NEW YORK, Aug 30 (AFP) - Religious conservatives have triumphed in their bitter ideological struggle within the US Republican party and imposed tough stands against abortion, gay marriage and stem-cell research.
The party's platform, adopted Monday on the opening day of its convention gala in New York, set out its strict new domestic policy principles on the sensitive social issues that have divided its members.
Moderate party members had battled to tone down the stances and embrace more socially-tolerant voters, but President George W. Bush and right wingers have prevailed, sparking fury among some of the party faithful.
Gays and pro-choice activists say the 93-page document, infused with Christian moral values, could alienate swathes of otherwise loyal Republicans and scare away independent voters.
"We strongly support President Bush's call for a Constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage," the platform said, tackling the explosive question of whether a constitutional change was needed to ban gay marriage.
"We believe that neither federal nor state judges nor bureaucrats should force states to recognize other living arrangements as equivalent of marriage," it said in a swipe against Massachusetts' supreme court which in November sparked a political earthquake when it legalized same-sex wedlock.
The platform also opposed communal financial benefits for homosexuals and warned that allowing attempts by states or cities to redefine marriage "could have serious consequences throughout the country."
In addition, it upheld the party's tough views against abortion, another hot-button electoral issue that frequently sends protesters onto streets across the country.
Under an item titled "Promoting a Culture of Life," the party reaffirmed its opposition to abortion and abortionists and said it would not allow public funding for pro-choice groups.
It also praised a controversial law passed in the Republican-majority US Congress in October banning late-term abortion, which has been struck down by two courts and has ruffled feathers in the party's moderate camp.
The platform gave full backing to Bush's ban on federal funding for stem-cell research, a process that is strongly backed by some prominent party members, including former US first lady Nancy Reagan.
Conservatives oppose such research as human embryos can be destroyed in the quest to find genetic cures to illneses such as Alzheimer's disease, which afflicted former president Ronald Reagan.
Other religiously-influenced platform policies included the promotion of sexual abstinence among teenagers and a call for the "vigorous prosecution" of obscenity.
Pro-choice and gay Republicans, who had proposed a "unity plank" that would have skirted around their contentious issues, lambasted party officials and right-wingers for ignoring their appeals to be included.
"It was a chance for the Platform committee to show in a dramatic way that they want to make sure the two most alienated groups ... are in fact welcomed and wanted in the party, said Ann Stone of Republicans for Choice.
"Instead the Platform Committee chose to change a few little words in the caboose of the platform and they think that is enough to make moderates come back to the party," she said.
The "unity plank" would have welcomed Republicans with differing views on issues including abortion and gay marriage while acknowledging that different views exist on the "complex issues."
Gay Republicans unveiled Monday a television advertising campaign intended to take their cause directly to voters, some of whom, they warned, could now turn their backs on the party in November's election.
"In recent months, the party's agenda has been set by the radical right," said Patrick Guerriero, executive director of the gay group Log Cabin Republicans.
"They divided party leaders by starting a culture war and pushing the anti-family Federal Marriage Amendment," Guerriero said. "Enough is enough. It is time for someone to challenge the radical right."