TAMPA, Fla. — At a celebration of pro-life accomplishments near the site of the Republican National Convention, Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly stressed that the Republicans’ pro-life platform contains the same planks as the one former President Ronald Reagan rode to a 49-state landslide re-election victory against Walter Mondale in 1984.
“The pro-life platform is absolutely excellent,” Schlafly told The Daily Caller. “The heart of it is identical to the pro-life platform we have had since the 1984 convention in Dallas. It says that the unborn child has a fundamental, individual right to life which cannot be infringed.”
The right-to-life resolution draft pushes for a “human life” constitutional amendment that would apply Fourteenth Amendment protections to unborn children.
“Faithful to the ‘self-evident’ truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,”the draft platform reads in part. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”
Schlafly, who has defended Republican policies from Democratic charges of a “war on women” in recent months, downplayed talk of controversy over Republicans’ unapologetic support for the pro-life movement and its goals.
“The pro-life plank of the platform is the same one we elected Ronald Reagan on in his 49-state victory,” she told TheDC. “It is really not controversial in the Republican Party anymore. It is just a blind statement and, I think, one of the things we have done to make the Republican Party pro-life. Almost all of our candidates in 2010 were pro-life, and they are again this year.”
The draft language was approved last Tuesday and has received increased attention in the wake of Missouri Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin’s comment about pregnancy and “legitimate rape.” The pro-life platform language does not include a specific exception for abortion in the case of rape or incest.