{"id":75270,"date":"2024-07-17T06:00:46","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T10:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=75270"},"modified":"2024-07-14T16:33:21","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T20:33:21","slug":"neither-party-is-pro-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/","title":{"rendered":"“Neither Party Is Pro-Life”?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time.<\/p>\n

Here is what the\u00a02024 Republican Party Platform<\/a>\u00a0says on the subject:<\/p>\n

4. Republicans Will Protect and Defend a Vote of the People, from within the States, on the Issue of Life<\/b><\/p>\n

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).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nThe party now protects and defends not the right to life, but the right of states to decide whether or not to permit abortion.\u00a0 This is not nothing, as we\u2019ll discuss below, but it\u2019s a response to the apparent unpopularity of anti-abortion laws when put to popular referendums and to Democrats\u2019 plans to campaign on the pro-abortion cause.\u00a0 But this change in the Republican platform, made at Donald Trump\u2019s behest, is still a significant shift in the party.\n

Catholic columnist Kenneth Craycraft says, in an article with this title, For the First Time, Neither Party Is Pro-Life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 2024 Republican Party platform confirms that neither major national political party \u2014 nor their respective presidential candidates \u2014 is pro-life. In the sole place the Republican platform does discuss abortion, it is incoherent mumbo jumbo.\u00a0Abandoning the issue<\/a> to state legislatures, the platform displays alarming ignorance of the meaning and purpose of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. And it expressly endorses procedures that always lead to the destruction of prenatal life. . . .<\/p>\n

In its attempt to distinguish itself from the Democrats, the Republican platform proclaims, \u201cWe proudly stand for families and Life.\u201d (All quotations preserve the helter-skelter capitalization of the platform.) But as a statement of principles, the platform is certainly not pro-life. Let\u2019s not mince words: under the influence of\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>, the national Republican party has abandoned its pro-life, anti-abortion principles, and has embraced the moral legitimacy of widespread destruction of unborn human life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The plank, in effect, \u201cabandons moral opposition to abortion, reducing it to mere policy choices in the states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is the take of conservative thinker Robert George, writing on Facebook<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Every four years since 1984, socially liberal Republicans, such as the late Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, have sought to remove from the Republican Party platform its plank committing the Party to work for national legislation protecting the constitutional right of unborn children to the equal protection of the laws. The pro-life movement successfully protected the plank every time, fighting off efforts to remove or weaken it, thus ensuring that the Republicans remained a pro-life party.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump has now, however, succeeded where liberal Republicans of the past failed. He has made Arlen Specter\u2019s dream a reality. The plank has been removed from the Republican platform. It has been replaced by the claim that abortion policy is entirely the business of states who may, if they wish, permit abortion up to birth.<\/p>\n

There is a promise to \u201coppose late-term abortion\u201d (undefined), though not by federal law, and an incoherent reference to the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment as permitting states (not the federal government) to legislate against abortion. (The relevant clause of the 14th Amendment is actually the Equal Protection Clause\u2013which goes unmentioned\u2013and the 14th Amendment expressly authorizes Congress, not the states, to enforce its substantive guarantees.)<\/p>\n

What a mess. And then the new platform pledges to protect\u2013presumably by federal law\u2013IVF and contraception.<\/p>\n

It is true that the thoroughly transactional Donald Trump appointed justices who provided the votes necessary to overturn Roe v. Wade. He kept his bargain with the pro-life movement on that one. But now Mr. Trump sees our cause\u2013the protection of unborn children\u2013as a political liability. He knows that seriously pro-life people cannot in conscience vote for Joe Biden and the Democrats, so he has no reason not to throw the pro-life cause under the bus. And, predictably, that is what he had now done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pro-life leaders have no leverage, and so will be tempted to go along with this without public complaint in order to retain some standing and influence in the future Trump administration. They may even claim that it is somehow a victory. In truth, it\u2019s the opposite of that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So if neither party is pro-life, does that mean that pro-life Christians might just as well vote for the Democrats?\u00a0 I know of quite a few pro-lifers who are liberals in their economic and political beliefs but who have been voting for the Republicans just because they rightly see opposition to abortion as their major priority.\u00a0 If Republicans are not going to oppose abortion either, they may well feel free to release their inner liberal.<\/p>\n

But Republicans are still more pro-life by far than the Democrats.\u00a0 The Republican platform would let the states decide, but that leaves room for some states to ban abortion, as some have.\u00a0 The Democrats are campaigning for the national<\/em> legalization of abortion on demand, which would involve nullifying the laws of states that have banned or restricted abortion.\u00a0 The Republican position, as of now at least, would allow<\/em> for pro-life laws; the Democratic position would not.<\/p>\n

Besides, many Republican lawmakers and officials are still pro-life, despite what their standard bearer has decreed for the platform to say.\u00a0 They still deserve support from pro-lifers.\u00a0 This is especially true on the state level, where, for better or worse, the battles for life will be waged.<\/p>\n

George is right, though, that the Republican Party as a whole has thrown pro-lifers under the bus and that pro-lifers have lost their leverage.\u00a0 And that they have nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n

Perhaps they could regain some of that clout as they work on the state level, where the battle will be joined, withholding their support from pro-abortion Republicans and waiting to be wooed by candidates of any party who will give support to their cause.\u00a0 With such grass roots activism, they may be able to work their way up the party hierarchies and regain some political influence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo: Photo<\/a> by Philip Cohen via Flickr,\u00a0 CC by SA 2.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time. Instead of the “right to life,” the 2024 platform stands for the right of states to decide the issue. One observer says, “For the first time, neither party is pro life.” Does that mean pro-life voters might just as well vote for the Democrats? Not at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":75306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,36],"tags":[13886,12238,14910,14907],"class_list":["post-75270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-issues","category-politics","tag-donald-trump-and-abortion","tag-pro-life-politics","tag-republican-party-platform-2024","tag-republicans-and-abortion"],"yoast_head":"\n"Neither Party Is Pro-Life"?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time. Instead of the "right to life," the 2024 platform stands for the right of states to decide the issue. One observer says, "For the first time, neither party is pro life." Does that mean pro-life voters might just as well vote for the Democrats? Not at all.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Neither Party Is Pro-Life"?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time. Instead of the "right to life," the 2024 platform stands for the right of states to decide the issue. One observer says, "For the first time, neither party is pro life." Does that mean pro-life voters might just as well vote for the Democrats? Not at all.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-17T10:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-14T20:33:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2024\/07\/24919808627_0b70a5185e_c-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Neither Party Is Pro-Life\\\"?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-17T10:00:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-14T20:33:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time. Instead of the \\\"right to life,\\\" the 2024 platform stands for the right of states to decide the issue. One observer says, \\\"For the first time, neither party is pro life.\\\" Does that mean pro-life voters might just as well vote for the Democrats? Not at all.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Neither Party Is Pro-Life”?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Neither Party Is Pro-Life\"?","description":"For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time. Instead of the \"right to life,\" the 2024 platform stands for the right of states to decide the issue. One observer says, \"For the first time, neither party is pro life.\" Does that mean pro-life voters might just as well vote for the Democrats? Not at all.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Neither Party Is Pro-Life\"?","og_description":"For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time. Instead of the \"right to life,\" the 2024 platform stands for the right of states to decide the issue. One observer says, \"For the first time, neither party is pro life.\" Does that mean pro-life voters might just as well vote for the Democrats? Not at all.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2024-07-17T10:00:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-14T20:33:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2024\/07\/24919808627_0b70a5185e_c-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/","name":"\"Neither Party Is Pro-Life\"?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-07-17T10:00:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-14T20:33:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"For the last ten Republican National conventions, covering a span of 40 years, the party platform has included a plank opposing abortion.\u00a0 Not this time. Instead of the \"right to life,\" the 2024 platform stands for the right of states to decide the issue. One observer says, \"For the first time, neither party is pro life.\" Does that mean pro-life voters might just as well vote for the Democrats? Not at all.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/07\/neither-party-is-pro-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Neither Party Is Pro-Life”?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}