“They Are Lying Once Again” Hakeem Jeffries Blasts GOP’s Hidden Abortion Agenda
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Reproductive freedom advocates sounded the alarm on Monday against the Republican Party, warning that their 2024 policy platform “reads like the transcript” from one of former President Donald Trump’s rallies, particularly its stance on abortion.
“Republicans want to criminalize abortion care and impose a nationwide ban,” declared U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). “The far-right extremists lied to the American people about respecting the precedent of Roe v. Wade. They are lying once again.”
Trump, who frequently spread misinformation as president, attacked reproductive freedom and has boasted about appointing half of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who reversed Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. This decision paved the way for strict abortion bans in over a dozen states. However, Trump has recently tried to distance himself from some extreme policies, recognizing them as politically risky as he campaigns against President Joe Biden, a Democrat and strong supporter of reproductive rights.
The GOP’s abortion policy appears on the second-to-last page of the 2024 platform, released just a week before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It states: that Trump says he supports states making abortion policies. The Associated Press reported that the platform reflects his position, “omitting the explicit basis for a national ban for the first time in 40 years.”
According to Politico, “Trump didn’t just edit the platform language, but wrote some parts of the 15-page draft himself.” The Republican National Committee’s (RNC) platform panel approved the document in an 84-18 vote, noted The New York Times, which added that Trump “was especially focused on softening the language on abortion.”
Journalist Paul Blest criticized this framing on social media, saying, “The platform didn’t soften the abortion [stance], it just didn’t mention it, and the people whose job is to advocate for abortion bans are totally fine with it.”
“If there’s a landslide thanks to Biden’s hubris, you can bet the GOP will try to jam through a 15-week ban, then a 12-week ban, then a six-week ban, then a full ban with exceptions, then a full ban with no exceptions,” Blest warned. “Whether the platform says it or not.”
University of Texas law professor Liz Sepper highlighted the platform’s commitment to constitutional personhood for fetuses, saying, “The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the life of fetuses. With Roe, states could not legislate this view. After Dobbs, they can.”
Addressing the platform, Biden’s campaign stated, “In a desperate attempt to conceal his extreme stance on abortion, Donald Trump directed the RNC to hide the ball on their unpopular plans to ban abortion nationwide—with or without Congress.”
“Trump has endorsed every extreme abortion ban, including those with no exceptions for rape or incest, and has even said states should have the right to punish and prosecute women who have an abortion and monitor their pregnancies,” the campaign added. “No one is buying Trump’s sudden backtracking, including his fellow abortion banners.”
The Biden campaign and other critics pointed to praise for the platform from anti-choice groups, including Americans United for Life, Students for Life of America, and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Meanwhile, Mini Timmaraju, leader of Reproductive Freedom for All, emphasized, “The GOP wants to ban abortion nationwide—and their platform shows that they’ll try to use the 14th Amendment to do it. Voters don’t want abortion bans. Republicans know it, and this plan shows just how desperate Trump and the MAGA GOP are to strip away our reproductive freedom.”
