Trump pushes new GOP platform softening party’s positions on abortion and same-sex marriage
The national Republican Party is set to abandon a decades-long push for a federal abortion ban and soften the stance on same-sex marriage in its platform.
At the urging of former President Donald Trump and his allies, the Republican Party is set to abandon a decadeslong push for a federal abortion ban and soften its stance on same-sex marriage in its platform, according to changes made in a draft policy platform passed Monday morning ahead of next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The new draft party platform, which still must get approval from the full Republican National Committee, came after the Trump campaign made a quiet push to keep those seen as too socially conservative off the platform committee out of concern that they would make a vocal push for things like a federal abortion ban, which has consistently been unpopular in public polling.
“The reality of the situation is, this platform reflects modern day realities,” said a platform committee member who spoke anonymously to NBC News to detail private deliberations. “This is a position that leaves it up to the states, which is the position of the Republican Party.”
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the annual Road to Majority conference in Washington on June 22.Allison Bailey / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images fileFights over how to handle changes to both abortion and same-sex marriage dominated the lead-up to the GOP changing its national policy platform, something that generally happens every four years alongside presidential elections. For the first time in recent memory, this year’s platform meeting was held behind closed doors without access for the media or members of the public.
Social conservatives pushed to retain the platform’s old language promoting an abortion ban and opposing same-sex marriage, but they lost as the politics surrounding both have changed over the years. Trump said earlier this year that abortion should remain a state policy issue, after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and Trump’s White House said during his administration that he supported same-sex marriage.
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