Democrats for Life Criticized for Using "Whole Life" Name of Pro-Life Group

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 13, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Democrats for Life Criticized for Using "Whole Life" Name of Pro-Life Group

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 13
, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Democrats for Life of America is coming under fire from another pro-life organization that says it co-opted its name for a political action committee that is supporting 13 members of Congress who voted for the national health care bill that includes massive abortion funding.

The organization, which found respect from the pro-life movement for carrying the pro-life standard in the pro-abortion Democratic Party, announced earlier this month it would defend the Stupak dozen.

DFLA created the new political action committee bearing the moniker "Whole-Life Heroes," a reference to the Democrats for Life position that the bill is somehow pro-life because it supposedly will reduce abortions by providing a limited amount of support for pregnant women even though other pro-life groups unanimously say it contains taxpayer funding of abortions.

That name isn’t going over very well with Jason Jones, the founder and president of the Human-Rights Education and Relief Organization (HERO) and its Whole Life America initiative.

Jones is noted for his role in producing the acclaimed pro-life movie Bella, and working with pro-life actor Eduardo Verestegui.

In a statement Jones sent to LifeNews.com, he called the new Democrats for Life of America political action committee name "extremely misleading."

"I am flattered that the DFLA thought so much of our organization that they borrowed our name. On the other hand, I am greatly offended that they would use our name to undermine human dignity," he said. "After all, its purpose is to re-elect the Stupak Democrats who broke their promises and voted in favor of the mammoth federal healthcare bill laden with provisions for taxpayer-funded abortions."

He called the votes of Stupak and his colleagues a "devastating betrayal" of pro-life principles

Jones also says Democrats for Life and its executive director Kristen Day are not getting the facts straight.

"Obama’s executive order on health care does not ban the abortion provisions that he signed into law," he said.

Jones says there is nothing wrong with pro-life Democrats and says the pro-life movement has a need for a presence in both political parties.

"The greatest tragedy in American political history is that the Whole Life/Pro-Life flag is not firmly planted in both the Republican and Democrat parties. It will take both parties working together to reestablish respect for the human person from the embryo to the elderly," he said.

But, until Democrats for Life comes around on the abortion-health care debate, Jones says that won’t happen.

"One pro-life Democrat courageously stood his ground during the healthcare vote. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) is reason to hope that Democrats, Republicans and independents can work together in grounding our nation on the founding principle of this great Republic," he said. "If Democrats For Life drops its campaign to re-elect the Stupak 13 and concentrates on Lipinski’s race, that would be a good start."

Related web sites:
Whole Life America – https://iamwholelife.com

 

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