At the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans , Louisiana , Melich tried to remove the pro-life plank from the party platform and substitute a neutral position on abortion . She was acting at the time as the executive director of the New York State Republican Family Committee . Her proposal was shelved in the platform hearings by conservative forces led by Marilyn Thayer , a New Orleans Republican activist who chaired the platform subcommittee on family issues and who in 1996 was elected president of the National Federation of Republican Women , the party conservatives kept the pro-life language intact . Years later , Melich wrote about her experiences at the convention in her book , '' The Republican War Against Women : An Insider 's Report from Behind the Lines ''
1988 Republican National Convention
1988 Republican National Convention
Tanya Melich