The Democratic Party Needs Pro-Lifers

In the 45 years since Roe v. Wade,
the Democratic Party has never had less control in Washington D.C. than it does now. Interestingly, the Democratic Party has also never had a more radical
position on abortion. The
official Democratic Party platform states:

Every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe
and legal abortion… We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to
defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health
services to millions of people. 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.

In short, the
platform advocates for taxpayer-funded abortion throughout all nine months of
pregnancy for any reason whatsoever. The policy could not be more extreme than
that. Democrats for Life
of America (DFLA) believes the DNC’s radical position on abortion is largely
responsible for the recent decline of the Democratic Party.

In DFLA’s position paper titled, “Open the Big Tent,” they note that 25 state legislatures are currently under complete GOP
control, but only six are under complete Democrat control. The DFLA report also
notes that the Democrats do not control a single legislative chamber in the South.

However, there is
a lone bright spot for southern Democrats. John Bel Edwards, the governor of
Louisiana, is a pro-life Democrat who recently signed a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks gestational age. As DFLA notes, Democrats have completely lost control of the South, but
pro-life Democrats like Edwards prove this does not have to be the case.
Democrats could win more elections in the South, but they need pro-life
candidates to appeal to the South’s pro-life voters. The success of Governor
Edwards and the failure of pro-choice Democrats in the rest of the South confirms
this.

Furthermore, the
DNC’s position on abortion fails to reflect the views of their own voters. According to the Washington Times, 61 percent of Democrats support limiting legal abortion to the first
three months of pregnancy. The New York Times “Abortion Memo” from February notes that only 24 percent of young voters support
abortion under all circumstances. And earlier this month, the
Washington Post stated Democrats must change to
appeal to the overwhelming majority of Americans who oppose late-term abortion,
noting that “armies don’t shrink their way to victory.”

The DNC party platform
is terribly out of touch with American beliefs on abortion, and Democrats have
suffered massive losses because of this. If the Democratic Party wants to gain
political power, they must appeal to more voters by “opening the big tent” and
welcoming pro-life candidates

[Today’s guest post by Pat Thomas is part of our paid blogging program.]