Softened abortion language in Trump-approved GOP platform irks some social conservatives

A new slimmed-down Republican Party platform that won quick and overwhelming approval is the latest sign of former President Trump's expanding ideological grip over the GOP.

While the platform – which softens longstanding Republican Party language in support of a federal ban on abortion – was praised by a number of top social conservative leaders, not all evangelicals were happy with the new document.

The platform, drafted by the former president and his top aides, was passed on Monday by a committee dominated by Trump supporters, which met behind closed doors in Milwaukee ahead of next week's Republican National Convention.

The vote in favor of the platform – which was loaded with populism and nationalism – was 84 to 18, according to a source who attended the meeting.

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"Ours is a forward-looking Agenda with strong promises that we will accomplish very quickly when we win the White House and Republican Majorities in the House and Senate," Trump wrote on social media as he praised the passage of the platform.

The platform, titled "America First: A Return to Common Sense," is the GOP's first in eight years, as the 2016 document was duplicated in 2020. The 2016 platform weighed in at roughly 66 pages. The new version came in at just 16 pages.

The platform's section on abortion was significantly softened from the 2016 document.

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Following Trump's lead, the document spotlights that abortion is best handled by the states.

"We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process and that the states are, therefore,