The word you seldom hear during Republican National Convention speeches: abortion
Even after hours of prime-time speeches at the Republican National Convention in downtown Milwaukee, one word barely has been uttered at Fiserv Forum so far this week: abortion.
Call it the elephant in the convention hall.
Not even vice presidential nominee JD Vance addressed the issue during his acceptance speech Wednesday night, the same day CNN reported he'd said in 2022 that he "would like abortion to be illegal nationally."
The noticeable silence over the issue comes as Republicans approved their latest party platform embracing presidential nominee Donald Trump's political positions, including an approach calling for abortion laws to be left to the states. Still, the 2024 platform also includes language that links abortion to the 14th Amendment, meaning laws or court decisions could grant fetuses additional legal rights that may endanger IVF as well as abortion.
The party gives Trump credit for the Supreme Court decision overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling, but also reflects the former president's concerns that the issue could hurt him in 2024.
"We will oppose late-term abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, accessto birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments)," the platform said.
The weaker language on abortion in the platform has drawn criticism from some conservative activists who argue the GOP is abandoning the party’s longtime outspoken support for national restrictions on abortion. Many anti-abortion activists want to see calls for an outright national ban on the procedure.
Many RNC attendees fine with silence
After little talk about abortion in the platform as well as convention speeches, Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, a conservative Republican, said he would take Trump's word it's an issue that will be left to the states.
"I don't expect to be voting on any pro-life, pro-abortion bans in the next two years that he's president," Grothman said. "Next four years, really."
In interviews with the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday, multiple Wisconsin RNC delegates said leaving abortion alone is the right move. Some avoided the question, saying they’re not the one running for office, and are voting for Trump on issues like the economy and immigration. Others declined to be interviewed at all once abortion came up.
Scarlett Johnson said she's "glad they're not talking about it."
Her mother, who gave birth to her at 15, was told to have an abortion, shaping her views on the procedure. She said she supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest or threats to a mother's life.
"When we are pro-life, that's not where it ends. We donate, we volunteer, we make sure that there are resources for a child at birth and for the mother who's making that choice to have her baby," Johnson said.
Amber Schroeder said the Journal Sentinel was the “first to mention the word” to her all week. Even though she is strongly anti-abortion, she thinks leaving the issue up to states is more politically feasible than a national ban.
"In order to keep winning elections, Republicans do need to soften their stance on the abortion topic," Schroeder said.
"It's like Moses and the burning bush, that’s what the abortion issue feels like," said Shannon McKinney. "Because it’s so emotional."
Bob Kordus, a delegate from the Lake Geneva area, said abortion "can be discussed at the national level, but it's a state rights issue." He thinks abortion will largely stay out of the presidential race and that it instead belongs in the state Legislature.
Jerry Murphy, another delegate who spoke to the Journal Sentinel at Wisconsin Media Row within the RNC, said "I think we should address (abortion) if we're asked about it."
"It's probably — from a political standpoint, obviously — one of our weaker issues. But I think we've kind of crossed that hurdle, too. President Trump, when he came out against the national ban, when he left it to the states," Murphy said. "That's a position I always had."
Democrats eager to talk about the issue
Democrats said Republicans — and Trump — still want to ban abortion by whatever means they can.
At a Wednesday news conference a few blocks outside of the RNC perimeter, Democrats criticized Trump and his running mate Vance on reproductive rights, saying their positions on abortion were "appalling" and would "irrevocably” change women’s rights for the worse.
"I want to speak directly to American women to tell you that there's only one team on the ballot who cares about you, and that's the Biden-Harris team," said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat. “We are here to sound the alarm about what's at stake in this November election, especially for women.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said that men in politics shouldn't be the ones telling women what to do, nor should they be delivering the message about abortion.
"As a man, it's time to shut the hell up and stand back," he said. "I think it's much more important that we have the narratives of people who are out there."
Abortion rights advocate Amanda Zurawski spoke Wednesday about her harrowing experience seeking out help after she experienced health problems during her pregnancy in 2022 in Texas, where an abortion ban went into effect just two days after her water broke.
"Donald Trump and his allies continuously bragged about killing Roe v. Wade, and it is unthinkable to me that anyone could cheer on the cruel abortion bans that nearly took my life," Zurawski said.
She said Vance is just as dangerous to women's rights.
"(Vance's) anti-choice agenda is so extreme that he doesn't even think there should be exemptions for rape or incest survivors, actually saying that two wrongs don't make a right. He calls these devastating circumstances 'inconvenient,'" she said. "My husband, Josh, and I are now desperately trying to start a family through IVF but JD Vance voted against legislation to protect IVF. It's appalling and tragically, my story is not unique."
The Biden-Harris campaign has made abortion rights a touchstone of their campaign in Wisconsin, employing surrogates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Vice President Kamala Harris for roundtable discussions and rallies that sought to highlight the issue.
Some anti-abortion activists want stronger language
Anti-abortion activists who protested this week outside the Republican National Convention said they felt out-of-step with the party and Trump.
"The National Republican Party, the RNC and the president ought not to take the pro-life base for granted," said Matt Sande, legislative director for Pro-Life Wisconsin.
Last year, Trump took credit for the Dobbs decision, writing on his social media platform: "After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the 'shock' of everyone." But recently Trump declined to endorse a nationwide abortion ban.
"We can't have this patchwork of protections for the pre-born dependent on which state that you live in," Sande said.
Issue could be crucial to 2024 election in Wisconsin
A recent Marquette University Law School poll found abortion policy ranked third in the issues, following the economy and immigration and border security. Stances on the issue have remained consistent, with 66% saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases compared to 34% who say it should be illegal in all or most cases.
And in June, 47% of those polled told Marquette that Joe Biden would do a better job handling abortion issues, compared to 33% who said Trump would do a better job on the issue.
Abortion was also a key issue in the 2022 governor's race, when Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won another term, as well as in the 2023 state Supreme Court race won by Justice Janet Protasiewicz.
The Roe decision revived an 1849 state abortion law banning the practice in situations except when the mother would die without one, and abortion rights in Wisconsin were suspended for 15 months until a Dane County ruling reversed the ban — a decision that is being appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Sophie Carson and Kathryn Muchnick of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: RNC 2024 speeches not mentioning abortion
