A small but courageous group of pro-life Democrat politicians is sending the message that they will not be pushed out of their party because they support unborn babies’ right to life.
These candidates are opting for a difficult path because, in refusing to compromise their beliefs, they find themselves unwelcome by party leaders on both sides of the aisle. Yet, they remain committed.
Speaking with The Washington Times, Chris Butler, a pro-life Democrat pastor who is running for U.S. Congress in Illinois, said he should not have to quit the party because he is pro-life. Butler said he supports Democrats’ goals on universal basic income and climate change, but he also wants legal protections for unborn babies.
“I’ve spent my life doing work in the Democratic Party. I have inherited a legacy that has helped build up this party. I’m not ready to just walk away and be pushed out of the party,” Butler said.
His hope is that voters will recognize he is a candidate of integrity who is committed to values, not politics.
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“I’m very much in step with where the Democratic Party wants to go,” he told the Times. “One benefit of having a pro-life Democrat running is that it’s a sign that I’m going to stand up for my values. That’s one of the things I think our party needs.”
However, the Democratic Party has linked itself closely with the billion-dollar abortion industry in recent years, and increasingly its message to pro-life Democrats like Butler is that they are not welcome anymore.
Former U.S. Congressman Dan Lipinski, a pro-life Democrat, lost his seat to a radical pro-abortion Democrat in 2020 after other Democrats and liberal PACs refused to support his re-election.
“I spent 16 years in Congress as a pro-life Democrat until my defense of babies in the womb led to my loss in the 2020 Democratic primary. They came after me because they want to silence the voice of pro-life Democrats, but we will not be silenced,” Lipinski said at the March for Life earlier this year.
Now, party leaders and their pro-abortion allies are targeting the last pro-life Democrat in the U.S. House, Henry Cuellar, of Texas.
Here’s more from the report:
[Lipinski] said he’s concerned about the fundraising efforts and influence of pro-choice groups that will not only oust pro-life Democrats but keep them from winning office.
“The pro-choice organizations spent millions of dollars, both in 2018 and 2020, in order to beat me in the primary. That’s really where the problems lie for anyone who is pro-life and wants to run as a Democrat,” Mr. Lipinski told The Washington Times.
The billion-dollar pro-abortion lobby dumps massive amounts of money into politics, outspending pro-life groups by as much as ten to one, according to the Pacific Standard. The money comes from killing unborn babies in abortions as well as donations from some of the richest men in the world, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
But pro-life Democrats are not going away, and some candidates in conservative states do not feel as much pressure to conform with the abortion industry’s political agenda. Jay Martin, a pro-life Democrat who is running Arkansas governor, told the Times that has been his experience.
“I’ve always had that position, and it’s never been a problem for me as a Democrat in Arkansas,” Martin said. “There’s energy around the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, so some of your moderate centrist or conservative Democrats do face primary opponents … I don’t know if there’s that division in Arkansas as much as in the rest of the country.”
The Democratic Party has become extreme and out of touch with Americans on abortion. The party platform supports abortions for any reason without restriction and demands that taxpayers be forced to pay for them.
Very few Americans share that view. A 2021 Marist poll found 58 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in the U.S. Additionally, 77 percent oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in other countries. A 2016 Harvard/Politico poll found that most voters, including a strong majority of low-income voters, oppose taxpayer-funded abortions.
Recent polls also show public support for greater legal protections for unborn babies, such as heartbeat laws and bans on abortion after the first trimester.
Pro-life Democrat leaders have been urging the party to reverse course and recognize that voters want candidates who support life.
