Oklahoma Governor and 2016 Republican Platform Committee co-chair Mary Fallin said over the weekend that the GOP’s platform will “remain pro-life” despite calls to soften its rhetoric on abortion.
“I know that [presumptive GOP presidential nominee] Donald Trump has said as a candidate that he believes in life, and I think the majority of the Republican Party does believe in life — that has been an important part and plank of our platform as a political party,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Fallin, who is reportedly among the names under consideration to be Trump’s running mate, noted that while Trump will have delegates representing his views to the platform committee, “in the end, this platform is driven by grassroots Republican people throughout the nation who will represent the very values and principles of the Republican Party.”
The subject first arose in April, when Trump made comments suggesting the GOP’s abortion plank should formally recognize rape and incest exceptions for abortion, despite the fact that the party platform states a long-term ideal that does not prevent Republicans from supporting incremental legislation containing exceptions.
Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus has also dismissed concerns that there was a serious possibility of weakening the platform: “I think our platform is pretty clear on those subjects. Life begins at conception, and that 14th Amendment rights apply to unborn children. And I would suspect that that is what the platform is going to say after Cleveland.”
