Republicans put abortion disagreements aside at 'unity' convention

Edna Wales, a Republican delegate from Florida, does not support abortion. As a Roman Catholic, the procedure goes against her moral values.

But her policy position, she told the BBC at a street fair at the Republican National Convention, was that it should be left to the states. “I truly feel that,” she said.

Given that outlawing abortion nationwide has been an animating issue for religious Republicans for decades, it was a surprising position to hear at this weeklong gathering. Yet Ms Wales’ stance is the same one that Donald Trump, the party’s nominee for president, now espouses.

The former president has boasted of appointing a US Supreme Court bench that overturned the constitutional right to abortion. The 2022 decision upended the landscape of abortion access in the US, with some Republican-led states swiftly outlawing or restricting the procedure while other Democratic-controlled states took steps to protect access.

After months of back and forth, Trump has made something of a public retreat from the issue, saying abortion should now be left to the states. While the party appears in lockstep with their nominee - a key theme of this week’s convention has been “unity” – under the surface, some daylight has emerged between Trump’s Republican Party and the most ardent members of the anti-abortion movement who want to see the procedure ended nationally.

“I think where, potentially, President Trump currently is, and the pro-life movement is, it could be a schism,” said Marc Short, who was chief-of-staff to former vice-president Mike Pence – one of the party’s staunchest anti-abortion politicians.

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Trump’s position may well be a political calculation, given polls suggest the majority of Americans support abortion access. The end of Roe v Wade has also given Democrats a potent political issue to campaign on: protecting access. They performed better than expected during the 2022 midterm elections, and many pollsters and pundits credited the abortion issue for this.

Trump’s supporters at the convention in Milwaukee told the BBC they appreciated the pragmatism at play. “I understand how he has to be so careful of how he handles [abortion] because of his run for president,” Ms Wales said.

She said she believed pressure from the right on Trump was unfair, because “a lot of people are against abortion. You know, a lot of people are for abortion, and that is a very touchy subject”.

Internal tensions over the issue spilled into the open with the release of the 2024 Republican Party platform, which outlines its policies and positions on various key issues.

Its abortion section in 2016, and again in 2020, promised to appoint anti-abortion judges, to axe federal funding for Planned Parenthood and called for a “human life amendment” to be added to the Constitution.

This year, the abortion section underwent a heavy edit.

It cut the abortion section from 775 words to 90. The four-sentence pledge promises to stand for life and oppose “late-term abortion”.

It also states the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution “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 then adds: “Because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People.”

Republicans in Milwaukee expressed little issue with the new language and fell in line behind their nominee. “I agree it has to be up to the states,” said Maria Rodriguez of Georgia, who described herself as a “pro-life Christian” who switched to the Republican Party due to its opposition to abortion.

“I just don't feel like it's something that should be done nationally,” said Jackie Canon, a delegate from Louisiana. “I feel like it should be done state by state.”

But the changes also inspired some anger.

Mr Short told the BBC religious conservatives were “disappointed” by the platform position on abortion, and some had viewed the end of Roe v Wade as a “first step”.

His former boss, Mike Pence, was one of them, calling the platform a “profound disappointment” that removed “historic pro-life principles that have long been the foundation of the platform”.

“They rolled us,” Gail Ruzicka, who was on the RNC platform committee, told WISN Milwaukee. “I'm extremely disappointed that we do not have any pro-life language.”

At a glance, the 2024 abortion platform seemed to reflect Trump's new, more moderate stance that puts the onus on the states. Those paying close attention saw something different.

“This particular platform is not going to win any prizes for eloquence,” said Kristi Hamrick, vice-president of policy for Students for Life, one of the largest anti-abortion organisations in the country. But, she said, the platform gave us “what we asked for”.

“The 14th Amendment is the legal foundation upon which we need to build a new, more pro-life America,” she said. “That’s a win.”

The 14th Amendment has, for years, been raised by anti-abortion activists to claim that foetuses should be granted the same rights as other Americans. In this thinking, a federal abortion ban already exists within the constitution, and no new amendment or law is needed.

“Invoking the 14th Amendment to protect ‘every life’ is clearly a call to foetal personhood,” Rachel Rebouché, dean and law professor at Temple University Law school, and a leading scholar in reproductive health law. “That’s got to be the end game.”

In other words, what looked like a softening of language on abortion could in fact be read as a possible pathway to outlawing it nationwide.

Most national leaders in the anti-abortion movement joined Ms Hamrick in applauding the platform. Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, John Mize of Americans United for Life and Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition all signed a letter pledging their support for the platform.

Experts say any confusion was likely intentional, a marker of a party juggling a socially conservative base, while also working to appeal to moderate voters who largely support abortion access.

“In reality there are these two mutually incompatible constituencies that the GOP is trying to appeal to on abortion,” said Mary Ziegler, a historian and law professor at the University of California, Davis, and a leading expert on the abortion debate.

“I think the platform was designed to placate all these people… and you can’t really do that by being clear,” she said. “I think confusion is the best strategy that’s emerged.”

Even sceptical Republicans here in Milwaukee are falling in line behind Trump on abortion, a sign of the grip he holds on the Republican Party.

Former US Senator Rick Santorum, a prominent anti-abortion politician, told the BBC on the convention floor that he was “obviously disappointed” in the new party platform “but Donald Trump is a strong pro-life president”.

He anticipated there may be more arguments over abortion in the party in the years to come, but with Trump about to be crowned the nominee, he said now was not the time.

“I’m not sure it’s much of a battle right now,” he said.