Culture of Life Foundation
Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004

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  The platform is a relief to some pro-lifers within the party who feared that the convention's prime-time lineup of largely pro-abortion speakers, such as former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, meant they were being relegated to the sidelines by party officials.

Like the Democrat platform adopted last month in Boston, the GOP's platform is largely devoted to national security and foreign policy. But even in its dealing with foreign affairs the GOP document contains pro-life principles.

In a section titled "International Institutions," the document addresses the importance that the traditional family ought to play in formulating international social policy. "Any effort to address global social problems must be firmly placed within a context of respect for the fundamental social institutions of marriage and family. We reject any treaty or convention that would contradict these values. For that reason, we support protecting the rights of families in international programs and oppose funding organizations involved in abortion."

The document praises Uganda's AIDS prevention program, which emphasizes abstinence and fidelity. It says such programs ought to be the recipient of America's foreign aid.

The platform says that while scientific research should be encouraged, such research cannot be conducted blindly and without the aid of ethical considerations and guidelines. Quoting remarks by President Bush, the platform declares "the ethics of medicine are not infinitely adaptable. There is at least one bright line: We do not end some lives for the medical benefit of others."

The platform praises the president's policy on embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. "We strongly support the President's policy that prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to encourage the future destruction of human embryos. In addition, we applaud the President's call for a comprehensive ban on human cloning and on the creation of human embryos solely for experimentation."

Traditional families, which the platform understands to be a married man and woman with children, are called the "cornerstone of our culture - the building blocks of a strong society." The importance of the family means it needs constitutional protection from "activist judges" who are said to be "redefining the institution of marriage."

"Attempts to redefine marriage in a single state or city could have serious consequences throughout the country, and anything less than a Constitutional amendment, passed by the Congress and ratified by the states, is vulnerable to being overturned by activist judges."

The platform concludes with a section titled, "Promoting a Culture of Life." In it, the right to life for the unborn is said to be a fundamental right rooted in the Declaration of Independence. The document calls for "a human life amendment to the Constitution" and "legislation to make it clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."

The section also contains opposition to funding for abortion. It condemns euthanasia and assisted suicide saying such procedures "especially endanger the poor and those on the margins of society."

The document applauds the president and the Congress for the ban on partial-birth abortion but laments that "this brutal and violent practice will likely continue by judicial fiat."

Copyright, 2004 - Culture of Life Foundation. Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

Editor's note: