The Democratic Party’s platform is a 92-page document detailing their beliefs and plans for campaigning against Republicans this fall. You can read it in full here.
Texas issues were included throughout the platform.
On Tuesday morning, the Texas delegation in Chicago heard several speeches at their daily breakfast, with one topic standing out in particular: abortion.
“Think about what’s happening to women across our state. This is unacceptable and we have to fix this,” said state Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch.
Republican state leaders have passed a series of laws that have largely banned abortion, with rare exceptions. In their platform this year, Democrats want states to require abortions to meet the Roe v. Wade test of years ago, which states consider “fetal viability” — usually between 24 and 28 weeks into a pregnancy — a high bar for traditionally Christian, conservative states.
One member of the group that created the platform is Amanda Zulawski, a Texas resident who previously fought a high-profile court battle against the state after she was denied an abortion during a high-risk pregnancy.
“Not only do we have anti-abortion laws, but we also have criminal penalties for doctors and medical professionals,” said Olivia Juliana, a TikTok creator and another member of the platform’s board.
On immigration, Democrats have become more moderate this term, focusing their attention on bipartisan legislation that failed to pass Congress earlier this year due to opposition from former President Donald Trump.
The Democratic policy platform calls for 1,500 additional Border Patrol agents, 4,300 more asylum officers, emergency powers to deport people who do not cross the border at ports of entry, increased penalties for human smugglers, and 250,000 additional family and work-based immigrant visas over the next five years.
“Our policies are very common sense. We need immigrants to sustain this country, but people have to come in a way that is fair and safe, so that our communities that are already here are safe, and so that the immigrants coming to this country are safe,” Juliana said.
At last month’s Republican National Convention, Republicans rejected the Democrats’ ideas and endorsed Trump’s priorities, calling for the largest number of deportations in history. The party platform was revamped as Trump’s “Republican Party that Makes America Great Again,” and is more pro-worker and has softer language on same-sex marriage and abortion.
It was a bit different on the Democratic side: Their platform mentioned President Joe Biden’s name more than 200 times, most of which was written before Biden dropped out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
