4 Things Christians Should Know about the Democratic Platform

1. It Endorses a Bill Allowing Men to Compete in Women's Sports

The Democratic platform endorses the Equality Act, a bill that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes for education, federal funding, employment, housing, public accommodations, and facilities. Harris has endorsed the bill.

"Democrats will pass the Equality Act to codify protections for LGBTQI+ Americans and their families," the platform says.

The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964- a law passed to confront racial discrimination- by adding "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the list of protected classes for public places, education, and employment. It guarantees that individuals cannot be denied access "to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity."

It would force schools to allow biological boys who identify as girls to play on girls' teams.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova co-wrote a Washington Post editorial warning that the Equality Act, as written, "would do significant damage" to women's sports by making "it unlawful to differentiate among girls and women in sports on the basis of sex for any purpose."

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2. It Backs Taxpayer-Funded Abortion

The Democratic platform pledges to restore legal abortion in all 50 states and goes a step further by backing taxpayer-funded abortion. 

"Democrats are fighting back to restore reproductive freedom for every woman in every state," it says. "... With a Democratic Congress, we will pass national legislation to make Roe the law of the land again." 

The platform then includes these six words: "We will repeal the Hyde Amendment."

The Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision that must be renewed annually and prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion. Prior to President Biden, it had been backed by every president since Jimmy Carter. Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both pro-choice presidents, signed budgets that included the Hyde Amendment. 

It survived the Biden administration thanks to pushback from pro-life legislators. Harris opposes the Hyde Amendment.     

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3. It Supports a Two-State Solution in Israel

The Democratic platform says the U.S. "strongly supports Israel in the fight against Hamas."

"And the hard work of diplomacy under the President's leadership has made real progress on a way forward that will free the hostages, establish a durable ceasefire, ease humanitarian suffering in Gaza, and make possible normalization between Israel and key Arab states, together with meaningful progress and a political horizon for the Palestinian people," the platform says.

The White House, it says, supports a "negotiated two-state solution that ensures Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own." Harris backs a two-state solution.

Israel's Knesset this year passed a revolution opposing a two-state solution, arguing it would "pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and destabilize the region."

If a Palestinian state were established, the resolution said, it would "only be a matter of a short time until Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a radical Islamic terrorist base, working in coordination with the axis led by Iran, to eliminate the State of Israel."

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4. It Pledges to Appoint Judges Like Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

The platform criticizes Trump's three Supreme Court nominees for pushing "a far-right agenda with devastating consequences." It says a Democratic president will nominate justices who are similar to Biden's only nomination, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

"President Biden will continue to appoint justices and judges across the federal bench who are like Justice Jackson: brilliant jurists committed to defending American rights and freedoms," the platform says. 

Jackson was not on the Supreme Court when it overturned Roe v. Wade. However, this month, she sided with the minority in a 5-4 decision that blocked the Biden administration from enforcing an April 2024 rule that redefined sex in Title IX to include gender identity. The Supreme Court's ruling was considered a win for social conservatives, who claimed the Biden rule would allow biological men to play in women's sports. Jackson sided with the Biden administration. 

Related Article: 4 Things Christians Should Know about the Republican Platform

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