Watch CNN's report on anti-abortion radio host Ed Martin's role in crafting Republican Party policy
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From the July 2, 2024, edition of CNN's Erin Burnett OutFront
ERICA HILL (HOST): Newly uncovered remarks by a key RNC official pushing for some of the most extreme restrictions on abortion, remarks found by CNN's KFILE. Ed Martin is one of just three people that the party chose to lead its platform committee, and over the past two years, he has advocated for a national abortion ban, no exception for rape or incest.
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You went and dug through a lot of these comments from Ed Martin's over the last two years or so. His views on abortion are -- I think "extreme" actually puts it mildly.
ANDREW KACZYNSKI (GUEST): Yeah. That's right, and Ed Martin is the name that you might not know, but this is someone who's going to wield significant influence over the party platform. That's basically the blueprint that the party puts out as their principles that how Trump is going to govern, how -- what Republicans are going to run on, and he's one of three people selected to help craft it. And his position on abortion is, really, it is about as extreme as you can get. He supports a national ban. He doesn't support exceptions for rape or incest, and he even has discussed the possibility of jailing women who get abortion.
And this is all coming at a time when Republicans -- abortion's really been such a losing issue for Republicans. We've seen Trump sort of try to moderate his rhetoric on abortion, but Martin's actually pushed back on that. He said that Trump isn't trying to water down the party's position on abortion, but some of those views that he support on abortion, they're so extreme. He has said he does not even support abortion in the case of this 10-year-old Ohio girl who was raped.