2012 Developments
As of August 2012, multiple sources have reported the existence of a platform provision at the 2012 Republican National Convention that calls for an amendment to the Constitution to ban abortion, allegedly with no exceptions for rape or incest. Other sources dispute the stance, noting that no specific language has been proposed.
Following the controversy over Representative Todd Akin's controversial remarks concerning "legitimate rape" in the run-up to the Convention, Democrats began calling this provision the "Akin Plank".
The text of the plank does not mention rape, but states:
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.
The text is not different from planks adopted in 2008 and 2004 and a Romney campaign spokeswomen Amanda Henneberg stated Romney “opposes abortion with exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.”.
Read more about this topic: Human Life Amendment
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“The developments in the North were those loosely embraced in the term modernization and included urbanization, industrialization, and mechanization. While those changes went forward apace, the antebellum South changed comparatively little, clinging to its rural, agricultural, labor-intensive economy and its traditional folk culture.”
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