Republican 2012 Platform
| Democrat 2012 Platform
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Definition of the Family
- The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society. Its success as an institution will determine our success as a nation.
- We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
- We will enforce and defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) … affirming the right of States and the federal government not to recognize same-sex relationships licensed in other jurisdictions.
| Definition of the Family
- We support marriage equality. … We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples.
- We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.
- The Administration has said that the word "family" in immigration includes LGBT relationships …
- State Department is funding a program that finances gay rights organizations to combat discrimination, violence, and other abuses.
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Sanctity of 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.
- We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion.
- We oppose the nonconsensual 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.
- We urge enactment of pending legislation that would require parental consent to transport girls across state lines for abortions.
| Sanctity of Life
- 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.
- President Obama and Democrats will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers.
- The Affordable Care Act ensures that women have access to contraception in their health insurance plans.
- [W]e reaffirm our support for the ERA … and will urge ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
- [S]support expansion of the Violence Against Women Act.
- [T]he President issued an executive order repealing the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
- President Obama and the Democratic Party are committed to supporting family planning around the globe. … 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 … offered abortions.
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Education
- Parents are responsible for the education of their children.
- Education is much more than schooling. It is the whole range of activities by which families and communities transmit to a younger generation, not just knowledge and skills, but ethical and behavioral norms and traditions.
- School choice … is important for all children, especially for families with children trapped in failing schools.
| Education
- Public education is one of our critical democratic institutions.
- The Democratic Party understands the importance of turning around struggling public schools.
- [H]osted the first-ever White House Conference on Bullying Prevention and we must continue our work to prevent vicious bullying of young people and support LGBT youth.
- The President has laid out a plan to prevent more teacher layoffs while attracting and rewarding great teachers.
- We also believe in carefully crafted evaluation systems that give struggling teachers a chance to succeed and protect due process if another teacher has to be put in the classroom.
- [The] Recovery Act represented the largest education investment since President Johnson.
- Democrats support evidence-based and age-appropriate sex education.
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Pornography
- We urge active prosecution against child pornography, which is closely linked to the horrors of human trafficking. Current laws on all forms of pornography and obscenity need to be vigorously enforced.
| Pornography
- Neither pornography nor obscenity is mentioned on the platform.
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Religious Liberty
- We pledge to respect the religious beliefs and rights of conscience of all Americans.
- [W]ill protect religious independence of military chaplains and will not tolerate attempts to ban Bibles or religious symbols from military facilities.
- We support the public display of the Ten Commandments … and we affirm the right of students to engage in prayer at public school events in public schools and to have equal access to public schools.
- We assert every citizen's right to apply religious values to public policy and the right of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without renouncing their beliefs.
- We oppose government discrimination against businesses due to religious views. We support the First Amendment right of freedom of association of the Boy Scouts of America and other service organizations whose values are under assault and condemn the State blacklisting of religious groups which decline to arrange adoptions by same-sex couples.
| Religious Liberty
- [T]he President has respected the principle of religious liberty.
- [S]upport the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.
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National Sovereignty
- In a free society, the primary role of government is to protect the God-given, inalienable, inherent rights of its citizens.
- The Republican Party is the advocate for a strong national defense as the pathway to peace, economic prosperity, and the protection of those yearning to be free.
- [F]or a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.
- [F]or a Constitutional amendment requiring a super-majority for any tax increase with exceptions for only war and national emergencies, and imposing a cap limiting spending to the historical average percentage of GDP.
- The U.S. Constitution is the law of the land. Judicial activism, which includes reliance on foreign law or unratified treaties, undermines American law. The sole solution, apart from impeachment, is the appointment of constitutionalist jurists, who will interpret the law as it was originally intended rather than make it.
- [T]he gravest terror threat we face — a nuclear attack — … requires a comprehensive strategy for reducing the world's nuclear stockpiles and preventing the spread of those armaments. But the U.S. can lead that effort only if it maintains an effective strategic arsenal at a level sufficient to fulfill its deterrent purposes.
- We support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state with secure, defensible borders; and we envision two democratic states — Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine — living in peace and security.
| National Sovereignty
- We know that global climate change is one of the biggest threats of this generation — an economic, environmental, and national security catastrophe in the making.
- The national security threat from climate change is real, urgent, and severe.
- The greatest dangers we face — terrorism, nuclear proliferation, cyber and biological attacks, climate change, and transnational crime — cannot be solved by any one nation alone.
- President Obama appointed two distinguished jurists to the Supreme Court: Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Moving forward, we will continue to nominate and confirm judges who are men and women of unquestionable talent and character and will always demonstrate their faithfulness to our law and our Constitution and bring with them a sense of how American society works and how the American people live.
- End[ed] "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in full cooperation with our military leadership.
- President Obama and the Democratic Party are committed to preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons and to eventually ridding the planet of these catastrophic weapons.
- President Obama believes that a diplomatic outcome remains the best and most enduring solution.
- President Obama and the Democratic Party seek peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
- In our current fiscal environment, we must also make tough budgetary decisions across the board — and that includes within the defense budget
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