Democratic Party Approves Platform Mirroring Barack Obama’s Pro-Abortion View

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 25, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Democratic Party Approves Platform Mirroring Barack Obama’s Pro-Abortion View

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 25
, 2008

Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) — The Democratic Party on Monday approved, without any noticeable dissent or opposition from the convention floor, a new national platform that is wholly pro-abortion. The platform, which mirror’s Barack Obama’s views, calls for unlimited abortions paid for by the American people.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who recently admitted she doesn’t know when human life begins, signed off on the platform with the approval of party activists.

The abortion plank not only supports abortions but opposes any efforts to limit them and wants them paid for at public expense.

"The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right," the platform reads.

The party has removed any language calling for abortions to be "rare," or even "safe," preferring to concentrate on keeping them legal.

That fact wasn’t lost on Karen Cross, the political director for National Right to Life.

She said the platform is even out of step with Democrats, and pointed out that 42% of those who identified themselves as Democrats in a June 2008 Polling Company survey said the oppose all or most abortions.

"Once again, the pro-abortion leadership of the Democratic Party demonstrates an allegiance with the extreme pro-abortion lobby and continues to show that it is out of step with a large number of its own membership and out of step with the majority of the American people," Cross told LifeNews.com.

"Pro-life Americans can plainly see the pro-abortion agenda being promoted this week in Denver," she added.

The final aspect of the language hearkens to Obama’s pledge to Planned Parenthood in a July 2007 speech saying his first action as president would be signing the so-called Freedom of Choice Act. That’s a Congressional bill that would overturn every abortion limit nationwide from a ban on partial-birth abortions to parental notification laws.

The platform statement on abortion doesn’t end there but includes two more paragraphs that serve as a public relations ploy to moderate that extreme position on abortion.

It talks up birth control and promotion of contraception as supposedly a means to end abortions even though stats seems to show promoting the morning after pill, for example, fails to reduce abortions.

"The Democratic Party also strongly supports access to affordable family planning services and comprehensive age-appropriate sex education which empowers people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions," the platform proposal reads.

It also provides the party and Obama with political cover by saying it supports childbirth and helping pregnant women.

"The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs," it concludes on abortion.

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver condemned the party for using flowery language in the latter part of the abortion section to cover up its extreme pro-abortion views.

Previously, the head of Democrats for Life of America told LifeNews.com she was unhappy with the platform language. The organization had hoped for a unity statement acknowledging the dissent of large numbers of pro-life Democrats.

 

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