In 1990, pro-choice Republicans started raising money to try and remove the pro-life plank from the Republican Party Platform. Phyllis Schlafly wouldn’t let this happen. She realized that it was up to her to protect the pro-life plank, so she started the Republican National Convention for Life. In preparation for the 1992 convention, they ordered 3,000 red cowboy hats for people to wear to signify their support for the pro-life cause. The pro-choice Republicans lost spectacularly, and the Platform passed the pro-life plank with a vote of 84-10.
In 1996, they knew they had to hold fast to the plank with its exact 1984 wording. They held strong and didn’t make the slightest change. Phyllis said, “if we did, that would give the media the opportunity to report that we had softened our solid pro-life position.”
Prior to the 2000 Republican National Convention, Phyllis and the RNC for Life held a lively party in Philadelphia. They then adopted the slogan “LIFE of the Party.” Phyllis stated that the Republican Platform supported “legal protection for ‘the fundamental individual right to life’ of the unborn baby.” It also opposed tax funding for abortions.
By 2008, the RNC for Life had turned the Republican Party into the pro-life party. “The 2008 platform isn’t about personalities, it’s about principles,” Phyllis explained. She said that the 2008 platform “becomes the most pro-life ever by endorsing the Born Alive Infants Protection Act and the ban on partial-birth abortion.” It stayed with the same strong pro-life stance that has been in the platform since 1984. The future was hopeful for the pro-life movement, because “The 2008 Republican platform has given conservatives a new lease on life and started the rebuilding of the conservative movement.” The Democratic Platform said that they supported “a woman’s ability to make her own life choices,” particularly regarding abortion.
Phyllis’s legacy leaves us her uncompromising resolve in fighting abortion that we should all carry forth.
Read how the GOP became the pro-life party and retained the pro-life standard: Phyllis Schlafly Speaks: Vol. 3 How The Republican Party Became Pro Life
Listen to Phyllis Schlafly Read “How the Republican Party Became Pro-Life“
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/family/sanctity-of-life/phyllis-schlafly-defends-gop-pro-life-platform/
Phyllis Schlafly