the states. Under the amendment, Congress enacts and enforces its provisions.

The platform is a statement of core principles traditionally written by party activists. The Trump campaign wants the group drafting this year's platform to produce a shorter document that excludes statements favored by many conservatives but that are potentially unpopular with the electorate as a whole.

The platform committee begins meeting Monday, a week before the start of the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin where Trump is expected to accept his third consecutive presidential nomination.

Trump has faced months of Democratic criticism over abortion, with President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign highlighting that Trump appointed half of the Supreme Court majority that struck down the nation’s right to abortion in 2022. But among the vocal abortion opponents on the platform committee, some say the aspiration for a federal ban on abortion after a certain stage of pregnancy should remain a party principle, even if it’s not an immediately feasible policy or one that necessarily helps the Trump campaign in November.

“I find that problematic. We still have to articulate those principles clearly. Some of these battles are not over,” said Iowa state Rep. Brad Sherman, a platform committee member who supported Trump’s winning campaign in the Iowa caucuses in January and who also supports a federal limit on abortion.

While the abortion statement is likely to be the most contentious provision in the platform, there could also be disputes over Trump's preference for tariffs and his isolationist approach to foreign policy and U.S. involvement in global conflicts, particularly in helping Ukraine fight Russia.

Conservative activists, accustomed to having a seat at the table, are furious at what they see as a secretive process for selecting committee members and a meeting that is taking place behind closed doors.

For 40 years, the Republican Party and the GOP platform have benefited overwhelmingly from an open and transparent process, said Tim Chapman, the new president of Advancing American Freedom, a foundation led by Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence.

The Trump campaign has sought to turn the Republican National Committee into a campaign tool, warning in a memo last month by campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles that “playbook programs…are being scrutinized and intentionally distorted by our political opponents.”

Trump ally Russ Vought is serving as political director of the Republican Party's platform writing committee while leading efforts to draft the 180-day agenda for Project 2025, a sweeping government overhaul proposal that Trump said Friday he knew nothing about despite the involvement of several former aides.

Trump backed federal legislation in 2018 that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, though the measure failed to gain support in the Senate.

However, after the 2022 midterm elections, Trump blamed Republicans, who held strict anti-abortion positions, for the party's failure to gain a larger majority in the House of Representatives. He has since criticized the stricter abortion bans in individual states.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in June 2023 found that about two-thirds of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The poll also found that 6 in 10 Americans believe Congress should pass a law ensuring access to legal abortion nationwide.

The Biden campaign criticized Republicans for closing platform committee meetings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to the media and for reminding voters of Trump's past support for banning abortion after 20 weeks.

Tamara Scott, who is one of two Republican National Committee members from Iowa and also a member of the platform committee, said Trump could campaign on the position he holds and also adopt the platform to reflect a longer-term goal of a federal limit.

“This is our vision. This is our core principles. This is who we are as a party,” Scott said. “I agree, a platform has to be clear and concise, but it has to convey our core principles.”

For several committee members, that means maintaining support for a constitutional amendment and legislation to clarify that the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment apply to children before birth, language first included in 1984.

Trump was urged to keep that language in his platform, according to a letter signed by leaders of anti-abortion groups, including Dannenfelser; Ralph Reed, founder and president of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

This passage, once removed, would be difficult to restore on future platforms, Dannenfelser said.

“The platform discussion is about the future. It’s about presidential campaigns 10 years from now, it’s about Senate campaigns and House campaigns, it’s about Republican campaigns all over the world,” Dannenfelser said. “It’s not just about this election. And that’s why it’s important.”

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Associated Press journalists Lisa Mascaro and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed to this report from Washington.

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