RNC approves Trump-centric platform with softened language on abortion

A Republican National Committee panel on Monday passed a draft party platform ahead of next week’s convention that dramatically shifts the GOP’s stance on abortion, mirroring former President Trump’s own posture on the issue.

The Republican platform committee overwhelmingly approved the new platform, which will receive a final vote on Tuesday behind closed doors. The platform echoes Trump on key issues like trade, immigration and foreign policy while also doing away with specific language about traditional marriage and enacting limits on abortion.

“President Trump’s 2024 Republican Party Platform articulates his vision to Make America Great Again in a way that is concise and digestible for every voter,” top Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement. 

Multiple news outlets reported the platform language on abortion is vague and watered down from previous cycles, despite concerns from anti-abortion activists who had urged Trump to take a strong stance on the issue.

“We proudly stand for families and life. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process and that the states are, therefore, free to pass laws protecting those rights,” the platform on abortion reads, as first reported by The Washington Post. 

“After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the states and to a vote of the people,” the platform states. “We will oppose late term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments).”

Trump has faced relentless political attacks from Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Trump appointed three of the justices whose votes triggered the overturning of the landmark ruling that had protected abortion access.

Trump has said states should be left to enact individual laws on abortion via the legislature or ballot referendums, calling it a “beautiful thing to watch” as some states enshrine abortion rights and others enact restrictive bans without exceptions.

The rest of the platform mirrors what Trump has called for in the campaign trail, promising the largest mass deportation operation in American history, preventing “World War Three,” canceling electric vehicle mandates, keeping men out of women’s sports and ending the weaponization of government, a nod to his own numerous legal cases.