VOTING TOOLS REGISTER TO VOTE GET YOUR VOTER GUIDE UPDATED POLLS PRESIDENTIAL VOTER GUIDE WORLDVIEW RESOURCES VOTING ASSISTANCE FIND YOUR SENATORS FIND YOUR REPS FIND YOUR GOVERNOR FIND YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS FIND YOUR MAYOR INFORMATION ON YOUR COUNTY PARTY PLATFORM COMPARISON CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE .PDF PLATFORM ISSUES COMPARISON Sanctity of Human Life DEMOCRAT Calls for government funded abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, by “repealing the Hyde Amendment”, which bars federal money for elective abortion. Will “overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion.” “We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood.” REPUBLICAN “Proud to be the party that protects human life and offers real solutions for women” and “strongly oppose[s] infanticide.” Supports the following: the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act; a human life constitutional amendment; a ban on abortion at 20 weeks, when unborn babies can feel pain; a ban on abortion based on sex or disability; a ban on dismemberment abortion “in which unborn babies are literally torn apart limb from limb”; abortion clinic safety regulations; a ban on human cloning, and on creating and experimenting upon human embryos, including three-parent embryos; a ban on any sale of fetal body parts; and a ban on the “use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood.” Redefining Marriage DEMOCRAT Supports the redefinition of marriage through the Court’s judicial activism in Obergefell “that recognized LGBT people…have the right to marry the person they love.” REPUBLICAN “The American family… is the foundation of civil society,and the cornerstone of the family is natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman.” “We condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling in…Obergefell v. Hodges” and“we urge its reversal, whether through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning control over marriage to the states.” Religious Liberty vs. LGBT Agenda DEMOCRAT Claims LGBT rights trump religious freedom, and “reject[s] the misuse of religion to discriminate.” Will punish faith-based organizations that contract with the government and pull the tax exempt status of religious universities without trans-gender bathrooms and showers through imposing “federal non-discrimination protections for all LGBT Americans” on the basis of “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity.” REPUBLICAN “Strongly support[s] the freedom of Americans to act in accordance with their religious beliefs, not only in their houses of worship, but also in their everyday lives.” “We value the right of America’s religious leaders to preach, and Americans to speak freely, according to their faith. Republicans believe the federal government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring speech based on religious convictions or beliefs, and therefore urge the repeal of the Johnson Amendment.” Conscience Rights in Healthcare DEMOCRAT Supports the coercive HHS contraception mandate against faith-based groups like Little Sisters of the Poor. Supports the Obama administration’s redefinition of “sex discrimination”to include abortion and sex change operations. REPUBLICAN Supports the conscience rights of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and health care plans that do not want to participate in morally objectionable services like abortion. Supports “the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.” God in Government DEMOCRAT Silent on the role of God in government. REPUBLICAN “If God-given, natural, inalienable rights come in conflict with government, court, or human-granted rights, God-given, natural, inalienable rights always prevail.” “We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a reflection of our history and our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage.” Will “fight for school choice” and “local control.” Supreme Court DEMOCRAT Will “appoint judges [to]…protect a woman’s right to…abortion” and a progressive agenda of “equality for all” in which LGBT rights trump religious liberty. REPUBLICAN “We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.” Seeks to “enable courts to begin to reverse the long line of activist decisions—including Roe, Obergefell, and the Obamacare cases.” Education DEMOCRAT Silent on school choice. “We believe a strong public education system is an anchor of our democracy” for “all children.” REPUBLICAN Will “fight for school choice” and “local control.” Recognizes that “parents,” not the government, “are a child’s first and foremost educators, and opposes Common Core.” Supports home-schooling, private or parochial schools, vouchers, and tuition tax credits, etc. Encourages teaching the Bible as an elective in public schools. Sex Education DEMOCRAT Promotes “condom-based sex education.” REPUBLICAN Supports “sexual risk avoidance education that sets abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior.” Trans-gender Bathrooms in Schools DEMOCRAT Supports the Obama administration’s redefinition of “sex discrimination” in Title IX to mandate trans-gender bathrooms and showers in public schools and universities through “the continued development of sex discrimination law to cover LGBT people.” REPUBLICAN Opposes the Obama administration’s Title IX trans-gender bathroom edict, since it is “at once illegal, dangerous, and ignores privacy issues,” and “impose[s] a social and cultural revolution upon the American people by wrongly redefining sex discrimination to include sexual orientation or other categories.” Social Experiments in the Military DEMOCRAT Supports the “repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Claims “our military is strongest” when it includes “people of all…sexual orientations and gender identities,” such as by paying for trans-gender sex change operations and allowing men with gender dysphoria to use women’s showers, barracks, and bathrooms. Pushes to include elective abortion coverage in military and veterans benefits. REPUBLICAN “We reject the use of the military as a platform for social experimentation and will not accept or continue attempts to undermine military priorities and mission readiness.” “Military readiness should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.” “Support[s] the religious freedom of all military members, especially chaplains, and will not tolerate attempts to ban Bibles or religious symbols from military facilities.” Opposes the “Selective Service registration of women for a possible future draft.” International Abortion and LGBT Agenda DEMOCRAT Calls for funding abortion on demand overseas by repealing the Helms Amendment, which bars U.S. foreign money for abortion. Will “ensure America’s foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people around the world…including combating efforts by any nation to infringe on LGBT rights or ignore abuse.” REPUBLICAN Opposes the federal government funding abortion overseas and calls for restoring the Mexico City Policy, to bar federal money from going to foreign organizations which “provide or promote abortion,” or are complicit in China’s one-child policy. Condemns the Obama administration for “impos[ing] on foreign recipients, especially the peoples of Africa, its own radical social agenda while excluding faith-based groups.” On Terrorism DEMOCRAT Believes in “defeating terrorism and combating climate change.” REPUBLICAN “Radical Islamic terrorism poses an existential threat to personal freedom and peace around the world. We oppose its brutal assault on all human beings, all of whom have inherent dignity.”
PLATFORM ISSUES COMPARISON Sanctity of Human Life DEMOCRAT Calls for government funded abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, by “repealing the Hyde Amendment”, which bars federal money for elective abortion. Will “overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion.” “We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood.” REPUBLICAN “Proud to be the party that protects human life and offers real solutions for women” and “strongly oppose[s] infanticide.” Supports the following: the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act; a human life constitutional amendment; a ban on abortion at 20 weeks, when unborn babies can feel pain; a ban on abortion based on sex or disability; a ban on dismemberment abortion “in which unborn babies are literally torn apart limb from limb”; abortion clinic safety regulations; a ban on human cloning, and on creating and experimenting upon human embryos, including three-parent embryos; a ban on any sale of fetal body parts; and a ban on the “use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood.” Redefining Marriage DEMOCRAT Supports the redefinition of marriage through the Court’s judicial activism in Obergefell “that recognized LGBT people…have the right to marry the person they love.” REPUBLICAN “The American family… is the foundation of civil society,and the cornerstone of the family is natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman.” “We condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling in…Obergefell v. Hodges” and“we urge its reversal, whether through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning control over marriage to the states.” Religious Liberty vs. LGBT Agenda DEMOCRAT Claims LGBT rights trump religious freedom, and “reject[s] the misuse of religion to discriminate.” Will punish faith-based organizations that contract with the government and pull the tax exempt status of religious universities without trans-gender bathrooms and showers through imposing “federal non-discrimination protections for all LGBT Americans” on the basis of “gender, sexual orientation, gender identity.” REPUBLICAN “Strongly support[s] the freedom of Americans to act in accordance with their religious beliefs, not only in their houses of worship, but also in their everyday lives.” “We value the right of America’s religious leaders to preach, and Americans to speak freely, according to their faith. Republicans believe the federal government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally prohibited from policing or censoring speech based on religious convictions or beliefs, and therefore urge the repeal of the Johnson Amendment.” Conscience Rights in Healthcare DEMOCRAT Supports the coercive HHS contraception mandate against faith-based groups like Little Sisters of the Poor. Supports the Obama administration’s redefinition of “sex discrimination”to include abortion and sex change operations. REPUBLICAN Supports the conscience rights of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and health care plans that do not want to participate in morally objectionable services like abortion. Supports “the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.” God in Government DEMOCRAT Silent on the role of God in government. REPUBLICAN “If God-given, natural, inalienable rights come in conflict with government, court, or human-granted rights, God-given, natural, inalienable rights always prevail.” “We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a reflection of our history and our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage.” Will “fight for school choice” and “local control.” Supreme Court DEMOCRAT Will “appoint judges [to]…protect a woman’s right to…abortion” and a progressive agenda of “equality for all” in which LGBT rights trump religious liberty. REPUBLICAN “We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.” Seeks to “enable courts to begin to reverse the long line of activist decisions—including Roe, Obergefell, and the Obamacare cases.” Education DEMOCRAT Silent on school choice. “We believe a strong public education system is an anchor of our democracy” for “all children.” REPUBLICAN Will “fight for school choice” and “local control.” Recognizes that “parents,” not the government, “are a child’s first and foremost educators, and opposes Common Core.” Supports home-schooling, private or parochial schools, vouchers, and tuition tax credits, etc. Encourages teaching the Bible as an elective in public schools. Sex Education DEMOCRAT Promotes “condom-based sex education.” REPUBLICAN Supports “sexual risk avoidance education that sets abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior.” Trans-gender Bathrooms in Schools DEMOCRAT Supports the Obama administration’s redefinition of “sex discrimination” in Title IX to mandate trans-gender bathrooms and showers in public schools and universities through “the continued development of sex discrimination law to cover LGBT people.” REPUBLICAN Opposes the Obama administration’s Title IX trans-gender bathroom edict, since it is “at once illegal, dangerous, and ignores privacy issues,” and “impose[s] a social and cultural revolution upon the American people by wrongly redefining sex discrimination to include sexual orientation or other categories.” Social Experiments in the Military DEMOCRAT Supports the “repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Claims “our military is strongest” when it includes “people of all…sexual orientations and gender identities,” such as by paying for trans-gender sex change operations and allowing men with gender dysphoria to use women’s showers, barracks, and bathrooms. Pushes to include elective abortion coverage in military and veterans benefits. REPUBLICAN “We reject the use of the military as a platform for social experimentation and will not accept or continue attempts to undermine military priorities and mission readiness.” “Military readiness should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.” “Support[s] the religious freedom of all military members, especially chaplains, and will not tolerate attempts to ban Bibles or religious symbols from military facilities.” Opposes the “Selective Service registration of women for a possible future draft.” International Abortion and LGBT Agenda DEMOCRAT Calls for funding abortion on demand overseas by repealing the Helms Amendment, which bars U.S. foreign money for abortion. Will “ensure America’s foreign policy is inclusive of LGBT people around the world…including combating efforts by any nation to infringe on LGBT rights or ignore abuse.” REPUBLICAN Opposes the federal government funding abortion overseas and calls for restoring the Mexico City Policy, to bar federal money from going to foreign organizations which “provide or promote abortion,” or are complicit in China’s one-child policy. Condemns the Obama administration for “impos[ing] on foreign recipients, especially the peoples of Africa, its own radical social agenda while excluding faith-based groups.” On Terrorism DEMOCRAT Believes in “defeating terrorism and combating climate change.” REPUBLICAN “Radical Islamic terrorism poses an existential threat to personal freedom and peace around the world. We oppose its brutal assault on all human beings, all of whom have inherent dignity.”