21-August-2012 -- EWTNews Feature |
The Republican Party's platform committee has drafted a resolution reaffirming its official opposition to abortion and its support for a human life amendment to protect unborn children.
"Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed," reads the party's draft platform language. "We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."
Delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. next week will vote on the resolution. Republican officials say it will almost certainly pass, according to CNN.
The language is similar to a resolution that passed at the 2004 and 2008 conventions.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the 110-member platform committee, thanked committee members for "affirming our respect for human life."
The platform also opposes federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and government funding or subsidy for health care that includes abortion coverage.
Abortion has been legal in the U.S. since the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade struck down abortion laws in all 50 states.
Earlier this month, the Democratic Party's platform committee rejected Democrats for Life of America's request to acknowledge "deeply held and sometimes differing positions on issues of personal conscience, like abortion and the death penalty."
Its 2008 party platform read "The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right."