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(OSV News) -- Delegates at the Republican National Convention approved a new party platform July 15 that largely reflects their nominee Donald Trump's political positions, many in his own words.
The party's 2024 platform removed a call for federal abortion restrictions at 20 weeks and adopted a hardline immigration position similar to that of its nominee.
The platform, the GOP's first revision since 2016, reflects how the party has been remade in Trump's image. The previous 66-page document was shrunk to a new 16-page document that was reportedly edited by Trump himself. The document uses language Trump has used in speeches, social media posts and other campaign materials almost verbatim in many cases, a Washington Post analysis noted.
Hans Noel, an associate professor of government at Georgetown University and author of "Political Ideologies and Political Parties in America," told OSV News that "historically, platforms have been very predictive of what parties do in office."
"They usually aren't inaccurate, although they can be incomplete," Noel said. "For the campaign, the platform is pretty secondary. It is really the candidate that matters. But the platform is a specific statement that can be carefully read. Especially with a candidate like Trump, who tends to be evasive with reporters, it's useful to have."
On abortion, the document states that Republicans will "protect and defend a vote of the people, from within the states, on the issue of life." The document stated the party believes the 14th Amendment "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," it added. "We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments)."
The party's previous platform included a call for a 20-week federal abortion ban that was removed from Trump's version. That proposed national ban would have affected little more than 1% of all abortions in the U.S.
Trump in April announced his position that abortion should be left to the states to legislate after the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned prior precedent declaring abortion as a constitutional right, disappointing pro-life activists who sought a commitment from him to support a federal 15-week ban.
Patrick Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Life and Family Initiative, told OSV News, "essentially ever since Roe vs. Wade, the GOP platform has had a commitment to protecting unborn life," and the change is "a symptom of this broader shift in the GOP toward one that is effectively pro-choice at the national level right now."
On several occasions, Trump has blamed the issue of abortion and pro-life voters for the Republican Party's underperformance in the 2022 midterm election cycle. Analysts, by contrast, blamed in part quality issues with Republican campaigns in that cycle and Trump's repeated, unproven claims of a stolen 2020 election for the party's underperformance.
However, several states have enacted abortion protections as the result of ballot measures since Dobbs: Voters in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it in 2022 and 2023 elections. But abortion itself will be on the ballot again in several states in November, including Florida, Nevada and likely Arizona, where closely watched races for the U.S. Senate are also taking place.
Brown said pro-lifers should be vocal about what message is being received by "people who deeply care about the issue of abortion and respect for human life, because what it tells us right now is that we're expendable and that we don't really matter."
Prior to the platform's adoption, some pro-life activists urged RNC delegates in a letter led by Advancing American Freedom, a political advocacy group launched by former Vice President Mike Pence, to restore the original language on abortion.
"For the first time in decades, the Republican Platform retreats on life," the letter said. Signatories on that letter included Paul Teller of AAF, Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life Action, and Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action.
But Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, issued a statement prior to the platform's approval arguing, "The Republican Party remains strongly pro-life at the national level."
"It is important that the GOP reaffirmed its commitment to protect unborn life today through the 14th Amendment," she said in the July 8 statement. "Under this amendment, it is Congress that enacts and enforces its provisions."
Among other notable changes to the platform, the party calls for mass deportations, adds a call for access "to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments)," and cuts references to guns and the Second Amendment.
Hosffman Ospino, a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College who researches Hispanic ministry, told OSV News that in comparing the 2016 and 2024 GOP platforms, "one can observe a shift toward language that is less affirming of who we are as a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants."
"The 2016 document made an attempt to speak of immigrants using words of gratitude and affirmation while pressing upon the usual political points that have characterized GOP rhetoric about immigration in recent decades. The 2024 platform, however, using shorter and simpler language, is noticeably more belligerent towards immigrants. No nuances and far too many oversimplifications that belittles the immigrant experience."
Ospino added, "Associating immigrants with an invasion, high incidences of crime, and law-breaking behavior does not help anyone. None of these assertions captures the experience of the vast majority of immigrants in this nation, including the immigrant spouses and employees of outspoken politicians promoting such assertions."
RNC delegates approved the platform just days after the shooting at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which is currently under investigation by law enforcement officials as an attempted assassination.
Asked if the absence of a mention of gun policy or the Second Amendment in the platform could leave Trump with room to change his position on such issues in light of the attempt on his life, Noel said it could, at least in theory.
"The absence of an issue from the platform does leave Trump more free to adapt on (the issue)," he said. "In the past, Trump has not been particularly strong on gun rights, but he has adjusted to the position of his followers. He may personally be more supportive of gun control after the shooting, but most of the rest of his party will not want him to move in that direction. I would expect only ambiguous statements about real gun restrictions."
Noel said if elected, Trump may, for example, choose to place more emphasis on existing gun restrictions.
"One way he might go would be to argue, as some gun rights advocates have done, that we already have a lot of restrictions, but we do not enforce them effectively," he added. "This shifts the problem from gun laws to law enforcement practices."
At an RNC-affiliated event on gun policy in Milwaukee July 16, Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said the campaign supports "allowing law-abiding citizens the ability to carry their firearms and to protect themselves and to protect their families."
The same day, Trump formally became the party's nominee for president, and named his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
- - - Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @kgscanlon.