RNC delegates embrace Trump's abortion platform shakeup
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Delegates hold "Trump" campaign signs during the Republican National Convention. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
MILWAUKEE — Delegates at the Republican National Convention expressed their support for leaving abortion legislation to the states and the decision to remove a national abortion ban from the party's platform for the first time in 40 years.
Why it matters: It's a significant shift for the party that worked for decades to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights. Some lawmakers expressed hesitation about the move, but delegates repeatedly told Axios they agreed with the change.
- Abortion was moved down in the platform priorities and does not have the same language it has always had before, Alabama delegate Robin Rowan told Axios, "but we're in a new era, where it's been brought back down to the states."
- Rowan acknowledged "some people are upset" by the change after so many years.
- Former President Trump was heavily involved in the change and has staked out a position of letting states decide abortion laws within their borders.
Between the lines: Axios spoke to 10 delegates from various states on the first night of the RNC.
- Across the board, they expressed their staunch personal anti-abortion rights stance but said they believed abortion laws should be left to the states.
- Delegates from Michigan and New York even admitted they disagree with the abortion policies in their blue states but believed it is important to allow states to adopt their own policies.
What they're saying: "[T]here are women that have very differing and varying views personally on that topic," Trisha Turner, president of New York State Federation of Republican Women and a New York delegate, told Axios. "It's not a one-size-fits-all. And I think our party is is acknowledging that."
- "I kind of understand where they're going with it. Because why are we going to fight about it? Because there's division, there really is," Texas delegate Michelle Burton said.
- "Even though I am an ultra conservative on the pro-life issue, because of my life circumstances, I believe that it should have been a state issue not a federal issue," Ken Crider, a union construction worker, former state Senate candidate and Michigan delegate told Axios.
- "Bring it down at the state level, that is the beautiful place to be, because now the state is taking care of their people based on the culture," Washington state delegate Brenda Milewski said.
