The Republican Party’s platform is unyielding in its defense of the dignity of preborn human life. While the Democratic Party continues to override abortion restrictions in its platform, the GOP hasn’t changed any of their positions on life since its decision to keep its  2016 platform. This means the pro-life movement can rest assured that the party will continue to be supportive of pro-life legislation & candidates. 

Overall, the Republican Party’s platform is consistent in its defense of innocent human life at all stages, most prominently on the issue of abortion. Addressing how abortion has been presented as women’s healthcare in Obamacare’s language, the GOP points out that many studies have shown how abortion is dangerous to women’s health. “We, however, affirm the dignity of women by protecting the sanctity of human life,” the platform says.  

In education and parental rights, the platform mentions that school-based clinics should not provide abortion referrals or counseling to students. It also calls for legislation for parental consent before a minor is taken across state lines for an abortion.   

The conscience rights of healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are also ensured in the platform. This statement is embodied in the Trump Administration’s recent decision to add a new rule to the Affordable Care Act removing the label “right to abortion” — a label that had previously put healthcare providers at risk of breaking a federal civil rights law if they did not commit abortions.  

For the GOP, this right of conscience extends to all Americans — a belief that for four decades shared bipartisan consensus in the Hyde Amendment. This legislation protects American taxpayers from being forced to fund abortions, along with a permanent ban on subsidies and federal funding for abortion or abortion coverage through healthcare plans. 

“As Democrats abandon this four decade-old bipartisan consensus, we call for codification of the Hyde Amendment and its application across the government, including Obamacare,” the GOP platform reads.

As for embryonic stem cell research — which uses cells taken from destroyed human embryos — and the abortifacient RU-486, the GOP describes them as threats to women’s health and both are not supported in its platform. Ultimately, the platform minces no words in affirming that the Republican Party “must make clear in words and action that every human life matters.”