From Eric Zimmerman at TNR’s The Plank, a snippet of debate over the Democratic platform’s abortion plank, with special attention to the party’s neglected anti-abortion wing:
In 2004, Democrats removed language from their platform calling for a reduction in the abortion rate. Abortion was still to be “safe, legal and rare,” but no longer “more rare,” as the plank had stated in 1996 and 2000. As with most platform tussles, the language here is a proxy war in a larger internecine face-off: What role should pro-life activists play in a pro-choice political party? Though their advocacy is welcomed by some Democrats as a way to broaden the party’s support, others see them threatening the party’s principles….
…I asked Kristen Day, Democrats for Life’s executive director, who convened the Virginia meeting, if Republicans wouldn’t do more to further her organization’s goals. Didn’t they pass the partial-birth abortion ban, add two presumably anti-Roevotes to the Supreme Court, and ban federal funding to overseas NGOs that provide or promote abortion services? “Republicans do nothing to help pregnant women who are facing pregnancy,” Day replied. Many women don’t have the resources to sustain a healthy pregnancy, let alone a child, she argued. “If you make abortion illegal, what are these women going to do?”
As Day sees it, while Republicans pontificate on the evils of abortion, it is Democratic policies–expanding healthcare and access to prenatal resources–that have proven effective in reducing abortion rates. If a voter’s top priority is reducing abortion, Day says, she should vote Democratic.
Unlike many other pro-life activists, Democrats for Life deemphasizes Roe v. Wade. A repeal “wouldn’t really do a whole lot” to reduce abortion, Day told me. The group decided to ignore Roe altogether in their platform proposal, assuming the party would support the case no matter what. Instead, they chose to focus on promoting an abortion reduction plank. “Once Roe is in [our proposal],” said Lee, “they just stop listening to us.”
Filed under: abortion, election 2008
Are people ever going to realize that we need to actually come to some sort of agreement on this type of stuff and that neither side will get exactly what they want.
Great post, great detail, and fair coverage.
Linked to your post from Jeremiah Films’ Democrats for life stand down
I hope it is ok for me to respond to another comment on this blog. There are people who believe unborn babies are living people no different than say a spouse. For these people, they could neither accept a reduction to killing babies or a reduction in killing spouses. Granted that sometimes a spouse is in the hospital and a life or death decision needs to be made – but a decision to pull the plug should not be made because of a headache.