The inalienable right to life possessed by every human being is present from the moment of initial formation, and all human beings shall be entitled to the equal protection of persons under the law.
Republicans and Prenatal Personhood
Bill Fortenberry
Every time that I seek to work within the party structure to encourage Republicans to publicly support personhood bills, I find myself faced with vigorous opposition from the party leaders. After several years of this, I began to ask myself if these people were even Republicans at all. To answer this question, I decided to compare the history of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in regards to abortion.
As you read through the chart below, let me ask you to think about two things. First, keep in mind that the sole purpose of the personhood movement is to pass laws which guarantee that prenatal children are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Second, while reading with this in mind, ask yourself this question: Can you really call yourself a Republican if you oppose prenatal personhood?
As you read through the chart below, let me ask you to think about two things. First, keep in mind that the sole purpose of the personhood movement is to pass laws which guarantee that prenatal children are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. Second, while reading with this in mind, ask yourself this question: Can you really call yourself a Republican if you oppose prenatal personhood?
Republican Party Platform |
Democratic Party Platform |
1976 “The Republican Party … supports the efforts of those who seek enactment of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.” |
1976 “We fully recognize the religious and ethical nature of the concerns which many Americans have on the subject of abortion. We feel, however, that it is undesirable to attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court decision in this area.” |
1980 “we affirm our support of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.” |
1980 “Reproductive Rights—We fully recognize the religious and ethical concerns which many Americans have about abortion. We also recognize the belief of many Americans that a woman has a right to choose whether and when to have a child. The Democratic Party supports the 1973 Supreme Court decision on abortion rights as the law of the land and opposes any constitutional amendment to restrict or overturn that decision.” |
1984 “The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We therefore reaffirm our support for a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children.” |
1984 No position on abortion - primarily focused on economics and foreign policy. |
1988 “the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We therefore reaffirm our support for a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children.” |
1988 No position on abortion - primarily focused on economics and foreign policy. |
1992 “We believe the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We therefore reaffirm our support for a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children.” |
1992 “Democrats stand behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, regardless of ability to pay, and support a national law to protect that right. It is a fundamental constitutional liberty that individual Americans—not government—can best take responsibility for making the most difficult and intensely personal decisions regarding reproduction. The goal of our nation must be to make abortion less necessary, not more difficult or more dangerous.” |
1996 “The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions.” |
1996 “The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay … Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficult and more dangerous.” |
2000 “As a country, we must keep our pledge to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence. That is why we say the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions.” |
2000 “The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay … Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficult and more dangerous.” |
2004 “As a country, we must keep our pledge to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence. That is why we say the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make it clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions.” |
2004 “we stand proudly for a woman's right to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of her ability to pay. We stand firmly against Republican efforts to undermine that right. At the same time, we strongly support family planning and adoption incentives. Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.” |
2008 “Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children.” |
2008 “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 ... We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.” |
2012 “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. 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.” |
2012 “The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. Abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor, and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way. We also recognize that health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.” |
As I read through these platform positions, I began to notice something very strange. All of the responses that I was getting from the Republican leadership can be found in this list, but none of them can be found in the first column.
For example, the response that abortion is a moral and religious issue but not a proper political issue is nearly identical to the statement from the 1976 Democratic Platform. The response that we should focus on fiscal policy and foreign policy instead of social issues was exemplified by the Democratic Party in their platforms of 1984 and 1988. The response that we should fight against abortion by eliminating the need for any woman to seek it is exactly what the Democratic Party has proposed in every platform since 1992. The argument that we should fight abortion by making it easier for people to adopt unwanted children was proposed by the Democratic Party in 2004. And the idea that this whole thing is just a religious issue that the government should stay out of was presented in the 2012 platform of the Democratic Party.
I have heard every single one of these examples from multiple leaders in the Republican Party on both the state and the national level. This causes me to wonder if the Republican Party is even led by Republicans. Can you really call yourself a Republican if you oppose prenatal personhood? I'm tired of seeing Republicans follow the Democratic platform instead of their own. If you share my frustration, why don't you join me in the solution? Let's share this chart with as many people as we can and remind those in the Republican Party that they are in the party of personhood.
Click here to learn about a bill that would ban abortion in Alabama if our Republican majority would just get behind it and pass it.
For example, the response that abortion is a moral and religious issue but not a proper political issue is nearly identical to the statement from the 1976 Democratic Platform. The response that we should focus on fiscal policy and foreign policy instead of social issues was exemplified by the Democratic Party in their platforms of 1984 and 1988. The response that we should fight against abortion by eliminating the need for any woman to seek it is exactly what the Democratic Party has proposed in every platform since 1992. The argument that we should fight abortion by making it easier for people to adopt unwanted children was proposed by the Democratic Party in 2004. And the idea that this whole thing is just a religious issue that the government should stay out of was presented in the 2012 platform of the Democratic Party.
I have heard every single one of these examples from multiple leaders in the Republican Party on both the state and the national level. This causes me to wonder if the Republican Party is even led by Republicans. Can you really call yourself a Republican if you oppose prenatal personhood? I'm tired of seeing Republicans follow the Democratic platform instead of their own. If you share my frustration, why don't you join me in the solution? Let's share this chart with as many people as we can and remind those in the Republican Party that they are in the party of personhood.
Click here to learn about a bill that would ban abortion in Alabama if our Republican majority would just get behind it and pass it.