The Democratic Party has announced that it is “championing” the abortion giant Planned Parenthood in its party platform this year, which also expresses its intent to fight state laws that it deems discriminatory toward homosexual and transgender citizens.
“The platform goes further than previous Democratic platforms on women’s reproductive rights. It champions Planned Parenthood health centers and commits to push back on all Republican efforts to defund it,” party representatives wrote in a press release on Tuesday.
“The platform also vows to oppose, and seek to overturn, all federal and state laws that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment,” which prevents taxpayer funding from being used for abortion.
The platform, which was released on July 1 and covers a variety of issues from social security to gun violence prevention to terrorism, also expresses the party’s support for repealing the Global Gag Rule and the Helms Amendment, which ban U.S. capital from being used to fund overseas abortions.
“We believe unequivocally that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured,” the advanced text reads in part.
“We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and well-being. We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people,” it says.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards applauded the party’s inclusion of the organization in its platform, remarking in a statement that “[f]or the first time ever, the Democratic party has recognized that comprehensive reproductive healthcare—including safe, legal abortion—is central to its platform.”
“We also applaud the platform for affirming Planned Parenthood’s critical role in communities in the face of unprecedented attacks on reproductive health at the state and congressional levels, and the recognition that reproductive healthcare is core healthcare for women, men and young people,” she said.
In addition to including unprecedented language in support for abortion and Planned Parenthood, Democrats also call for efforts to oppose state laws that they deem discriminatory against homosexuals.
“Democrats applaud last year’s decision by the Supreme Court that recognized LGBT people—like every other American—have the right to marry the person they love. But there is still much work to be done,” the platform reads.
“Democrats will fight for comprehensive federal nondiscrimination protections for all LGBT Americans and push back against state efforts to discriminate against LGBT individuals,” it outlines. “We will promote LGBT human rights and ensure America’s foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people around the world.”
The platform will officially be ratified later this month at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
As previously reported, during the 2012 convention, delegates voted to remove any mention of God from the party platform. This year, amid expressing support for homosexuality and abortion, God is mentioned three times.
“Democrats believe that everyone in America deserves the chance to live up to their God-given potential,” one of the instances reads.
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