Gun-rights advocates and pro-Israel Republicans are also bothered by the official stance as the party gathers in Milwaukee for its convention this week.
On the abortion front, what’s missing is what abortion looks like at 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 weeks and beyond, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) told the "Washington Watch" program last week.
The Hyde Amendment, a legislative amendment that took effect in 1980, which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except in cases of rape or the mother’s health, is not mentioned.
For the minority, the call to defund Planned Parenthood and the lack of international religious freedom discussion are also glaring omissions in the platform.
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in 2022, the Supreme Court returned control of abortion law to the states.
The new GOP platform says the party will “protect and defend a vote of the people, from within the states, on the issue of life.” The party will oppose late-term abortion, which maintains a stark contrast from Democrats.
Pro-life groups organize against platform
More than 100 pro-life organizations have signed a letter calling on the Republican National Committee to restore the staunch pro-life views that were removed from the platform, former Trump attorney and American Family Radio host Jenna Ellis said Monday.
The platform doesn’t go far enough, pro-lifers say, nor does it adequately support Second Amendment rights, Luis Valdes, the national spokesman for Gun Owners of America, said on "Washington Watch" Friday.
The previous party platform of 2016 – there were no modifications for Trump’s re-election bid in 2020 – had a concise three-paragraph statement that was “rich in detail” on where the party stood on the Second Amendment, Valdes told show host Tony Perkins.
The old platform stated the importance of judicial appointments to help defense Second Amendment rights in light of jurisdictions like “New York and California who are openly violating these Supreme Court rulings,” Valdes said.
New York right now “is declaring gun-free zones, and California is trying to do the same thing,” Valdes said. The old platform spoke of “harassment against both dealers and manufacturers by the regulatory agencies like the ATF.”
The approved 2024 platform references the Second Amendment only in a list of twenty promises the party says it will fulfill once “we win the White House and Republican majorities in the House and Senate.”
“It doesn't even go into detail on what protecting the second amendment is. It's quite scary and quite dangerous. As a gun owner who came of age in the 1990s, looking at what the Republican party platform is of today, it reminds me of 1990s Era Democrats,” Valdes said.
Trump wasn’t the most pro-gun rights president in his first term. His administration issued a ban on bump stocks, devices that allow a shooter to convert a semi-automatic rifle into one that can fire at hundreds of rounds per minute.
That ban was recently overturned by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote.
Trump embraced other gun control measures.
The Gun Owners of America group knows “where we stand on this, and we are going to press the issue and make sure that no matter what the platform is, the Second Amendment is protected, no more, no less,” Valdes said.
“This isn’t the first time that GOA has had to deal with something like this, and this isn't the last time we're going to deal with it. We fully operate off the principle of confrontational politics. We’re going to hold their feet to the fire, and we will be unrelenting in pushing the issue,” Valdes said.
Lip service to support for Israel
The platform includes only one line saying the party will stand with Israel and seek peace in the Middle East.
The previous platform spoke of “limiting the influence of Iran” though policy and sanctions. It spoke of a policy where there would be “no daylight” in the relationship between Israel and the United States, a far different look than what President Joe Biden has shown in with constant calls for a ceasefire, a two-state solution and delaying key ammunition shipments as Israel conducts war with Hamas following last Oct. 7’s terrorist attacks.
“Now, to just have this mealy-mouthed vague term of ‘We will stand with Israel.’ The Democrats also say they stand with Israel. Joe Biden says he stands with Israel even as he withholds weapons and pressures Israel to take steps that will cause it to lose the war,” Rabbi Pesach Wolicki told Hice.
Trump’s first term saw pro-Israel actions such as sanctions against Iran, the successful drone strike that killed Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, and the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
But the weakened party platform is worrisome, Wolicki said.
“When people talk about seeking peace in the Middle East, it sounds like a nice thing. We all want peace, but just to say we’re going to seek peace...Unfortunately, that’s been a buzz word over the last few decades for negotiations and capitulation. It’s an appeasement, and it’s very worrisome.
“It looks like they’re trying to be all things to all people and are possibly stepping away from full support for Israel,” Wolicki said.
On yet another issue, marriage, Linda Harvey of Mission: America tells AFN the platform falls short. It mentions the importance of marriage, she tells AFN, but fails to define what that is. She suspects the reason is LGBT lobbying within the party over the issue of same-sex marriage.
"Homosexuality is very destructive in people's lives," she says. "We definitely should not be holding it up as an acceptable option to our children."
