Social conservatives rattle Trump on abortion ahead of GOP convention

As Republicans flock to Milwaukee for their 2024 convention, evangelicals and other social conservatives are jittery about their waning influence, and could end up spoiling Donald Trump's bash.

That's because for the first time in four decades - since the GOP agenda aligned with the so-called "Moral Majority" - the party's commitment to opposing abortion in its national platform just got slimmed down.

Trump and the larger Make America Great Again movement remain muscular on other topics that motivate conservatives on immigration, crime and culture war items. But in falling short on abortion in the eyes of right-leaning voters of faith, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee risks creating a chasm with evangelical Christians who are essential to his electoral success and who've long had an uneasy relationship with his character.

Trump's judicial appointments silenced most of those apprehensions when the now-former president ushered in a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Still, seeing a new Republican platform that leaves out language on banning abortion and makes no mention of pursuing personhood for embryos or fetuses has alarmed those attached to the party by a conservative Biblical anchor.

"First and foremost, they need to be as loyal to this issue of ending abortion as they are to other issues," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, told USA TODAY in an interview Monday.

"Do not relegate the pro-life movement to the kiddie table," she added. "That's not going to fly."

Lila Rose, founder and president of the anti-abortion group Live Action, said the new Republican platform wording represents a "downgrade." But beyond that it has created an awareness about Trump, who she said is "throwing the pro-life movement under the bus."

"The people in trenches are unhappy with it," Rose said. "They don't want compromise.

Both women were among seven anti-abortion activists who warned RNC delegates in a July 1 letter about rumors that anti-abortion Republicans were being locked out of the decision-making process.

While the draft document won't be finalized until it is adopted by the full convention next week, its introduction comes at a critical time in the 2024 campaign and the country's larger reproductive rights debate.

Democrats are energized and have launched an aggressive campaign to put abortion on the ballot in several states this year in response to the strict prohibitions triggered by the Supreme Court's monumental decision two years ago overturning Roe v. Wade.

Republicans remain divided on what to do next, however, as Trump and his more populist-leaning MAGA allies emphasize state restrictions and certain exemptions over pursuing a federal prohibition, which a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows 6 out of 10 Americans oppose.

As Republicans strut into their convention feeling confident about Trump's overall chances in November, the former president's return to power could be spoiled by an aggressive coalition to his right that is ready to elbow their agenda onto the RNC stage and beyond.

The risks of igniting an intra-party fight are plentiful, especially at a time when Republicans want to show the country a unified front in contrast to Democratic infighting over President Joe Biden's age and fitness.

But many grassroots advocates say there is no better time or subject to press Trump on other than underscoring the importance of eliminating abortion completely.

"For decades, passionate pro-life activists have been the grassroots backbone of the Republican Party," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement.

"They believed the Republican Party had an ironclad commitment to protect the unborn. This alliance is at risk of being severely weakened next week in Milwaukee."

GOP 'lied and watered down' platform

The new platform credits Trump for the high court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, but also reflects his concern that this issue is a political loser with general election voters.

"After 51 years, because of us, that power (over abortion) has been given to the states and to a vote of the people," the proposed platform says. "We will oppose late term abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments)."

The former president's campaign received a heavy dose of skepticism from allies leading up to the convention, especially over the secretive nature of the platform committee's drafting process, which barred the press and public.

John Shelton, an analyst with Advancing American Freedom, a conservative policy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, said Monday that party officials had explicitly told the group how the platform wouldn't be changed.

"Guess what? They lied and watered down the platform on abortion, marriage, and IVF," Shelton said in a July 8 post on X.

Those who attended the platform meetings confirmed with the USA TODAY Network that GOP officials had squashed debate on the abortion item.

Gail Ruzicka, an RNC platform committee member from Utah who has attended the convention since 1992, didn't vote for the platform because of the absence of such language.

"The platform simply says that we oppose late term abortion. Well, what about before that? Never happened before," she said. "I've never been treated so badly ? to have them force this vote on us before we even had a chance to read the platform."

Asked a series of questions about how the platform came to be, including if Trump worries it might dampen the mood among evangelicals, the former president's campaign dodged answering directly.

"President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion," Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told USA TODAY in a statement.

Biden and the Democrats are the ones "radically out of touch with the majority of Americans in their support for abortion" without limitations, she said.

That's a much different tone compared to how Trump laid into social conservatives — namely Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — in April for objecting to his stance that the abortion debate remain at the state level.

Trump said the people who are unrelenting on leaving the issue up to the states, are "handing Democrats their dream of the House, Senate, and perhaps even the presidency."

Activists encouraged to 'speak boldly' at RNC

When Trump carried the Republican banner in 2016 and again in his failed 2020 reelection bid, anti-abortion activists point out that the party didn't shy away from its social conservative roots and must not do so now.

"It is very concerning to see how the GOP is approaching this platform," Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said in a July 6 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Perkins said ahead of Monday's draft that Republicans shouldn't decorate the party platform with "passive pastels" at the risk of turning off the base.

The Family Research Council released a survey this month showing 66% of Republican voters think the party should either maintain or adopt stronger language opposing abortion.

Just 19% of GOP respondents said the party should talk less about the issue, according to the poll.

For those who have held reservations about Trump's relationship with evangelical voters, the draft represents an act of political expediency at best. At worst, it comes off as a betrayal.

"There's certainly some loyalty to President Trump for what he's done, but he's now stabbing the pro-life movement in the back with these compromises," Rose told USA TODAY.

"It stems from this weird excuse that basically says if there's any loss that Republicans suffer, it's the pro lifers fault. It's absurd. It's wrong."

The Rev. Clint Pressley, a North Carolina megachurch pastor who was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, said Tuesday his members believe in the "sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death."

They will insist elected officials do the same, he said.

"I am disheartened by what’s happened in the GOP," Pressley said in a July 9 post on X. "The GOP platform may be subject to change, but God’s word is not."

Activists who spoke with USA TODAY say this split will animate rank-and-file conservatives attending the July convention.

Many are planing various "Make Trump Pro-Life Again" actions to draw out the former president and his team, such as bombarding convention-goers with digital billboards circling the event, handing out baby items as a show of solidarity and forming a prayer circle around a nearby Planned Parenthood.

Jeff Bradford, president of Human Coalition Action, an anti-abortion group, said they plan to urge RNC delegates to "stay vigilant" at any attempts to further dilute the platform, and "continue speaking boldly in defense of the unborn and their mothers."

But those who attend the convention must also help expand the political conversation to other pro-family policies, he said, such as expansion of the child tax credit; federal paid family leave; more resources for childcare; and strengthening programs such as Medicaid for postpartum care.

"A party that has professed to be pro-life in the past has to be unambiguous in its support for the cause, and give voters a compelling reason to show up at the polls," Bradford said.

"The platform is central to this effort."

Reporter Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RNC is approaching, antiabortion activists unhappy with platform