• Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Illinois Review
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
No Result
View All Result
Illinois Review
No Result
View All Result
Home Illinois News

Gantner: Phyllis Schlafly Shaped the Republican Party Platform

Illinois Review by Illinois Review
September 4, 2020
in Illinois News
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
26
SHARES
432
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

21df38d2a2859a2a34a9578907f8bf05--phyllis-schlaflyBy Rebekah Gantner –

You might also like

Chicago AM560 Axes Local Morning Radio Personality Amy Jacobson, Keeps Florida-based Host in Cost-Cutting Move

JB Pritzker Receives 2% in Presidential Poll, Ranks Lowest in Minority Support Among Democrats

Trump’s Jobs Boom Skips Illinois—Thanks to Pritzker’s Tax Hikes

Phyllis Schlafly, conservative icon and my late boss, passed away four years ago Saturday at the age of 92. She was an unwavering voice for the pro-family movement and her life’s work and legacy live on. 

Phyllis volunteered in American politics for seventy years, influencing many different political and cultural issues. From military superiority and national sovereignty to education and pro-life, she articulately shaped conservative policy.  

Phyllis is perhaps most famous for leading the decade-long fight to defeat the so-called Equal Rights Amendment which she saw as a threat to all women. Her influence didn’t stop there. She also fought for decades to insert and preserve a strong pro-life plank in the Republican Platform.

Phyllis attended the Republican National Convention from 1952 through 2016 as a delegate or alternate delegate. She often played an important role as a member of the Platform Committee. This committee, comprised of one male and female from each state and territory, authors the policies and goals of the GOP. Phyllis referred to the platform as “the flag soldiers carry into battle" and "the standard to which public officials may be held accountable." 

After the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in 1972, Republicans and Democrats alike supported a “woman’s right to choose” to murder her unborn baby. Phyllis took it upon herself to demand that the Republican Party protect the unborn by inserting a pro-life plank into their platform. 

In 1984, Phyllis and Congressman Henry Hyde served as the Illinois Delegates on the Platform Committee. They worked tirelessly to add this language to the party platform: "The unborn child has a fundamental, individual right to life which cannot be infringed." 

In 1990, she founded the Republican National Coalition for Life to “defend the Republican Party’s principled commitment to legal protection for all innocent human beings, from conception until natural death.” Through this organization she would hold elected officials accountable to their platform. RNC for Life proved essential when Mary Dent Crisp and other pro-ERA, pro-abortion moderates attempted to remove the pro-life plank in 1992. 

In the coming years, battles ensued between conservatives and moderate Republicans over the pro-life language, but Phyllis never shied away from challenging the Establishment. Thanks to Phyllis’s work, it became essentially impossible to run as a Republican without adopting the pro-life position. 

Phyllis’s influence at the conventions extended into many other issues the grassroots care about. American self-government, border security, the protection of American workers, and traditional marriage are all causes she defended as a platform committee member. 

Beginning in 1960, Phyllis hosted a party for delegates to the RNC. This quadrennial event was attended by hundreds and eventually termed “The Life of the Party Luncheon.” She also trained delegates on strategies to keep the platform conservative. Phyllis stated that “The history of battles over Republican platforms teaches us that standing on principles of authentic conservatism and traditional values is the road to victory.” 

I was privileged to accompany Phyllis to the St. Louis Peabody Opera House in March 2016 when she endorsed Donald Trump for president. She believed that he was our “choice” candidate, not an echo of the globalist “Kingmakers” — who she named in her 1964 book A Choice Not An Echo. 

Prior to getting on stage, Phyllis met privately with Donald Trump, handed him a copy of the 2012 platform, and asked him to support it. She told him “this is the best and most conservative platform we’ve ever had.” He assured Phyllis the platform had his endorsement and he would stand by it. 

Phyllis told the packed auditorium she believed Trump really would defend conservative values. “Now we have a guy who is going to lead us to victory!” she boldly proclaimed.

Phyllis so strongly believed Trump was the right man for the job that she authored “The Conservative Case for Trump.” Her final book was released on September 6, 2016, the day after she passed.

Though Phyllis did not live to see Trump elected as our 45th president, he kept his promise to her. He has upheld the conservative Republican Platform and put forth policies to Make America Great Again. 

Before the 2020 convention, there was discussion of reducing the Republican Platform to one page. Ultimately, the RNC executive committee voted to leave the 2016 platform in place. This was a great victory for Phyllis and her tireless years of effort to maintain a platform that supports the views of grassroots Americans. 

At her funeral, President Trump called Phyllis a “hero” and an “American patriot.” This description is not exaggerated. Phyllis locked in the conservative values of the Republican Party — values that made our nation great. 

Now it is our responsibility to carry on the work of Phyllis Schlafly. We must preserve these American values so we can enjoy four more years of liberty and prosperity. 

Rebekah Gantner is the Executive Director of the Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund. She was hired by Phyllis Schlafly in 2013 and worked closely with her for three years at the Saint Louis headquarters.  Phyllis requested that Rebekah move to Washington, D.C. to represent her interests there, which she did in October 2016 after Phyllis’ passing.

Related

Share10Tweet7
Previous Post

Thorner: Government Schools as Purveyors of Mediocracy

Next Post

Di Leo: Those 100 GOP Traitor Endorsements Are Not What They Seem

Illinois Review

Illinois Review

Founded in 2005, Illinois Review is the leading perspective and source of conservative news, opinion and information in Illinois. Follow Illinois Review on X at @IllinoisReview.

Recommended For You

Chicago AM560 Axes Local Morning Radio Personality Amy Jacobson, Keeps Florida-based Host in Cost-Cutting Move

by Illinois Review
July 1, 2025
0
Chicago AM560 Axes Local Morning Radio Personality Amy Jacobson, Keeps Florida-based Host in Cost-Cutting Move

By Illinois ReviewIn a shocking cost-cutting move Tuesday, Chicago’s AM560 The Answer terminated longtime morning host Amy Jacobson, as the struggling conservative station grapples with declining relevance –...

Read moreDetails

JB Pritzker Receives 2% in Presidential Poll, Ranks Lowest in Minority Support Among Democrats

by Illinois Review
June 30, 2025
0
JB Pritzker Receives 2% in Presidential Poll, Ranks Lowest in Minority Support Among Democrats

By Illinois ReviewIn one of the first nationwide hypothetical polls for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, Illinois Governor and billionaire JB Pritzker ranks at the bottom, receiving the...

Read moreDetails

Trump’s Jobs Boom Skips Illinois—Thanks to Pritzker’s Tax Hikes

by Thomas Mccullagh
June 26, 2025
0
Trump’s Jobs Boom Skips Illinois—Thanks to Pritzker’s Tax Hikes

Illinois is missing out on Trump’s U.S. manufacturing boom. While other states welcome new factories, Pritzker’s tax hikes and regulations keep businesses out—and force longtime employers to leave.

Read moreDetails

Opinion: We’ll Save You If We See You Burning

by Janelle Powell
June 21, 2025
0
Opinion: We’ll Save You If We See You Burning

By Janelle Powell, Opinion ContributorIn a dazzling display of bureaucratic brilliance, the City of Chicago has rolled out a new policy for the Chicago Fire Department that essentially...

Read moreDetails

Caught Off Guard: Pritzker Left Speechless on Women’s Restroom Question Amid Sanctuary City Testimony

by Illinois Review
June 12, 2025
0
Caught Off Guard: Pritzker Left Speechless on Women’s Restroom Question Amid Sanctuary City Testimony

By Illinois ReviewIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker testified Wednesday before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee alongside fellow sanctuary city governors – occasionally appearing visibly stunned and...

Read moreDetails
Next Post

Di Leo: Those 100 GOP Traitor Endorsements Are Not What They Seem

Please login to join discussion

Best Dental Group

Related News

IL Freedom Caucus calls on Lurie Children’s Hospital to cease gender services for kids

October 27, 2022

Beckman: Is the Brigham Young University racial slur controversy another hoax?

October 27, 2022

Salvi polling shows closer race

October 27, 2022

Browse by Category

  • America First
  • Education
  • Faith & Family
  • Foreign Policy
  • Health Care
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • Opinion
  • Science
  • Second Amendment
  • TRENDING
  • US NEWS
  • US Politics
  • World News
Illinois Review

© 2024 llinois Review LLC Editor in Chief Mark Vargas Publisher Thomas McCullagh Chief Counsel Scott Kaspar

Navigate Site

  • Checkout
  • Home
  • Home – mobile
  • Login/Register
  • Login/Register
  • My account
  • My Account-
  • My Account- – mobile

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • Health Care
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • TRENDING
  • Education
  • Foreign Policy
  • Second Amendment
  • Faith & Family
  • Science
  • World News

© 2024 llinois Review LLC Editor in Chief Mark Vargas Publisher Thomas McCullagh Chief Counsel Scott Kaspar

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?