RNC leader defends abortion language in party platform that some criticized as a retreat

WAUKESHA – A Republican Party leader on Monday defended the stance on abortion in the party platform adopted earlier in the day after some participants criticized the document's approach to the issue and the process to develop it.

"I think that when people get a chance to review the language in the platform, they're going to realize that this is the embodiment of the Republican Party," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said. "This is the embodiment of what President (Donald) Trump wants to run on. And this is the path, this is the platform that is going to help us."

Trump is expected to formally accept the party's nomination to seek a second term in the White House during the Republican National Convention next week in downtown Milwaukee.

The platform was released earlier in the day after a closed meeting of Republican National Committee party officials at the Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee.

Afterward, some committee members who want a more aggressive policy stance on abortion access criticized the way the platform was crafted and said debate was discouraged more than when previous platforms had been drafted.

Gayle Ruzicka, RNC platform committee member from Utah, told the Journal Sentinel that officials quashed debate on the abortion item, not allowing any amendments or discussion and eschewing "any pro-life language."

Kris Ullman, president of anti-abortion advocacy group Eagle Forum in Washington, D.C., said she assumed campaign officials wanted to limit abortion language given the vulnerability the issue presents for Trump.

"Normally, people fly in and they're working for two or three days on the platform, and it's great. This time, it was a very controlled thing. And sadly, there was no opportunity for the actual delegates to impact the platform," Ullman said.

Ullman said "any mention of the unborn was removed from the platform."

Convention delegates will vote on the party platform next week.

Abortion has been a difficult election issue for Republicans since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to end a pregnancy. Trump, who appointed conservative Supreme Court justices who helped write the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, has said the issue should be decided by the states even as he's taken credit for the ruling.

On Monday, Whatley defended the platform, calling it "a very solid pro-life platform" and said there were "plenty" of votes and discussion on the platform at the committee meeting.

"We had an overwhelming vote in support of the platform, and we feel very good about being able to take this out to the American people and letting them see this is what the Republican Party stands for," he said.

The platform document states: "We proudly stand for families and Life. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 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. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People. We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments)."

Journal Sentinel reporter Molly Beck contributed to this story.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com. Tristan Hernandez can be reached at thernandez@gannett.com.