FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 8, 2024
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CONTACT: Kris Ullman
[email protected]
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Eagle Forum, the organization founded by pro-life activist and nine-time Republican Platform Committee delegate Phyllis Schlafly, released the following statement:
Republicans are pro-life.
Sadly, this Republican Platform is not.
The 2024 language departs from the clear statement of principle that has been in every Republican Platform since 1984 — we believe in the fundamental right to life of the unborn which cannot be infringed. For 40 years, the Party has supported ensuring this right through the enactment of both a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.
This new platform removes the explicit pro-life principles that have long been the bedrock of the pro-life plank. While the 14th Amendment’s right to due process is cited, it does not apply these protections to the unborn. Without clarifying that unborn children are included in the definition of “persons,” the reference is meaningless. The new platform seems to define “pro-life” as mere opposition to “late-term abortion.”
For almost 50 years, our founder and President, Phyllis Schlafly, successfully advocated for a strong pro-life plank in the platform. In 2016, she met with candidate Trump to explain the importance of the pro-life language and felt confident in his commitment to its retention. Her last official activity before her passing was attending the GOP convention in Cleveland and hosting her final Life of the Party celebration upon re-adoption of a life-affirming Platform. Anne Schlafly, Phyllis Schlafly’s daughter and Chairman of Eagle Forum, said, "My mother would have been disgusted with the heavy-handed procedures that were used to stifle the grassroots and shove an insipid platform down our throats."
The Platform Committee was denied the opportunity to offer amendments or have any discussion on the issues before its rushed adoption. Phyllis loved the spirited debates and the friendships she developed by serving on nine Platform Committees.
The campaign repeatedly said they wanted to create a clear, concise, and easy-to-understand platform. They failed in this goal. The ‘Life’ language is not clear but intentionally vague and subject to various interpretations. Ronald Reagan said in 1976, "Our Platform is a banner of bold unmistakable colors with no pastel shades." Sadly, this is not the case this year.
Republicans remain pro-life — even if this platform does not reflect those views — and will continue to advocate for laws protecting the life of the unborn at every level of government.
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Eagle Forum was founded by Phyllis Schlafly, a dynamic and charismatic leader who inspired countless women and men to participate in the process of self-government and public policy-making so that America will continue to be a land of individual liberty, with respect for the nuclear family, public and private virtue, and private enterprise. For nearly fifty years, Eagle Forum’s network of state organizations has led the charge to mobilize the grassroots to defend the founding principles of the United States.
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