Politics
New Illinois GOP Chair Stops Short of Calling for a Nationwide Abortion Ban
Incoming Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi takes questions from reporters on Wednesday after addressing the Illinois delegation at a breakfast prior to Republican National Convention programming in Milwaukee. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)
The newly elected leader of the Illinois Republican Party Wednesday said she supports the abortion plank of the official platform of the Republican Party, which does not call for a nationwide ban.
Newly elected Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi, who lost a 2022 bid for the U.S. Senate, deflected questions about abortion by urging reporters to question Democratic politicians about “atrocities” and their “radical” position on abortion.
“We will adhere to the Republican platform, we are a party of the people and freedom,” Salvi said, declining to say whether she personally supports a national abortion ban.
However, the GOP platform invokes the 14th Amendment as part of its promise to “protect unborn life” and celebrates the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
That would require courts to treat fetuses as people endowed with rights under the U.S constitution, which could open the door to a national abortion ban and an end to fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization.
“After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People,” according to the platform. “We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments).”
Even though Republican nominee former President Donald Trump has said he wants to leave the question of abortion to the states, Project 2025, authored by the Heritage Foundation, calls for a national abortion ban and calls for the FDA to reverse its approval of abortion pills and criminalize their distribution.
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Advocates for abortion rights contend that there is no such thing as a “late-term abortion.” The vast majority of abortions occur before fetal viability, usually around the 20th week of pregnancy.
Abortions at or after 21 weeks of pregnancy represent 1% of all abortions in the U.S., according to data compiled by KFF, a nonprofit health policy organization.
Democrats centered their counter-message on Wednesday on abortion, focusing on newly minted Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance’s previous support for a national ban on abortion. Vance deleted a portion of his website after being nominated that called for a national abortion ban.
Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who said she who nearly died when she couldn’t get a medically necessary abortion in Texas, campaigned alongside Quentin Fulks, Biden’s principal deputy campaign manager.
“He doesn’t even think there should be exemptions for rape or incest survivors, saying two wrongs don’t make a right,” Zurawski said. “He calls these devastating circumstances inconvenient.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
