National abortion ban splits the Trump campaign and Republican activists writing the party platform
DES MOINES, Iowa — Republicans could drop a pledge to ban abortion from their party platform for the first time in 40 years at the request of former president donald trumpwho has refused to support such a ban, even though takes the honor for the overturning Roe v. Wade.
The platform is a statement of first principles traditionally written by party activists. Trump’s campaign wants the group drafting this year’s platform to produce a shorter document without statements that are supported by many conservatives but may be unpopular with the broader electorate.
The platform committee begins its meeting Monday, a week before the start of the Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to accept his third consecutive nomination for president.
Trump has had to deal with months of Democratic criticism over abortion while President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has emphasized that Trump nominated half of the Supreme Court majority that struck down nationwide abortion rights in 2022. But among the outspoken anti-abortionists on the platform committee, some say that pushing for a federal ban on abortion after a certain stage of pregnancy should remain a party principle, even if it’s not an immediately feasible policy or one that would necessarily help Trump’s campaign in November.
“I see that as problematic. We still need to have these principles clearly articulated. Some of these fights are not over,” said Iowa Rep. Brad Sherman, a member of the platform committee who backed Trump’s winning Iowa caucus campaign in January and also supports a federal limit on abortion.
While the abortion declaration is likely to be the most controversial provision in the platform, there could also be disputes over Trump’s preference for tariffs And his isolationist approach to foreign policy and US involvement in global conflicts, particularly aiding Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Conservative activists accustomed to a seat at the table were furious about what they said was a secretive process for selecting committee members and the fact that the meeting was held behind closed doors.
“For four decades, the Republican Party and the GOP platform have benefited tremendously from an open and transparent process,” said Tim Chapman, the new chairman of Advancing American Freedom, a foundation headed by Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump’s campaign has tried to turn the Republican National Committee into a campaign vessel. A memo last month from senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles noted that “textbook programs … are being scrutinized and deliberately misrepresented by our political opponents.”
Trump ally Russ Vought is the policy director of the Republican Party’s platform writing committee, while he also leading the effort to develop the 180-day agenda for Project 2025, a comprehensive government reform proposal that Trump said Friday he knew nothing about despite the involvement of several former employees.
Still, Trump’s campaign said it was unclear what would be in the final document from the Milwaukee convention, suggesting it would reflect Trump’s views.
“Is there a desire to make the platform concise and reflective of the president and his policies? Yes,” said Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for Trump, referring to the memo. “Until we meet, we don’t know where we’re going to end up.”
Trump had supported federal legislation in 2018 that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, though the measure failed to gain the necessary support in the Senate.
However, after the 2022 midterm elections, Trump blamed Republicans who held strict anti-abortion positions for the party’s failure to gain a larger majority in the House. He has since become critical of the strictest abortion bans in individual states.
An AP-NORC poll conducted in June 2023 found that about two-thirds of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The poll also found that 6 in 10 Americans believe Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.
Biden’s campaign has criticized Republicans for keeping the platform committee meetings in Milwaukee secret from the press and reminded voters that Trump once supported a 20-week abortion ban.
Tamara Scott, one of the two members of the Iowa Republican National Committee and also a member of the platform committee, said Trump could campaign on his position and embrace the platform to reflect a long-term goal of a federal cap.
“It’s our vision. It’s our fundamental principles. It’s who we are as a party,” Scott said. “I agree that a platform should be clear and concise, but it should communicate our core principles.”
For several members of the committee, this means continuing to support an “amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment extend to children before birth,” a passage first included in 1984.
Trump was urged to retain that language in the platform, according to a letter signed by leaders of anti-abortion groups, including Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; and Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.
Once that passageway is removed, it will be difficult to restore it in future platforms, Dannenfelser said.
“The conversation about the platform is about the future. It’s about presidential campaigns 10 years from now, and it’s about Senate campaigns, it’s about House campaigns, Republican campaigns everywhere,” Dannenfelser said. “It’s not just about this election. And that’s why it’s important.”
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Associated Press journalists Lisa Mascaro and Amelia Thomson-Deveaux contributed from Washington.