Committee Rebuffs Efforts to Liberalize Republican Platform on AIDS, Abortion

After spirited debate Tuesday, members of the Republican Party platform committee brushed back attempts by moderates to liberalize sections of the platform dealing with AIDS and abortion, two issues that are potentially highly divisive for Republicans.

The votes seemed to indicate that the 106-member platform committee will go along with most platform draft proposals in hopes of averting problems for Vice President George Bush, whom they will nominate as their presidential candidate here next week, and that staunch conservatives clearly are in control of the platform process.

“This is a good, balanced platform,” said New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu, a longtime Bush backer.

‘Deserve Our Compassion’

The AIDS plank that was adopted lauds the Reagan Administration for leading “the nation’s fight against AIDS.” The plank also declares: “Those who suffer from AIDS, their families, and the men and women of the medical community who care for the afflicted deserve our compassion and help.”

The plank also calls for “continued research” on the deadly virus, supervised use of experimental treatments and more education that emphasizes “that abstinence from drug abuse and sexual activity is the safest way to avoid infection with the AIDS virus.”

The committee, however, voted down a proposed amendment by Connecticut Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. that would have put the Republican Party on record as endorsing the June report of the Presidential Commission on AIDS, which called for strong anti-discrimination legislation to protect those with AIDS or AIDS infections. President Reagan and Bush differed in their response to the report, with the President saying the proposal needed more study and the vice president supporting the call for a new AIDS law.

Although most of the proposals that Weicker made were defeated, he did have one success. The committee adopted his measure that called for working toward “making catastrophic health care available to our youngest citizens,” a reference to the fact that thousands of American families with severely ill children have no health coverage for them.

Take Stand Against Abortion

As they did in 1980 and 1984, the Republicans came out against abortion. This section of the platform reaffirmed support for a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorsed legislation “to make clear that the 14th Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.” The plank opposes the use of public revenues for abortion and calls for the elimination of funding for organizations that advocate or support abortion.

Marjorie B. Chambers of New Mexico proposed without success that the last four words in the first sentence of the plank be deleted. As drafted, it read: “The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.”

Chambers declared that “there are circumstances where the mother has the greater right. Where is the mother’s inalienable right? This seems to say a woman loses her rights when she becomes pregnant.” And then, in an unusual moment for a Republican gathering, Chambers quoted Harriet Tubman, a black 19th-Century anti-slavery leader: “Ain’t I a person?”

Jim Summers, a Washington delegate and supporter of religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, summed up the opposing point of view when he declared “20 million Americans have been slaughtered” since the Supreme Court legalized abortion. He said the committee should reaffirm the position it took in 1980 and 1984. “This is pro choice obfuscation.”

The measure was voted down 55 to 32.

Oppose Support of ERA

Later, the committee spurned a proposal that the party reverse its long-standing opposition to the equal rights amendment. Proponents asserted that supporting the ERA would help the party deal with the “gender gap” problem reflected in polls. But Marylinn Shannon of Oregon retorted “there was no gender gap on election day in 1984 when Ronald Reagan carried 49 states.”

Nonetheless, the “Strong Families and Strong Communities” section of the platform did take Republicans into new territory, particularly in regard to calling for a government role in child care.

The delegates endorsed the establishment of “a toddler tax credit for preschool children as proposed by Vice President Bush, available to all families of modest means, to help them support and care for their children in a manner best suited to their families’ values and traditions.”

The Democratic platform calls for a federalized national child care system with standards set by the government and prohibitions against the teaching of religion. In contrast, a passage adopted here Tuesday proclaims: “Republicans would never bar aid to any family if its choice of child care included a simple prayer.”

‘Pacesetter for All Mankind’

Earlier in the day, most of the economics plank, which extolled Reagan policies, was passed with little debate. “America again leads the world, confident of our abilities, proud of our products, sure of our future, the pacesetter for all mankind. . . . In the sixth year of unprecedented economic expansion, more people are working than ever before; real family income has risen; inflation is tamed. By almost any measure, Americans are better off than we were eight years ago. The Reagan revolution has become a Republican renaissance.”

There was no reference to the decline of the nation’s manufacturing base over the last decade or the growing influx of products made abroad such as cars, personal computers, televisions and videocassette recorders.