TAMPA, August 31, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – While political observers watched Rick Santorum, Paul Ryan, and Marco Rubio, the Republican National Committee pushed through new rules that could change the face of the party for some time – including one rule that Rush Limbaugh said was designed to freeze pro-life Christians out of the GOP.

Under rules proposed by election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, who said he was acting on behalf of the Romney campaign, the presidential candidate who wins a state primary would get to select all state delegates to the convention and “disavow” anyone who meets his disapproval. The delegates, in turn, draw up the platform and formally nominate candidates.

The new code was opposed by the Family Research Center, Leadership Institute founder Morton Blackwell, and attorney James Bopp, who helped draw up the original pro-life plank in 1980.

House Speaker John Boehner presided over the voice vote on the rule, which appeared to have an even number of yes and no votes.

The controversy deepened after a video showed a teleprompter with a prerecorded message that the change had been approved, leading to speculation the vote was fixed.

Dean Clancy of FreedomWorks called the move “a transparent attempt to neuter the grassroots and head off future insurgencies like those of Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Ron Paul.”

Richard Viguerie of ConservativeHQ.com rapped the Romney campaign and the Republican Establishment. “Competing candidates and issues are what makes a party strong and brings new voters into the party as candidates and issues vie for support,” he wrote.

More than a few believe the change is intended to deprive pro-life, pro-family Republicans from having a voice and venue in the party of Lincoln.

“The establishment Republicans want to kick the conservatives out of the party. They don’t want the conservatives having any say-so in the party whatsoever,” said Rush Limbaugh on his radio program on Tuesday.

Limbaugh said “major figures” used to approach him to ask, “What are you gonna do about the Christians?”

“This abortion, it’s killing us!” he says they told him. “You gotta get them to shut up about this.”

“We don’t want ‘em! It’s not good. It’s embarrassing.”

Click “like” if you want to end abortion!

He said the rules change was “about the establishment finally being at its wits’ end on this ‘War on Women.’”

In 1968, the Democratic Party began its liberalization by changing its formula for selecting delegates, transforming the disparate national party into an advocacy group for feminists, unions, and the far-Left. Four years later, the party nominated George McGovern.

Former Congressman Jim Kolbe, who is openly homosexual, has said this will be the last Republican Party platform to defend marriage.

Sarah Palin stated recently that a conservative third party could replace the Republicans if they ignore their traditional platform.

A second vote, presided over by former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, passed a rule that shortened the primary season, which critics say will undermine grassroots campaigns while assisting those with abundant financial resources or insider connections.

Romney surrogates say they have adopted the rules to assist him if he is running for re-election in 2016.

Rush Limbaugh indicated another reason behind the change in delegate selection by quoting an Associated Press story, which states conservatives are leaving the GOP “badly out of step with a nation that’s rapidly becoming less white.”

“[A]ccording to the AP, when you boil it all down, the biggest problem with the Republican Party is its ‘whiteness,’” Limbaugh said. ”We gotta get rid of ‘em. The AP wants us gone. The Democrat Party wants us gone. And the Republican establishment doesn’t want the hassle of dealing with this.”

“Even if you were able to cleanse the party of all these white conservatives, do you think the AP is gonna start writing love stories about you?” he asked.

Columnist Michelle Malkin, an outspoken conservative, told the party’s conservatives to remain engaged and take their party back.

“The bottom line: Get organized, get loud, and stay vigilant,” she wrote. “No matter who ends up in the White House in January, no matter what letter follows the names of the people in power in Washington, the grass-roots conservative movement must be prepared to stand its ground.”