The Republican National Convention is underway and in the midst of GOP leaders falling in line with former President Trump's "leave abortion up to the states" bullshit as well as mainstream media's near-blind acceptance of this lie, new comments from the RNC platform committee's deputy policy director should make things very clear for everyone. After the party adopted and shared its official 2024 platform last week, Ed Martin gave away the game while yapping on his radio show, Pro America Report. First reported by Mother Jones, Martin said, "Don’t let anybody tell you there’s not protections for pro-life. There’s not as many words describing it, but there’s protection under the Constitution, that life is protected.” Martin further pointed to how “the states can readily pass laws now that Roe v. Wade is eliminated" as well as the platform's insidious reference to the 14th amendment, signaling support for embryos and fetuses to have personhood rights at odds with pregnant people's. He also said, “I call a late term abortion any abortion that is done after the baby is conceived, myself, in part because the term ‘late term abortion’ and some of the distinction of trimesters and all that was Roe v. Wade construct—it was made-up." For weeks now, we've been told the Republican Party is "softening" its position on abortion because the platform doesn't overtly state support for a national ban like the 2016 platform did. Of course, Martin's position on the RNC platform committee is directly at odds with this narrative—Martin is president of the conservative Eagle Forum Education as well as an advisory board member of the far-right, anti-abortion Project 2025 agenda. He's previously, repeatedly called for a national abortion ban, and opposes exceptions for child rape victims. Still, as I wrote last week, this is what we're being told about the Republican Party's official platform by national media: “Following Trump’s Lead, Republicans Adopt Platform That Softens Stance on Abortion,” reads one New York Times headline from Monday. “GOP adopts platform that softens language on abortion, same-sex marriage,” says the Washington Post. “RNC approves Trump-centric platform with softened language on abortion,” a Hill headline states. Roll Call and CNBC similarly characterize the party’s abortion stance as “softened” in their headlines. “New Trump-Backed GOP Platform Drops 40-Year-Old Call For National Abortion Restrictions,” reads a Forbes headline, which ignores that, whether the party explicitly calls for a ban or not, that is the GOP’s M.O. Martin co-wrote the official party platform with dozens of other platform committee members, many of whom helped write or shape Project 2025. “The pro-life stuff is great,” Martin concluded on his radio show. “It’s strong.” In 2o16, at least, platform committee members went on to hold prominent positions in the first Trump administration. Trump, himself, has said he'd look into restrictions on birth control and support state laws surveilling and punishing abortion patients. Throughout the convention this week, and for the months leading up to November, Trump and other party mouthpieces will continually repeat the lie that, if elected president, he won't enact a national abortion ban. That's because they know how deeply and fundamentally unpopular abortion bans are. But it's not true—we already knew that. And now we essentially have a top party official who directly shapes the party's policies saying as much.
