A Comparison of the 2024 Republican and Democratic Party Platforms

David Closson is Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at FRC Action. This article appeared in Christ Over All on September 11, 2024.

One of the most overused words in the political lexicon is “unprecedented.” Very little about the U.S. electoral process fits that description. However, the 2024 presidential election has witnessed a series of events that truly are without precedent in American history.

On May 30, 2024, Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony when a New York jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. On June 27, 2024, President Joe Biden’s halting performance during a presidential debate on CNN stunned the nation, and many Democratic leaders urged him to withdraw from the race. On July 13, 2024, Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. And finally, on July 21, 2024, Biden suspended his reelection campaign despite having won over 14 million votes in the Democratic primary. Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, quickly secured the party’s nomination. 

Since her rise to the top of the Democratic ticket, Harris has offered voters little in the way of a governing vision. Fueled by “positive vibes” and fawning media coverage, the Harris campaign seems content to frame the election around her support for abortion and opposition to Trump. Republicans initially struggled to respond to the new Democratic nominee after spending over a year campaigning against Biden and have only recently begun to regain their footing.

As the nation enters the home stretch of this unpredictable campaign season, Christians hoping to steward their vote wisely have much to consider. One way to go beyond the click-bait headlines, short sound bites, and endless advertisements and gain deeper insight into the priorities of each party is by reviewing the party platforms. 

Party Platforms

A party platform is essentially a declaration of a political party’s values and the policy roadmap it intends to follow. Every presidential election year, the Democratic and Republican parties unveil their platforms during their respective summer conventions.

These quadrennial documents are usually quite lengthy. For example, the Democrats’ 2020 platform was 92 pages long, while the Republicans’ 2016 platform (which they readopted in 2020 due to a pandemic-shortened convention) was 66 pages. Most of the time, the drafting of these platforms takes place the week before the convention. A committee comprised of delegates elected to represent their home states and territories meet and spend hours writing different sections of the platform.

2024 Republican Platform

The drafting of the 2024 Republican Platform did not follow the typical procedure. Three months before the platform committee convened, President Trump expressed his desire for a pared-down platform. He specifically wanted to remove or significantly edit sections dealing with politically fraught issues like abortion. According to The New York Times, the Trump campaign worked hard to ensure the platform committee consisted of campaign loyalists. When the 112 delegates gathered in Milwaukee expecting to draft the 2024 platform, they were not afforded the opportunity to examine the platform beforehand or introduce and debate amendments. Instead, they were presented with the version the Trump campaign wanted them to approve. “This is something that ultimately you’ll pass. You’ll pass it quickly,” Trump told delegates over the phone. To facilitate an efficient meeting, grassroots organizations typically allowed in the room to help craft strong policies were banned, C-SPAN coverage of the proceedings was not allowed, and delegates’ personal cell phones and laptops were confiscated. Isolated and not allowed to communicate or deliberate, the platform committee rammed through the Trump-supported platform by a vote of 84 to 18. 

All 18 delegates who voted against the platform signed a statement indicating that they did so not necessarily out of disagreement with the platform per se as much as with the process, which intentionally shut down debate and refinement that could have been used to strengthen this year’s attenuated pro-life platform plank.

The 2024 Republican Platform is nearly three-quarters shorter than its predecessor. In many places, it reads like one of Trump’s social media posts and features random capitalization throughout (indeed, it is reported that Trump personally edited it). Due to its brevity, the condensed platform provides fewer policy prescriptions on nearly every issue. 

Life

For example, the 2016 Republican platform contained robust pro-life language and outlined a litany of pro-life policies supported by Republicans, including defunding Planned Parenthood, passing the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, prohibiting sex-selective and dismemberment abortions, prohibiting the sale of fetal tissue obtained from elective abortions, and appointing judges who “respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.” The 2016 platform also criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for striking down health and safety standards for abortion facilities in Texas (Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt) and praised states for enacting laws that protect unborn children capable of feeling pain.

The 2024 platform foregoes the robust language of its predecessor, stating somewhat vaguely, “We proudly stand for families and Life.” It cites the fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and argues that “no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process,” and “the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights.” Professor Robert George has argued that the drafters likely erred by citing the Due Process Clause instead of the Equal Protection Clause. Moreover, as George notes, it is a misreading of the Constitution to claim that the fourteenth Amendment empowers states to protect unborn children; the fourteenth Amendment was enacted to give the federal government power to protect people only when states failed in their obligation to protect them. Notwithstanding the legal incoherence of citing the fourteenth Amendment, the platform does indirectly take credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade and clearly states the Republican Party’s opposition to late-term abortion. 

Religious Freedom 

The 2024 platform contains strong language on religious freedom. It declares that Republicans are “the defenders of the First Amendment Right to Religious Liberty,” which it defines as “the Right not only to Worship according to the dictates of Conscience, but also to act in accordance with those Beliefs, not just in places of Worship, but in everyday life.” Elsewhere, the platform promises that Republicans will “champion the First Amendment Right to Pray and Read the Bible in school, and stand up to those who violate the Religious Freedoms of American students.” Additionally, the platform pledges that Republicans will create a new federal task force to fight “Anti-Christian Bias” and investigate “all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment, and persecution against Christians in America.” 

The 2016 platform went into greater depth regarding the challenges facing religious Americans. For example, it noted that “Places of worship for the first time in our history have reason to fear the loss of tax-exempt status merely for espousing and practicing traditional religious beliefs.” It also pledged to “defend the religious beliefs and rights of conscience of all Americans” and “safeguard religious institutions against government control” and endorsed the First Amendment Defense Act, legislation that would bar government discrimination against individuals and businesses for acting on the belief that marriage is “the union of one man and one woman.” The 2016 platform also offered support for religious educational institutions. 

Marriage, Family, and Sexuality

On marriage, the 2024 platform diverges significantly from the previous version. Whereas the 2016 platform stated that “natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman” is the “foundation of civil society,” the 2024 iteration states, “Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessings of childhood, and the foundational role of families, and supports working parents.” Notably, the 2024 platform does not define marriage. Additionally, the new platform deleted language from the 2016 platform that argued children raised in a two-parent household are more likely to be physically and emotionally healthy and lamented that 40 percent of American children are born out of wedlock. Finally, the 2016 platform condemned the Obergefell v. Hodges decision that imposed same-sex marriage on the country; the 2024 version did not mention Obergefell. 

The 2024 platform implicitly affirms the biological basis for sex in its discussion of multiple policy issues. Specifically, the platform states, “We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban Taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls.” Notably, the comments on gender ideology in the 2024 platform are stronger than the 2016 version, indicating how issues related to transgenderism (e.g., biological males competing against females in sports, minor children accessing so-called gender-affirming care, etc.) have risen in prominence. 

In short, although the 2024 Republican Platform retains language that strongly supports religious freedom and opposes gender ideology, the new platform retreats on marriage and life, providing less of a contrast with the Democratic platform than in the past.

2024 Democratic Platform

Democrats began drafting their 2024 platform weeks before the national convention met in August, releasing a draft version on July 13. Oddly, when President Biden stepped down as the presumptive nominee and was replaced by Kamala Harris, the platform was not updated to reflect this change; it still contains 20 references to 2024 being an election for Joe Biden’s “second term.”

Life

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Democrats have made abortion the defining issue of their party. During their acceptance speeches at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, neither Biden nor Harris mentioned “abortion” or “reproductive freedom.” However, in 2024, Harris devoted a significant portion of her acceptance speech to abortion, lamenting the overturning of Roe. Likewise, her vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz, promised to protect “reproductive freedom” and touted his home state of Minnesota’s pro-abortion laws. 

The 2024 Democratic Platform includes a nearly 1,000-word section titled “Reproductive Freedom” that outlines the party’s stance on abortion. This marks a significant shift from twenty years ago, when the 2004 platform addressed abortion in just one paragraph, stating that it should be “safe, legal, and rare.” In contrast, the 2024 platform makes a full-throated, comprehensive case for legalizing abortion. It laments the overturning of Roe and expresses outrage that more than twenty states have enacted laws to protect unborn children. The platform credits Biden with signing three executive orders and a presidential memorandum related to abortion and praises the administration for protecting access to chemical abortion drugs (using the euphemistic term “medication abortion”) and creating a new path for retail pharmacies to dispense abortion pills.

Although Trump has stated that he would not sign a national abortion ban, the Democratic platform claims, “If he returns to the White House, Trump will ban abortion nationwide.” It also claims that Republicans plan to enforce the Comstock Act (which it describe as “a law from the 1800s”) to prosecute women and doctors for sending or receiving abortion pills through the mail. The platform promises to repeal the Hyde Amendment (the legislative provision that bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions), “pass national legislation to make Roe the law of the land again,” support “medication abortion” (i.e., abortion pills), and appoint pro-abortion judges.

Religious Freedom

The 2024 Democratic Platform says the party will “protect the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion for everyone” and “maintain the separation of church and state.” It seeks to contrast this approach with Trump’s, claiming that he “attacked religious freedom by demonizing some faiths and preferring others.” The platform asserts that Democrats will not put religious freedom and other civil rights “at war with one another.” It also condemns antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the “decades-long campaign to demonize the Muslim community,” and celebrates Biden’s appointment of Rashad Hussain, the first Muslim to serve as Ambassador for International Religious Freedom.

Marriage, Family, and Sexuality

The platform endorses the Equality Act, legislation that would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected classes in federal nondiscrimination law. Although not mentioned in the platform, it is important to note that the Equality Act expressly exempts itself from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This means that the government would not need to prove a “compelling government interest” or that it is acting in the “least restrictive” way when infringing on religious beliefs. The platform also supports what it calls “medically necessary gender-affirming care.” (Although not defined within the platform, this includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery). The platform celebrates that in just one term, the Biden administration tied the record for the “most openly LGBTQI+ judges appointed.”

In a lengthy section titled “LGBTQI+,” the 2024 Democratic Platform celebrates the passing of the so-called “Respect Marriage Act” that enshrined same-sex marriage into federal law and Biden’s commitment to leading the “most pro-equality Administration in history.” The platform also credits Biden for reversing Trump’s prohibition on transgender servicemembers and lifting restrictions on blood donation by men who identify as gay or bisexual. The platform also criticizes Trump for appointing judges who “oppose same-sex marriage.”

Diverging Positions 

The platforms of America’s two major political parties reveal a growing divide between Democrats and Republicans on key social issues. For example, Democrats no longer advocate for abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare” and now consider the practice a fundamental right that the government should fund. In contrast, Republicans mostly continue to support policies that protect unborn children. However, given that the 2024 Republican Platform walked back much of the pro-life language contained in previous versions, it is helpful to recall how the most recent Democratic and Republican administrations have governed on the issue abortion.

Abortion Record

The 2024 Republican and Democratic platforms differ significantly on a variety of issues. This contrast is noticeable despite the Trump campaign’s efforts to avoid specificity on divisive issues like abortion. Even watered down, the Republican platform’s general pro-life posture stands in sharp contrast to the Democratic platform, which exhaustively defends access to abortion. 

The diverging positions of the two parties are no surprise. Recent history demonstrates that Republicans have largely pursued pro-life policies. Following his victory in the 2016 presidential election, President Trump honored his campaign commitments by reinstating and expanding the Mexico City Policy, rescinding an Obama-era administration letter that restricted states’ flexibility in removing abortion providers from federal healthcare programs and requiring recipients of Title X family planning money to be financially and physically separate from facilities that perform or refer for abortion. Additionally, the Trump administration spearheaded the Geneva Consensus Declaration, an international declaration signed by dozens of countries that affirmed that there is no international right to abortion. In short, despite some imprecise rhetoric pertaining to abortion in recent weeks, the Trump campaign has a solid record to run on. In light of recent comments and online statements by the former president that have frustrated social conservatives, the campaign would do well to remind them of these accomplishments. 

Following his win in the 2020 presidential election, President Biden supported an array of pro-abortion policies, including repealing the Mexico City Policy, withdrawing from the U.S.-led Geneva Consensus Declaration, re-writing rules governing the Title X family planning program to allow taxpayer money to subsidize abortion facilities, issuing an executive order that ordered the Attorney General and White House counsel to convene a group of pro bono lawyers to defend abortion seekers and providers, and issuing a memorandum affirming the FDA’s decision to allow pharmacies to fulfill prescription for the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. Biden also appointed abortion activist Julie Rikelman to the federal judiciary (Rikelman represented the Mississippi abortion facility in the Dobbs case that overturned Roe) and used the bully pulpit of the presidency to advocate for abortion like he did in the 2024 State of the Union address.

Although Biden is no longer leading the Democratic ticket, Kamala Harris is an even more energetic supporter of abortion. Prior to becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris led a national “Fight for Reproductive Freedom” tour that included a visit to a Planned Parenthood facility, becoming the first sitting president or vice president to tour an abortion clinic. In the spring of 2024, Harris took her abortion tour to the important swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Of course, Harris’ ardent support for abortion is no surprise. As a U.S. senator, Harris voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. When running for president in the 2020 Democratic primary, Harris stated she would require federal “preclearance” for state laws affecting abortion.

Conclusion

The 2024 presidential election has been truly unprecedented, full of unforeseen twists and turns. The formulation of the party platforms has also been a source of surprises.

There are still significant differences between the two major political party platforms. Although it is true that Republicans passed the “most watered down platform on abortion in 40 years,” as David French recently noted, it is naïve to believe, as French has suggested, that there will be “ample opportunities for the pro-life movement to work with a Harris administration to enact policies that will make abortion less appealing.” Anyone paying attention to politics over the past few years knows that the Democratic Party—and Kamala Harris in particular—is absolutely committed to expanding abortion at every level of government; any suggestion otherwise is disingenuous.

In addition to the party platforms providing a lens through which the two major parties can be evaluated, both of the major presidential candidates have a clear record on a wide variety of topics. It has always been my view that evangelical Christians should never feel completely at home in either party, and this sentiment is especially relevant in 2024. However, as long as Democrats continue on their current trajectory and persist in pursuing radical policies regarding life, marriage, and religious freedom, I suspect that most conservative Christians will continue supporting Republican candidates, if for no other reason than to blunt the leftward lurch of the Democratic Party.