This page is a recurring page that may be set aside for other timely content to be conveniently posted on the page bar. Last updated October 2018
IOWA GENERAL ELECTION STATEMENT 2018
Importance of party platforms and the reasonableness of voting accordingly in the general election
State and the national legislatures are organized by party and for practical political reasons the legislatures are divided into two parties Republican and Democrat (whose membership includes smaller political parties whose members typically choose to caucus with Democrats or Republicans). It has become overwhelmingly clear that a legislator’s or candidate’s individual position is not all that relevant unless they are in the majority within one of the two chosen parties on the particular issue because no matter what their individual position they help the party they caucus with become the dominant organizing force in the legislature and thereby control the legislative agenda, or deny such influence to others.
Platforms heavily influence if not define the party agenda because they largely result from party activists. Some issues will receive more emphasis than others but when key issues arise which party controls the mechanisms of seeing legislation through controls what legislation will see the light of day. So by understanding the party platforms, Democrat and Republican, as no other organized parties have relevant influence at this political juncture, individual voters can make informed decisions as to who to vote for based on party platform and candidate affiliation. That is practical issue orientation and not partisan per se.
As regards the general election, if either party showed signs within their platform of indifference to a particular issue then individual candidate positions would be more relevant. However at this time and political juncture in Iowa, which may change again as matters evolve, in the general election voters are effectively voting for the candidate’s party and its philosophies which roughly control the legislature or other governing body.
The best time to insure individual candidates reflect certain values is to become active in the party of one’s choice and influence or sustain that party’s principles and elect a majority of candidates in the primary to reflect one’s values. Otherwise to vote for a candidate who says he or she supports a view but then is dedicated to or largely facilitates helping those actually in control to do just the opposite is frankly voting for either a duplicitous or ineffective character.
In other words in the general election we commend voters to vote for the candidate identified with the party that reflects particular key values as that is the most effective way to achieve desired results. That is not partisan, that is issue oriented. At this time in the political history of our nation that is particularly true as regards the right to life issue and other issues of deep cultural concern.
So on that basis we set forth the positions of the Republican and Democrat party platforms with internet links or definitive excerpts or relevant summaries objectively and without partisanship.
Readers will notice that organizations that do produce individual candidate information guides for the general election that include the issue of the right to life, that rarely do those who are aligned with the party whose platform is opposed to that organizations position respond to the survey request. In that regard the exercise loses significance and that is another reason what this time we find it superfluous and possibly useless or misleading. It is appropriate to conclude that the position the candidate is essentially running on in the general election is, or facilitates, the platform and agenda in all key matters of the party they are aligned with.
Republican Party: Iowa — local, state and national –
Scott County Republican Party Supports the Right to Life
Documentation see: Preamble and Statement of Principles and Human Rights section
http://scottcountyrepublicans.org/?page_id=2395
Preamble and Statement of Principles
A Belief in the Right- to-Life:We assert that the right to life is protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution from conception until natural death.
Human Rights
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
1.1 We assert the sanctity of all human life from conception until natural death. We hold the following to be morally reprehensible under any circumstances: abortion, assisted suicide, and the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of sustenance, care, or treatment from newborns, the disabled, the elderly, or the infirm.
1.2 We promote education on alternatives to abortion, assistance to mothers during pregnancy, and efforts to encourage adoption of children.
1.3 We call for the immediate defunding of Planned Parenthood and oppose funding any organizations that promote or perform abortions, including subsidies for insurance-coverage of abortion and abortifacient drugs.
1.4 We support the use of non-embryonic stem cells to advance medical research. We oppose embryonic stem-cell research, human fetal-tissue research from induced abortions, and the commercial use or sale of fetal parts from induced abortions.
Iowa Republican Party – Supports the Right to Life
See Preamble; Platform Principles, and entire Life, entirely devoted to the right to life
https://www.iowagop.org/about/platform/
PREAMBLE,
As Republicans, we uphold the principles of individual responsibility and liberty, adherence to traditional moral standards, a strong national defense, a free enterprise system and equal rights for all. Respect for the sanctity of human life, and freedom of religion and the free exercise thereof.
PLATFORM PRINCIPLES
The following are the fundamental principles that make up the platform of the Republican Party of Iowa.
I. Our nation is a Constitutional Republic whose Foundation is the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
We acknowledge our rights derive from God, our Creator, and are therefore unalienable and include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (e.g. private property). Further, the Right to Life shall be understood to include all people from conception to natural death.
LIFE (entire section devoted to right to life)
We move the Iowa Republican party aggressively support a “life begins at conception” bill without exceptions. We believe that all human beings, from conception to natural death, have a God given and constitutionally protected right to life, which cannot be infringed we believe all such issues belong under the constitutional authority of the state, not federal government.
We oppose using public revenues for abortion or funding organizations which advocate it. We commend those who provide alternatives to abortion by meeting the needs of mothers and offering adoption services.
We reaffirm our support for appointment of judges who respect tradition family values and the sanctity of life.
We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities, including newborns, as well as the elderly and infirmed, just as we oppose active and passive euthanasia and assisted suicide.
We believe that traditional, two parent (one male and one female), marriage based families are the foundation to a stable, enduring, and healthy civilization. Therefore, public policy must always be pro-family in nature, encouraging marital and family commitment, and supportive of the parental rights and responsibilities.
We encourage the repeal of any laws allowing any marriage that is not between one natural man and one natural woman.
We support non-embryonic stem cell research, such as promoting the use of adult stem cells, while opposing human cloning and research using fetal tissue from abortions.
We believe the selling, brokering or marketing of aborted fetal tissue should be illegal.
We support adequate funding for state mental health facilities dedicated to inpatient services and outpatient mental health facilities and services. We support an increase in trained mental health professionals and staff sufficient to meet the needs of our state.
National Republican Party — Supports the Right to Life
See section We the People and The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Human Life also Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare
https://www.gop.com/platform/we-the-people/
https://www.gop.com/platform/renewing-american-values/
We the People
We are the party of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The Declaration sets forth the fundamental precepts of American government: That God bestows certain inalienable rights on every individual, thus producing human equality; that government exists first and foremost to protect those inalienable rights; that man-made law must be consistent with God-given, natural rights; and that if God-given, natural, inalienable rights come in conflict with government, court, or human-granted rights, God-given, natural, inalienable rights always prevail; that there is a moral law recognized as “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”; and that American government is to operate with the consent of the governed. We are also the party of the Constitution, the greatest political document ever written. It is the solemn compact built upon principles of the Declaration that enshrines our God-given individual rights and ensures that all Americans stand equal before the law, defines the purposes and limits of government, and is the blueprint for ordered liberty that makes the United States the world’s freest and most prosperous nation.
The Fifth Amendment: Protecting Human Life
The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.
We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare. We urge all states and Congress to make it a crime to acquire, transfer, or sell fetal tissues from elective abortions for research, and we call on Congress to enact a ban on any sale of fetal body parts. In the meantime, we call on Congress to ban the practice of misleading women on so-called fetal harvesting consent forms, a fact revealed by a 2015 investigation. We will not fund or subsidize healthcare that includes abortion coverage.
We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from individuals with disabilities, newborns, the elderly, or the infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.
We affirm our moral obligation to assist, rather than penalize, women who face an unplanned pregnancy. In order to encourage women who face an unplanned pregnancy to choose life, we support legislation that requires financial responsibility for the child be equally borne by both the mother and father upon conception until the child reaches adulthood. Failure to require a father to be equally responsible for a child places an inequitable burden on the mother, creating a financial and social hardship on both mother and child. We celebrate the millions of Americans who open their hearts, homes, and churches to mothers in need and women fleeing abuse. We thank and encourage providers of counseling, medical services, and adoption assistance for empowering women experiencing an unintended pregnancy to choose life. We support funding for ultrasounds and adoption assistance. We salute the many states that now protect women and girls through laws requiring informed consent, parental consent, waiting periods, and clinic regulation. We condemn the Supreme Court’s activist decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt striking down commonsense Texas laws providing for basic health and safety standards in abortion clinics.
We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for leading the effort to add enforcement to the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act by passing the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which imposes appropriate civil and criminal penalties on healthcare providers who fail to provide treatment and care to an infant who survives an abortion, including early induction delivery whether the death of the infant is intended. We strongly oppose infanticide. Over a dozen states have passed Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Acts prohibiting abortion after twenty weeks, the point at which current medical research shows that unborn babies can feel excruciating pain during abortions, and we call on Congress to enact the federal version. Not only is it good legislation, but it enjoys the support of a majority of the American people. We support state and federal efforts against the cruelest forms of abortion, especially dismemberment abortion procedures, in which unborn babies are literally torn apart limb from limb.
We call on Congress to ban sex-selection abortions and abortions based on disabilities — discrimination in its most lethal form. We oppose embryonic stem cell research. We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. We support adult stem cell research and urge the restoration of the national placental stem cell bank created by President George H.W. Bush but abolished by his Democrat successor, President Bill Clinton. We oppose federal funding for harvesting embryos and call for a ban on human cloning.
The Democratic Party is extreme on abortion. Democrats’ almost limitless support for abortion, and their strident opposition to even the most basic restrictions on abortion, put them dramatically out of step with the American people. Because of their opposition to simple abortion clinic safety procedures, support for taxpayer-funded abortion, and rejection of pregnancy resource centers that provide abortion alternatives, the old Clinton mantra of “safe, legal, and rare” has been reduced to just “legal.” We are proud to be the party that protects human life and offers real solutions for women.
Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare
America’s healthcare professionals should not be forced to choose between following their faith and practicing their profession. We respect the rights of conscience of healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and organizations, especially the faith-based groups which provide a major portion of care for the nation and the needy. We support the ability of all organizations to provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their religious, moral, or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty. We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children. We support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their minor children and urge enactment of legislation that would require parental consent for their daughter to be transported across state lines for abortion. Providers should not be permitted to unilaterally withhold services because a patient’s life is deemed not worth living. American taxpayers should not be forced to fund abortion. As Democrats abandon this four decade-old bipartisan consensus, we call for codification of the Hyde Amendment and its application across the government, including Obamacare. We call for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage.
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Democrat Party: Iowa — local, state and national –
Scott County Democrat Party Opposes Protecting the Right to Life of the unborn
http://www.scottcountydems.org/ (2016 platform as no 2018 platform is listed on their website) also see https://www.facebook.com/scottcountydemocrats and search “abortion” and the site is replete with posts in support of abortion on demand.
Platform List in support:
HH-41 Iowa Death with Dignity Act.
In section Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
List in support:
A woman’s fundamental right to personal reproductive decisions. Roe v. Wade.
Iowa Democrat Party Opposes Protecting the Right to Life of the unborn
https://iowademocrats.org/our-party/
Platform https://iowademocrats.org/our-party/resources/ (PDF Link)
Our Party . . .What We Believe In
We’re going to fight for every woman to make her own decisions about her own body.
We oppose: requiring supreme court super-majorities on constitutional questions charging defendants for: court-appointed-attorneys/probation/commun
restricting research on a. stem-cells
Human Services contraceptives/abortion coverage
Reproductive Rights and Family Planning 933
We support: rights/choice of women/individuals to comprehensive reproductive healthcare Roe vs. Wade fully funding: comprehensive family planning programs/providers PP (Planned Parenthood) free barrier-based contraceptives in public schools
We oppose: restricting access to medically necessary abortions zygotic/embryonic/fetal personhood
restricting accessing abortions using TRAP laws/harassment Fetal Heartbeat bill parental consent/notification for contraceptives/abortion for minors
National Democrat Platform Opposes Protecting the Right to Life of the unborn
https://democrats.org/about/party-platform/
Appointing Judges
We will appoint judges who defend the constitutional principles of liberty and equality for all, and will protect a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion, curb billionaires’ influence over elections because they understand that Citizens United has fundamentally damaged our democracy, and believe the Constitution protects not only the powerful, but also the disadvantaged and powerless.
Ensure the Health and Safety of All Americans
Democrats have been fighting to secure universal health care for the American people for generations, and we are proud to be the party that passed Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Being stronger together means finally achieving that goal. We are going to fight to make sure every American has access to quality, affordable health care. We will tackle the problems that remain in our health care system, including cracking down on runaway prescription drug prices and addressing mental health with the same seriousness that we treat physical health. We will fight Republican efforts to roll back the clock on women’s health and reproductive rights, and stand up for Planned Parenthood. And we will tackle the epidemics of substance abuse and gun violence, which each claim tens of thousands of lives every year.
Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing. We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people. We will continue to oppose—and seek to overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment. We condemn and will combat any acts of violence, harassment, and intimidation of reproductive health providers, patients, and staff. We will defend the ACA, which extends affordable preventive health care to women, including no-cost contraception, and prohibits discrimination in health care based on gender.
We will address the discrimination and barriers that inhibit meaningful access to reproductive health care services, including those based on gender, sexuality, race, income, disability, and other factors. We recognize that quality, affordable comprehensive health care, evidence-based sex education and a full range of family planning services help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.
And we strongly and unequivocally support a woman’s decision to have a child, including by ensuring a safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth, and by providing services during pregnancy and after the birth of a child, including adoption and social support services, as well as protections for women against pregnancy discrimination. We are committed to creating a society where children are safe and can thrive physically, emotionally, educationally, and spiritually. We recognize and support the importance of civil structures that are essential to creating this for every child.
Women and Girls
We believe the United States must continue to be a strong advocate for the rights and opportunities of women and girls around the world. Elevating their status is not just the right thing to do—it is also a strategic imperative that advances American interests in prosperity and stability. When women and girls are healthy, educated, and able to participate economically, their families and communities prosper, poverty decreases, and economies grow. And when women participate in conflict resolution and post-conflict processes, it improves the likelihood of securing sustainable peace. Democrats are committed to advancing the rights and opportunities of women and girls as a central focus of American diplomacy, development, and defense efforts and will continue to support the United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. We will work to end the epidemic of gender-based violence around the world. We will urge ratification of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
We will support sexual and reproductive health and rights around the globe. In addition to expanding the availability of affordable family planning information and contraceptive supplies, we believe that safe abortion must be part of comprehensive maternal and women’s health care and included as part of America’s global health programming. Therefore, we support the repeal of harmful restrictions that obstruct women’s access to health care information and services, including the “global gag rule” and the Helms Amendment that bars American assistance to provide safe, legal abortion throughout the developing world.
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October 2014
This page also provides commentary on the matter of party affiliation and legislative organization. It also suggests the implications of voting for a candidate who states his or her views favorably on a key matter like the right to life when those views differ from his or her party’s views. Accordingly it provides insight into whether the candidates’ views are dependably “operational.”
Where do the two major political parties stand on the right to life? What are the implications of their stands?
Right to Life organizations have as their core purpose the legal protection of the right to life of all members of the human family threatened by abortion and euthanasia. Legal protection requires legislation which requires elected office holders committed to furthering that protection. The political reality of legislative organization fundamentally affects the prospects for success.
The current state of governmental affairs in our country is such that state and national legislatures are organized along political party lines. The Democrat and Republican parties overwhelmingly dominate the legislative caucus or organization system. The leadership of each party in the legislature controls their members. Key committee assignments, reelection help, the spoils system is dependent on party affiliation and that party’s philosophy and leadership. The majority party controls along those lines and which proposals even get voted on.
Party leadership is responsible for developing and moving the party’s agenda, or platform. Ignoring party affiliation when evaluating candidates’ positions on an issue is not partisan, it is practical. To ignore party can produce results perverse to your desires. Party affiliation and party support or opposition can be so controlling or influential regarding legislation that voting for a candidate with even a stated position different from the party, who is critical of the party position and in spite of their personal integrity, their election can actually increase the likelihood of just the opposite of one’s hopes for certain legislation ever being achieved.
The candidate with a contrary view to the party still helps provide the party “caucus number” that determines control of the legislature. When it comes to issues considered key to the party or its leadership, arguably, the statement that he or she supports your view is a win win for his or her party’s opposite view. The candidate’s views will go nowhere legislatively with his or her party in control, but it may help him or her get elected and then that candidate’s party affiliation helps the same party dominate because he or she contributes to that party’s winning control of the legislature.
The situation is at least as perverse as that where a candidate says they personally support your position or has a personal opposition to something you also oppose but takes the legislative position that they will not impose their personal views. It is not merely a hollow position as far as the desired legislation it is entirely hostile to your views as a practical matter. If the candidate does not make their legislative position clear at the same time it is deceitful.
Set forth below are the Democrat and Republican Parties platform positions on the issue of the right to life and protecting the unborn from abortion. Links to the respective platform positions are provided.
Certain phrases are understood and used in the Democrat Party as inclusive of the abortion right – “family planning” and “reproductive choice,” herein. The Democrat Party parlance also does not distinguish between adult stem cell research and stem cell research involving the destruction of human embryos or cloning and killing them for research purposes. The private organization Planned Parenthood is understood by both parties as a key purveyor of abortion.In Democrat Party parlance the phrase “Pregnancy related prescriptions” is inclusive of abortifacient drugs and devices as is the term “emergency contraception.” When using the term “personal reproductive services” Democrat policy makers understand it to be inclusive of the right to abortion on demand.
Roe v Wade (along with the companion case Doe v Bolton) legalized abortion in the United State without restriction. Line or item designations to the respective platforms are provided. Note that the Republican Party at the national level is very effusive on the issue of the right to life and related matters.
DEMOCRATS
The National Democrat Party
http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform#protecting-rights
Protecting Rights and Freedoms
The President and the Democratic Party believe that women have a right to control their reproductive choices. Democrats support access to affordable family planning services, and President Obama and Democrats will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers . . .
Protecting A Woman’s Right to Choose.
The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. . . .
http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform#universal-values
President Obama and the Democratic Party are committed to supporting family planning around the globe to help women care for their families, support their communities, and lead their countries to be healthier and more productive. That’s why, in his first month in office, President Obama overturned the “global gag rule,” a ban on federal funds to foreign family planning organizations that provided information about, counseling on, or offered abortions. And that is why the administration has supported lifesaving family planning health information and services.
The Iowa Democrat Party
http://www.iowademocrats.org/issues/#thso75i6anm_6
Both the state and local platforms use a format of listing items or planks “supported” in a topical category and those that are “opposed” within that same category.
The Iowa Democratic Party supports a woman’s right to personal reproductive decisions as well as the legalization and licensing of certified professional midwives. We oppose any legislation that would defund or hamper the activities of women’s health organizations like Planned Parenthood.
Support:
Item 368 / 160 stem-cell research, including embryonic
Support;
425/ 185 — the right of women to make their own healthcare decisions including reproductive choices, and affordable contraceptives for all persons
428 /187 — increased funding for Planned Parenthood
433 / 191 — requiring pharmacists to fill pregnancy – related prescriptions
434 / 192 — emergency contraceptive access without parental consent with appropriate follow -up counseling
Scott County Democrat Party
http://www.scottcountydems.org/resources.htm
International Affairs
WE OPPOSE:
IA-15 tying international family planning to abstinence -only and anti -abortion programs.
Health and Human Services
WE SUPPORT
HH -14 expanded stem cell research.
Government and Law
WE SUPPORT:
GL- 10 a woman’s fundamental right to personal reproductive decisions.
GL- 11 Roe v. Wade.
REPUBLICANS
The Republican National Platform
(introduction)
The Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life
Faithful to the “self-evident” truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion or fund organizations which perform or advocate it and will not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from people with disabilities, including newborns, as well as the elderly and infirm, just as we oppose active and passive euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Republican leadership has led the effort to prohibit the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion and permitted States to extend health care coverage to children before birth. We urge Congress to strengthen the Born Alive Infant Protection Act by enacting appropriate civil and criminal penalties on healthcare providers who fail to provide treatment and care to an infant who survives an abortion, including early induction delivery where the death of the infant is intended. We call for legislation to ban sex-selective abortions – gender discrimination in its most lethal form – and to protect from abortion unborn children who are capable of feeling pain; and we applaud U.S. House Republicans for leading the effort to protect the lives of pain-capable unborn children in the District of Columbia. We call for a ban on the use of body parts from aborted fetuses for research. We support and applaud adult stem cell research to develop lifesaving therapies, and we oppose the killing of embryos for their stem cells. We oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
We also salute the many States that have passed laws for informed consent, mandatory waiting periods prior to an abortion, and health-protective clinic regulation. We seek to protect young girls from exploitation through a parental consent requirement; and we affirm our moral obligation to assist, rather than penalize, women challenged by an unplanned pregnancy. We salute those who provide them with counseling and adoption alternatives and empower them to choose life, and we take comfort in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives.
Renewing American Values
Adoption and Foster Care
Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare
Repealing Obamacare
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – was never really about healthcare, though its impact upon the nation’s health is disastrous. From its start, it was about power, the expansion of government control over one sixth of our economy, and resulted in an attack on our Constitution, by requiring that U.S. citizens purchase health insurance. We agree with the four dissenting justices of the Supreme Court: “In our view the entire Act before us is invalid in its entirety.” It was the high-water mark of an outdated liberalism, the latest attempt to impose upon Americans a euro-style bureaucracy to manage all aspects of their lives. Obamacare has been struck down in the court of public opinion and is falling by the weight of its own confusing, unworkable, budget-busting, and conflicting provisions. It would tremendously expand Medicaid without significant reform, leaving the States to assume unsustainable financial burdens. If fully implemented, it could not function; and Republican victories in the November elections will guarantee that it is never implemented. Congressional Republicans are committed to its repeal; and a Republican President, on the first day in office, will use his legitimate waiver authority under that law to halt its progress and then will sign its repeal. Then the American people, through the free market, can advance affordable and responsible healthcare reform that meets the needs and concerns of patients and providers. Through Obamacare, the current Administration has promoted the notion of abortion as healthcare. We, however, affirm the dignity of women by protecting the sanctity of human life. Numerous studies have shown that abortion endangers the health and well-being of women, and we stand firmly against it.
Supporting Federal Healthcare Research and Development (Top)
We support federal investment in healthcare delivery systems and solutions creating innovative means to provide greater, more cost-effective access to high quality healthcare. We also support federal investment in basic and applied biomedical research, especially the neuroscience research that may hold great potential for dealing with diseases and disorders such as Autism, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. If we are to make significant headway against breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, and other killers, research must consider the special needs of formerly neglected groups. We call for expanded support for the stem-cell research that now offers the greatest hope for many afflictions – with adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and cells reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells-without the destruction of embryonic human life. We urge a ban on human cloning and on the creation of or experimentation on human embryos. We support restoring the Drug Enforcement Administration ban on the use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide. We oppose the FDA approval of Mifeprex, formerly known as RU-486, and similar drugs that terminate innocent human life after conception.
Protecting Individual Conscience in Healthcare
No healthcare professional or organization should ever be required to perform, provide for, withhold, or refer for a medical service against their conscience. This is especially true of the religious organizations which deliver a major portion of America’s healthcare, a service rooted in the charity of faith communities. We do not believe, however, that healthcare providers should be allowed to withhold services because the healthcare provider believes the patient’s life is not worth living. We support the ability of all organizations to provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their religious, moral or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty. We likewise support the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their children, including mental health treatment, drug treatment, and treatment involving pregnancy, contraceptives and abortion. We urge enactment of pending legislation that would require parental consent to transport girls across state lines for abortions.
Republican Party of Iowa
http://www.iowagop.org/platform-2014/
Platform Principles
The following are the fundamental principles that make up the platform of the Republican Party of Iowa:
We acknowledge our rights derive from God and are therefore unalienable and include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (i.e. private property). Further, the Right to Life shall be understood to include all people from conception to natural death.
Life
1.Human life is a sacred gift from our Creator and is a fundamental right as outlined in the Declaration of Independence. This right is innately valuable in every stage and development from conception to non-intervened natural death. No human life should ever be diminished, and innocent human life must never be arbitrarily taken. We commend the efforts of those individuals and religious and private organizations that are providing positive alternatives to abortion by meeting the physical, emotional, and financial needs of pregnant women and offering services where needed.
2 We oppose the use of public funding for abortion services, contraception, and abortifacients.
4 We support non-embryonic stem cell research, while opposing human cloning and research using fetal tissue from abortions.
Liberty
1. We support the complete repeal of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) in total, and replacing it with a customer-based free market solution. We support allowing patients and health care providers to make healthcare decisions and plans without interference from the government.
2. We believe that parents are responsible for their children, and we support the rights of parents to be the ultimate authority for the discipline, protection, and education of their children. We oppose the recognition of the United Nations Convention on “The Rights of the Child”.
3. We believe money should follow the child in education – whether that child attends public, private, or parochial schools – to assist parents financially in educating their children using the option best suited to their family’s educational needs. We call on the General Assembly to provide for tuition vouchers, tax deductions, or tax credits to permit parents’ choice in educating their children — without government intervention in the school curriculum. Competition is needed to improve the quality of education.
6. We support “Conscience Clause” legislation so that no person, business, or organization can be penalized for its exercise of religious freedom by not providing services that violates their religious beliefs.
10. We support legislation that would prohibit any organization, including Planned Parenthood, from teaching sex education in our public schools. These agencies should be prohibited from entering public school properties for the purpose of promoting promiscuous behavior and abortion products, videos, or printed material.
Scott County Republican Party
http://scottcountyrepublicans.org/?page_id=1155/
Human Rights
6.1 We believe the unborn child, as a genetically unique individual, has the fundamental right to life that should not be infringed upon. We promote education on alternatives to abortion, assistance to mothers during pregnancy, and efforts to encourage the adoption of unwanted children.