The platforms of the two political parties reveal, albeit unintentionally, which party holds the moral high ground and which is in defensive mode.

To begin with, the Republican platform is written in English. The words actually mean what they say. The Democrat platform is written in code. One has to know the code in order to understand what the words actually communicate.

Consider this basic declaration:

Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured.

Translated into English: Democrats are committed to keeping abortion legal and free, no matter who has to pay for it.

In the days of yore, Bill Clinton’s mantra was “Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.” A floor vote at the 2008 Democrat convention took “rare” out of the platform.

So one searches in vain for that idea—in the platform or anywhere else in Democrat-land.

No surprise there, of course: The coffers of Planned Parenthood would not be opened to a party that advocated less business for that generous contributor.

And this is the party that is supposed to be opposed to corporate cronyism and corporate welfare? Pardon me, but that principle must apply only to certain disfavored industries.

All this rhetoric, by the way, is hidden away on page 37 of a 55-page document, following “Supporting Those Living with Autism” and “Ensuring Long-Term Care,” two heart-throb issues. Maybe they’re hoping we wouldn’t find it.

The platform goes on to say:

We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers . . .  We will continue to oppose—and seek to overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment. . . . We will defend the ACA [Affordable Care Act] which extends affordable preventive health care to women, including no-cost contraception . . . .

“We will oppose . . . We will continue to oppose . . . We will overturn . . .  We will defend . . . .

OK, we get it: Democrats are for a 43-year-old Supreme Court decision. They’re for government paying for whatever they choose to define as a “right.” And they oppose the de-funding of their cash cow. Yawn.

At least they’re enough in touch with the American people to realize the ACA (aka Obamacare) is so universally unpopular it needs defending.

Is this platform a forward-looking statement of principle?

Or is this overload of over-heated reactivity and defensiveness really a cry of desperation from ideologues who find themselves on the wrong side of history?

By contrast, the GOP platform grabs the moral high ground and stays there.

Right up front, on page 13, under the headline “A Rebirth of Constitutional Government,” is the most pro-life language the GOP platform has ever had:

The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.

 (Which is it that’s supposed to be the party of the little guy?)

 We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.

. . . We urge all states and Congress to make it a crime to acquire, transfer, or sell fetal tissues from elective abortions for research, and we call on Congress to enact a ban on any sale of fetal body parts. In the meantime, we call on Congress to ban the practice of misleading women on so-called fetal harvesting consent forms, a fact revealed by a 2015 investigation. We will not fund or subsidize healthcare that includes abortion coverage.

Talk about pro-active!

And in a chapter titled “Great American Families, Education, Healthcare, and Criminal Justice,” the principle that American taxpayers should not be forced to fund abortion is clearly articulated:

The GOP platform calls for “codification of the Hyde Amendment and its application across the government, including Obamacare. … [and] for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage.”

Far from defending Obamacare, it declares: “Any honest agenda for improving healthcare must start with repeal of the dishonestly named Affordable Care Act of 2010: Obamacare. It weighs like the dead hand of the past upon American medicine.”

The dead hand of the past upon American medicine? This document even has great rhetoric!

And it goes forward from there, calling for the appointment of judges who respect the sanctity of life, opposing non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, and endorsing various pro-life legislative initiatives.

So, in light of these platforms, tell me now, which is the party of “no”?

To prescind from platforms, which is the party of hypocrisy?

The party whose nominee admits he once was pro-abortion but has come to re-think the issue (as did an earlier nominee named Ronald Reagan), or the party whose VP nominee claims to be a “Pope Francis Catholic” who is “personally opposed” but has a 100% pro-abortion voting record?

Maybe honesty doesn’t count for much right now. Maybe the mass media is on the side of the liars and hypocrites and will do its darndest to sway the public. Maybe most of the vast wealth of the 1% is committed to advancing the t Democrat candidate.

But which political party’s platform is on the side of human nature?

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