In an unconventional move, a group of more than sixty pro-abortion organizations have sent letters to both the Democrat and Republican parties, calling on them to endorse abortion in their party platforms.
All Above All, a coalition including the ACLU, Center for Reproductive Rights, Ipas, NARAL, National Abortion Federation, National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, and more, calls on both parties to adopt language endorsing Roe v. Wade, protecting “access” to abortion regardless of “ability to pay” (meaning at taxpayers’ expense) and opposing “any and all” restrictions or regulations of abortion.
They also demand that the parties endorse the Women’s Health Protection Act and EACH Woman Act.
The first bill would legislatively codify Roe and federally eliminate and forbid virtually every state and local pro-life law in the country, including ultrasounds, waiting periods, admitting privileges, ambulatory transfer agreements, and webcam abortion bans. The second would require that all health care or insurance obtained through the federal government, including Medicaid, Medicare, federal employee insurance, and the Veterans Administration; cover “all pregnancy related services, including abortion.”
However, the campaign is unlikely to achieve anything, as the Democrat platform already contains very similar language, while the proposal is diametrically opposed to the official Republican position on abortion. The Democrat platform “strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.” The GOP platform declares abortion a violation of preborn children’s “fundamental individual right to life,” calling for abortion to be banned and opposing taxpayer funding for it.
Polling suggests All Above All does not represent widespread public opinion in either party. 57% believe abortion should be either completely illegal or only permitted in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother’s life. 68%, including 69% of women and 51% of pro-choicers, oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. Even 62% of pro-choicers want to ban abortion past 20 weeks of pregnancy.
