Nevada Republicans drop pro-life, pro-marriage stand

Las Vegas, Nev., Apr 18, 2014 / 01:03 am

Several hundred delegates of the Nevada Republican Party approved a party platform Saturday that lacks a pro-life plank and drops support for the definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

Nevada State Party Chairman Michael McDonald told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he thought the party platform was "about inclusion, not exclusion."

"This is where the party is going."

Fewer than half of the original 520 party delegates were present to vote to approve the platform the evening of April 12 at the party's annual convention, held at South Point Casino-Hotel in Las Vegas.

The platform vote took place long after the convention's scheduled 9 a.m. start time, and the modified platform had been proposed by a committee, according to the Review-Journal.

The members of the platform committee said they had decided not to deal with the removed issues in 2014 because the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts had made decisions on them.

Platform committee member Dave Hockaday told the Review-Journal that the platform was a question of how the party can "back out of people's personal lives."

"We need to focus on issues where we can have an impact."

CNA contacted Nevada Right to Life to comment on the platform change, but the organization could not be reached for comment.