The tightly scripted Republican National Convention begins on Monday, and the last thing Donald Trump or the GOP leadership wants is any unruly displays of independence from delegates. But there are at least 19 disgruntled delegates who are steaming over the new language on abortion.
The dissenting delegates have penned a "minority report" arguing that the document’s language on abortion fails to track with the founding principles of the United States and the Republican Party.
“In no season, under no rationale spurred by the exigencies of a political moment, can or should we abandon the high principles that have created and sustained this party, with God’s grace, into a third century,” wrote the 19 dissenting delegates on the platform committee.
The new abortion language fails to support the "human life amendment" to the Constitution that would give broad legal protections to the unborn. They are upset at the platform's failure to “call for the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection application to children before birth.”
This is particularly irksome for the dissenters, who point out that the 14th Amendment language has been in past platforms.
"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,” it says.
Although some abortion opponents praised the language for including the 14th Amendment, the section could also be interpreted as allowing states to legalize abortion. This isn't surprising given that the language in the platform reflects the views of Donald Trump.
“This is the only way that delegates can express their support for the platform’s longtime stance defending the unborn,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. “There is a reason the media was not allowed in the room. The process was more befitting of a third-world dictatorship than the Republican National Committee.”
The platform was passed Monday in an accelerated process, closed to the press, that did not allow for amendments after Trump remotely addressed the gathering in Milwaukee. The vote on the platform committee was 84-18, with those opposed falling short of the 25 percent needed under the party rules to issue a formal “minority report” to the full convention.
The 2024 document abandoned decades of tradition within the party for a much shorter and at times more vague statement of policies. Rather than oppose same-sex marriage, as past documents have done, the new platform says only “Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage.”
Perkins is not someone the Trump campaign wants to get mad. It's not likely that Perkins or any other anti-abortion activists could seriously disrupt the vote on the platform, but how about the vote for vice president?
I have no idea who Trump is going to nominate for the ticket's second spot. It's likely that whoever it is, Trump will try to assuage the feelings of anti-abortion activists by choosing a strong pro-life candidate.
Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) recently signed one of the strongest pro-life bills in the country. Trump was asked whether it’s a black mark for Burgum that he signed a law prohibiting most abortions, with exceptions up to six weeks.
“It’s a little bit of an issue. It’s a pretty strong ban,” Trump replied. “He’s taken a very strong stance—or the state has. I don’t know if it’s Doug, but the state has.”
Burgum entered office as something of an abortion moderate. Before the election, he was asked when does life begin? "That’s a theological question, not a Governor question," he replied.
But once the vice presidency became a possibility, Burgum "moderated his views."
Confronted with that last quote on NBC recently, Mr. Burgum said “certainly I’ve evolved in that position.” What he believes in his heart is impossible to say, but the imperatives of abortion politics in Bismarck, N.D., are obvious. The bill Mr. Burgum signed in 2023 passed by a veto-proof margin, 76-14 in the state House and 42-5 in the Senate. North Dakota already had strict abortion laws on the books, passed in protest of Roe.
Mr. Burgum has been consistent in arguing that abortion policy is a question for the states, not the federal government. During a visit to the Journal last year, when he was running in the GOP primaries, he said a President Burgum wouldn’t sign a federal abortion law: “What works for North Dakota is not going to work for California and New York. It doesn’t even work for Minnesota.”
His stated position on abortion issues now tracks very closely with Donald Trump's position.
Burgum has other qualities that recommend him. He's not even going to try to outshine Donald Trump on the stump. And he's filthy rich, which would certainly come in handy against a candidate who is likely to raise $1.5 billion.
The pro-life lobby may be unhappy with the platform, but considering the alternative, it may grumble a bit but fall into line in the end.
