Democrats who think all human beings deserve a right to life need not apply.
That was the basic message of the Democratic Attorney General Association, which announced Monday that it only will endorse candidates who support abortion on demand going forward, National Review reports.
“State attorneys general are now on the map as taking the lead when it comes to Democratic values,” said Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, a co-chair of the committee. “We are going to be the ones to be right out in front and hopefully the other committees will follow right along.”
Rosenblum pointed to pro-life laws that are being passed across the country as the reason for the change.
The Democratic Party has become increasingly pro-abortion, though a few pro-life politicians remain, including Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and Louisiana Gov. John Bell Edwards, who just won re-election. The party platform calls for supporting unrestricted abortions up to birth and forcing taxpayers to fund them, and leaders have been debating a litmus test for abortion for several years now.
The Democratic Attorney General Association is believed to be the first national party committee to openly demand support for the killing of unborn babies for its endorsements, according to the report. But Planned Parenthood, the billion-dollar abortion “nonprofit” that plans to spend $45 million on the upcoming election, is pressuring more groups to do the same.
“We applaud [the association] for its decision to endorse only candidates who are committed to protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights – including safe, legal abortion. Every committee, regardless of party, should take this strong stance!” Planned Parenthood Action wrote on Twitter.
However, the announcement drew extensive criticism, including from Democrats who support abortion. Former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a pro-abortion Democrat, slammed it as “wrongheaded.”
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“There are very principled people, who are Democrats, who feel very strongly about this issue for religious reasons and when you say you’re not welcome in our party I think it is exclusionary,” she told the New York Times. “You have to look at the totality of a candidate.”
Abortion activists rejected the reality that there are still a strong number of pro-life Democrats. A video ad announcing the committee’s new policy claims “the majority of Americans” support abortion.
Polls consistently show otherwise. Based on polling, Democrats for Life estimates that one in three Democrats are pro-life. It pointed to Edwards’ recent win in Louisiana as proof that Democrat voters support pro-life candidates.
“Candidates like John Bel Edwards are the future of the Party,” said Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life. “If Democrats would like to win around the nation, they need to offer a more moderate position on abortion, including dropping the Hyde repeal in the platform. They need to move away from glamorizing abortion and focus instead on enabling women to have real choices instead of supporting women being exploited by the abortion industry.”
Polls consistently show that most voters oppose the Democratic Party’s radical pro-abortion stance, which now includes taxpayer-funded elective abortions.
According to a national poll by Marist University in January, three in four Americans (75 percent) say abortion should be limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy. This includes most Republicans (92 percent), Independents (78 percent) and Democrats (60 percent). Recent Gallup polling also found that 53 percent of Americans oppose all or most abortions.
A Politico/Harvard University poll in 2016 found that just 36 percent of likely voters supported taxpayer funding for abortions, while 58 percent opposed it.
The Democratic Party has not always been so extreme on abortion. The party, which prides itself in fighting for the vulnerable, once welcomed strong pro-life politicians who fought for the rights of unborn babies. In recent years, however, the party has shifted to align itself closely with the abortion industry, which contributes tens of millions of dollars to Democratic candidates annually.
