If anything reflects the recent intensity of the abortion wars, it’s this year’s Democratic and Republican party platforms.
For the first time, Democrats are calling for an end to a limit on abortion that they have agreed to for years: The Hyde Amendment, which says federal funds can’t go toward the procedure except in cases of rape, incest and if the woman’s life is at stake.
And Republicans have broken new ground by explicitly targeting Planned Parenthood in their platform, writing that they oppose the use of public dollars to fund organizations “like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts.”
The party conventions, in Cleveland this week for Republicans and Philadelphia next week for Democrats, come after a year of tension over abortion. As Planned Parenthood came under heavy political fire for its participation in fetal tissue donations, Republicans repeatedly tried to defund the group and abortion foes saw the Supreme Court dismantle their legal strategy by striking down stricter clinic regulations.
As both parties struggle to excite voters, they’re using their platforms to dig into the abortion issue as a way to appeal to the base and convince voters to turn out in November, even if they’re not terribly thrilled with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“We’re really seeing the parties trying to galvanize support wherever they can,” said Deanna Rohlinger, a sociology professor at Florida State University. “On both sides of the abortion issue, people are really passionate about their positions.”
Fewer than three in 10 respondents to a CNN poll last month said they would be excited by either a Trump or Clinton presidency. Nearly six in 10 viewed both candidates unfavorably.
“Both platforms indicate the respective party’s candidate’s need to appeal to the party base rather than running to the middle, as is normally true in the general election,” said Priscilla Smith, a law professor at Yale and former attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“I think this reflects the lack of cohesion of both parties, and the fear of party splintering,” she said.
In their draft platform, which will be finalized next week, Democrats vow to oppose and seek to overturn all laws and policies “that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.”
The proposed platform also strips out a section from the party’s 2012 platform discussing how to reduce the number of abortions, a goal that both opponents and supporters of abortion rights have agreed upon in the past.
Four years ago, the Democratic platform noted that healthcare and education can help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby abortions. This year’s platform says only that “reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s and young people’s health and wellbeing.”
Republicans have disliked Planned Parenthood for years, but this is the first time they have mentioned the women’s health and abortion provider by name in their platform, prompting pushback from the group this week.
“This isn’t just an attack on Planned Parenthood,” said Planned Parenthood Vice President Dawn Laguens. “It’s an attack on the millions of patients who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers each year for basic healthcare.”
The GOP platform also slams the Supreme Court’s recent Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision striking abortion regulations and aims sharper criticisms than in the past against Democrats for their position on abortion, characterizing them as “extreme.”
“Democrats’ almost limitless support for abortion, and their strident opposition to even the most basic restrictions on abortion, put them dramatically out of step with the American people,” the platform says.
The language won applause from conservative groups, who have been petitioning the party for weeks to include strong anti-abortion language in the platform.
“The Republican platform has always been strong when it comes to protecting unborn children, their mothers and the conscience rights of pro-life Americans,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The platform ratified today takes that stand from good to great.”
