Here is Catholic World Report on the fact that the Republican Party platform has been stripped to a large extent[1], at Donald Trump’s insistence, of the pro-life position which was part of it for fifty years: They pat themselves on the back for having returned abortion law to the States, and say they oppose late-term abortion. They have removed the support for the traditional family and inserted a paragrap about gender ideology, stopping short of condemning hormones and surgery for minors.
I have said all along that Donald Trump’s pro-life stance was merely a tactic, a clever ploy to win the support of gullible (sorry!) religious folks, and I have been dissed for this view by my American Evangelical friends.
And while the “pro-life” justices Trump has installed in the Supreme Court have overturned Roe v. Wade they have also just given him carte blanche to effectively become an unaccountable, absolutist king.
Congratulations, my friends.
«Nor do most observers seriously believe that abortion (much less the defense of traditional marriage) are issues that Trump is personally much concerned about, given his notorious personal life and the pro-choice and otherwise socially liberal views he expressed for decades before running for president in 2016. The most plausible reading of Trump’s record is that he was willing to further the agenda of social conservatives when doing so was in his political interests, but no inclination to do so any longer now that their support has been secured and their views have become a political liability.»
__________- I just looked at the 2016 GOP and Democratic platforms, and here is how they differ on abortion and marriage:
GOP 2016 on abortion:
“We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution.”
“We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund
organizations like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions…We will not fund or subsidize healthcare that includes abortion coverage.”GOP 2016 on marriage:
“Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values.”
“We do not accept the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage and we urge its reversal, whether through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning control over marriage to the states. We oppose government discrimination against businesses or entities which decline to sell items or services to individuals for activities that go against their religious views about such activities.”GOP 2016 on Gender Ideology:
Nothing. That wasn’t a hot-button issue yet.And here is what’s changed:
GOP 2024 on abortion:
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. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People. We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).GOP 2024 on marriage:
Nothing.GOP on Gender Ideology:
We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban Taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls.Here is the GOP 2016 platform, and here the GOP 2024 platform.[↩]