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The Republican National Convention<\/a> speaker lineup was chock-full of leaders<\/a> who have historically not been shy about their anti-abortion views\u2014yet, the speeches this year were remarkably silent on the topic of reproductive care access altogether.<\/p>\n In his 2020 RNC nomination acceptance speech, then-president Donald Trump<\/strong> touted common anti-abortion myths<\/a>, saying that Democrats support, \u201cthe extreme late-term abortion of defenseless babies right up to the moment of BIRTH,\u201d adding, \u201ctonight, we proudly declare that all children, born and unborn, have a GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO LIFE.\u201d<\/p>\n On the stage on Thursday<\/a>, Trump didn\u2019t mention abortion once.<\/p>\n And he wasn\u2019t alone\u2014in the past months, Trump has set a standard tone for his party to mimic<\/a>: In public, attempt to appear<\/a> more moderate on abortion in order not to isolate the majority of Americans<\/a> who support access in most or all cases. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, anti-abortion legislators and activists continue to plan<\/a> for what they could get done in another four years of the GOP in the White House.<\/p>\n The RNC spanned Monday through Thursday this past week, just days after the failed assassination attempt<\/a> on Trump. The speakers hailed from across the country, including those the party described as \u201ceveryday\u201d Americans and big-ticket names<\/a> like Kid Rock<\/strong>, Hulk Hogan<\/strong>, and Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Representatives across the country who have long been vehement in their support for banning abortion in their states and nationwide chose not to use their precious minutes on stage at the RNC, which at its peak<\/a> had over 25 million viewers tuning in, to talk about their plans for furthering anti-abortion legislation in the future.<\/p>\n Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake<\/strong>\u2014who has previously tried to misrepresent<\/a> her support for the state\u2019s Civil War-era near-total abortion ban, which she referred<\/a> to as \u201ca great law\u201d that would \u201cbe paving the way and setting course for other states to follow\u201d\u2014didn\u2019t mention abortion. Governor Greg Abbott<\/strong>\u2014who in 2021 signed a near-total abortion ban<\/a> into law and has said<\/a> he will \u201ccontinue working with the Texas legislature and all Texans to save every child from the ravages of abortion\u201d\u2014didn\u2019t mention abortion. Senator Marsha Blackburn<\/strong> of Tennessee\u2014who has an A+ rating<\/a> from the leading anti-abortion group<\/a> Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and who, post-Dobbs<\/em>, celebrated<\/a> that \u201cour work can continue free from the arbitrary hand-tying of the Roe era\u201d\u2014didn\u2019t mention abortion.<\/p>\n One of Trump\u2019s leading men in Congress, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson<\/strong>, also followed the \u201cmum\u2019s the word\u201d abortion strategy at the RNC this past week. Johnson\u2014who has voted<\/a> for a national ban, once blamed<\/a> abortion, in part, for mass shootings, and compared reproductive health care access to \u201can American holocaust\u201d\u2014primarily spoke<\/a> instead about God and immigration.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Ohio Senator J.D. Vance<\/strong>, who officially accepted<\/a> the nomination<\/a> for Vice President on Wednesday night. In his speech, Vance leaned into his upbringing and used his time to discuss international wars and the economy\u2014in both<\/a> cases misrepresenting<\/a> the facts. What Vance didn\u2019t pull from, notably, was his past arsenal<\/a> of anti-abortion policy positions.<\/p>\n Vance, like his running mate, has tried to tamper down his rhetoric in the lead-up to the 2024 election. Earlier this month, he said<\/a> he agreed with the Supreme Court\u2019s recent rejection<\/a> of an attempt to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. He\u2019s previously said<\/a> that he finds \u201csomething sociopathic about a political movement that tells young women (and men) that it is liberating to murder their own children\u201d and that<\/a> he \u201ccertainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n