West Virginia Democrats Blast Gov. Manchin Pro-Life Abortion Talk 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 2, 2005
Charleston, WV (LifeNews.com) — Some Democrats in West Virginia are not happy that pro-life Gov. Joe Manchin, himself a pro-life Democrat, plans to speak against abortion at an upcoming West Virginians for Life event.
Manchin is slated to speak at an upcoming fundraiser next month for the pro-life group and pro-abortion lawmakers say that could cause tensions within the party for those who disagree with his views.
According to a Charleston Daily Mail, some Democrats say Manchin is out of line with the state’s party platform, which promotes "the right of every woman to make choices regarding reproduction."
However, West Virginia is one of several states with a considerably large percentage of Democrats who oppose abortion and the state voted for President Bush in 2000 and 2004 in some respects because of the president’s pro-life views.
According to state House Speaker Bob Kiss (D), the West Virginia Democratic Party, "on social issues, is certainly more conservative than in other parts of the country."
Kiss says that’s good news because pro-life bills tended to suffer when pro-abortion Democrats were more numerous.
"Bills just didn’t even get voted on," Kiss explained. "I’m not being critical, but I view that as not being fair."
Some party activists are worried that Manchin’s speech will help the pro-life group target lawmakers who support abortion for defeat in the next election.
But Jennifer Duffy, editor of the Cook Political Report, told the Charleston newspaper that party members must decide whether their abortion views or their partisan views are more important.
"The question for pro-choice Democrats is, ‘What’s more important: to have members of Congress and governors with D’s behind their name or have candidates who may or may not win but are pure on the issue," she asked.
Related web sites:
West Virginians for Life – https://wvforlife.org
