Pro-Life Democrats Can Speak at Convention, Only Abortion Backers So Far
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 22, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Though the initial list of speakers at the Democratic Party’s national convention next week are virtually all pro-abortion, the party’s chairman tells pro-life Democrats there’s room for a speaker or two who oppose abortion.
A spokeswoman for Democrats for Life of America says Terry McAuliffe, the party’s chairman, has assured her that he would not prohibit pro-life speakers from addressing the party’s convention.
"Chairman McAuliffe’s statement proves that the Democratic Party is truly the party of inclusion," DFLA executive director Kristen Day said in Thursday. "Despite our differences on the issue of protecting the rights of the unborn, the fact that McAuliffe is not going to exclude pro-life speakers from addressing the Convention in Boston is encouraging."
According to Day, McAuliffe told a group of pro-life Democrats in New York that he would be open to allowing pro-life speakers at the convention.
However, no names of actual speakers have been committed.
In fact, the first list of convention speakers, released Wednesday, includes only one speaker, Rhode Island Congressman Jim Langevin, among 61 total, who is pro-life on abortion.
Ironically, Langevin is expected to speak in favor of embryonic stem cell research, which the pro-life community strongly opposes.
Some of the abortion advocates who will speak in prime-time slots include numerous pro-abortion members of Congress, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, and several governors who back abortion.
If McAuliffe’s statement is true, the situation would be a reversal of 1992, when Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey was prevented from addressing the convention in opposition to abortion.
Related web sites:
Democrats for Life – https://www.democratsforlife.org
List of Democratic Party convention speakers – click here
