The 2024 Republican platform quietly dropped its forty year promise to end abortion by constitutional amendment.
Now Senator Josh Hawley and thirty pastors are demanding Congress ban the abortion drug mifepristone outright.
Family Research Council's Tony Perkins says Republicans have gone almost silent on the issue entirely.
Thirty Pastors and Fifty Thousand Christians Signed the Declaration for Life
Hawley unveiled the Declaration for Life at Missouri's first ever Prayer Breakfast.
More than thirty pastors from across the country wrote it.
One hundred Missouri faith leaders and 50,000 ordinary citizens have already signed on.
The declaration calls chemical abortion a crisis, affirms that unborn children have dignity from the moment of conception, and demands that Congress ban mifepristone and shut down mail-order abortion pills for good.
"This Declaration for Life is calling on everyday Christians across America to stand for life and confront the scourge of chemical abortion," Hawley said.
The declaration itself puts the mission in blunter terms.
"It is the first duty of the Church to defend human dignity where it is denied."
The Abortion Language Republicans Quietly Cut From the Party Platform
Tony Perkins didn't just praise the declaration.
He used it to say what most conservatives already suspected.
"There are Republican members of Congress and state leaders who continue to champion the unborn, but the Republican Party has gone all but silent on the issue of life," Perkins said.
He's not wrong about the record.
For decades, the GOP platform stated that unborn children have a "fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed" and called for a constitutional amendment to protect it.
In 2024, at the urging of Trump's campaign, that language was replaced with softer wording that simply left abortion law up to the states.
Senator Marco Rubio defended the change at the time by admitting the obvious.
"You can't pass a federal law [protecting unborn life] even if we wanted to."
Perkins isn't buying that as an excuse to go quiet now.
"The strong pro-life language that was a part of the GOP platform for decades was removed, and little is said about abortion."
Seven Senators Back a Bill to Ban the Abortion Pill
The declaration isn't just words, it already has legislation behind it.
Hawley's Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act, S. 4066, would ban mifepristone in everything but name.
Senators Tommy Tuberville, John Cornyn, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Budd, Bernie Moreno, James Lankford, and Mike Rounds have all signed on as co-sponsors.
The FDA Is Already Reviewing Mifepristone Too
Congress isn't the only branch paying attention.
In June 2026, the FDA launched its own safety review of mifepristone, one that could give the Trump administration the evidence it needs to impose new restrictions on the drug.
Pair a congressional ban push with an active federal safety review, and mifepristone is under more pressure than at any point since the pill was first approved.
South Korea Just Made the Same Case Against Abortion Pills
Missouri's pastors aren't the only religious leaders drawing this line.
On September 17, South Korea's Catholic bishops condemned their government's decision to allow abortion pills through nine weeks of pregnancy.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea called the expansion a "disregard for life," warning it would only make abortion easier to accept while pretending to make it more orderly.
Chemical abortion is drawing the same fight on two continents at the same time.
Christians Just Told the GOP the Silence Has to End
Perkins said the quiet part out loud, and 50,000 people who signed the declaration are betting he's right to say it.
"We are called to defend the defenseless and speak for those whose voices have been silenced," Perkins said.
The declaration ties that call to America's 250th birthday on purpose, noting that life is listed first among America's unalienable rights because every other right depends on it.
Republicans can keep hoping the issue quietly fades before the midterms.
Fifty thousand Christians and eight sitting United States senators just told them that isn't going to happen.
If your senator isn't one of the seven who already signed onto Hawley's bill, now you know exactly who to call.
Sources:
- Kate Quiñones, "Christian Leaders Unite Against Chemical Abortion," EWTN News, September 19, 2026.
- National Catholic Register, "Republicans Remove 'Right to Life' Plank From Party Platform," National Catholic Register, July 8, 2024.
- Washington Stand, "Perkins: A Declaration for the Defenseless," Washington Stand, September 2026.
- LifeNews.com, "Josh Hawley Calls on Every Christian in America to Oppose Abortion," LifeNews.com, September 16, 2026.
- Office of Senator Josh Hawley, "Hawley Unveils Declaration for Life with Christian Leaders," Hawley Senate Office, September 2026.
- Detroit News, "FDA Study of Mifepristone Could Pave Way for Restrictions by Trump," Detroit News, June 5, 2026.
- Yonhap News Agency, statement from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea opposing abortion pill expansion, September 17, 2026.
