I’m writing to you from Minneapolis, where we spent a very full day yesterday participating in the deliberations over the GOP platform. Dan McConchie, our Vice President & Executive Director, is here with me and together we focused on two subcommittees — one on Crime and Values, which included a section on the Sanctity of Life; and another on Health Care, which included sections on Rights of Conscience of health care workers and Stem Cell Research.
I’m so pleased to be able to report to you that each of these sections was strengthened through the excellent work of dedicated pro-life delegates. Working with them, we had the opportunity to suggest language which was, in one instance in particular, adopted in its entirety.
This has been an extremely valuable trip and we so appreciate your support which makes efforts like this possible. We ran into Ann Stone, the national chairwoman of Republicans for Choice, and others who argue that the platform language needs to change, but in the end, the changes that were made moved in the direction of defending life.
Late yesterday afternoon the subcommittee deliberations concluded and the full committee convened to consider the recommended changes. That meeting wore on into the evening, and finally concluded just before moving to review the sections on Health Care which include important life-related sections. The committee takes those sections up this morning.
Your AUL team will be there once again, providing support in the fight to maintain a strong pro-life statement in the Republican platform.
As you know, AUL is focused on promoting life in both parties. So while the platform deliberations advance here in Minneapolis, we co-sponsored a dinner Tuesday evening in Denver with Democrats for Life, honoring pro-life defenders in the Democratic party.
We’ll be back at the Minneapolis Convention Center again this morning for more action on the platform . . . and then next week, we’ll also be attending the GOP convention. Be sure to check this blog for updates on the action where we’ll be posting regularly.
And most of all, thank you again for your support. Please tell a friend about AUL by forwarding this post . . . and then take a minute to leave a comment and tell us what you are thinking during this political season.
