There are indeed pro-life Democrats, in fact they have their own organization. One thing you will notice if you look at their list of pro-life "Democratic all-stars" is that almost all of them are state, not national, representatives. The national Democratic Party is particularly unfriendly to pro-lifers, as Prof. Blanchard points out. Remember, Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, and Jesse Jackson were all pro-life until they decided they wanted the Democratic nomination for president in the 1980s. Then they all suddenly became "pro-choice." They knew that their party would not put up with any dissent on this topic. Democrats for Life are touting the candidacy of pro-lifer Robert Casey for governor of Pennsylvania. Some readers will recall that Casey's late father, Bob Casey, was a pro-life Democratic governor of that state (indeed the mind bogglingly awful Planned Parenthood v. Casey Supreme Court decision carries his name). In 1992 this governor of a crucial electoral state was denied the podium at the Democratic National Convention because he was pro-life. Off the top of my head I can think of such pro-choice Republicans as Condi Rice, Rudy Gulianni, George Pataki, and Arnold Schwarzenegger who have had prime time slots in the last couple Republican conventions. There is no doubt the Republican Party is a pro-life party, and I hope it remains so, but dissenters get to speak their piece. This past election every Democratic candidate for president had to go to NARAL-Pro Choice America and assure them that they were pro-abortion extremists and pledge their commitment to abortion on demand. Even the "moderate" Joe Lieberman did so. I wish Democrats for Life all the luck in the world. Considering the intellectual commitment of their party to abortion on demand, they will need all the luck they can get.
Update: A wise and faithful reader passes along this Zogby poll that shows strong national support for the pro-life position. From Zogby:
As previous polls have shown, a strong majority of Republicans take a pro-life position, but so do a sizable number of Democrats.
Some 68 percent of Republicans agreed with the statement that abortion "destroys a human life and is manslaughter" while 43 percent of Democrats in the U.S. also agreed.
The Zogby poll also showed that Americans are more inclined to support "restrictions on abortion" compared to five or ten years ago.
Let's not forget that Roe v. Wade, which is the litmus test for the Democratic Party, allows virtually no restrictions on abortion. For example, an overwhelming percentage of Americans support laws against having abortion as a means of birth control. It just so happens that this is the reason for a strong majority of abortions. Under the Roe regime, such restrictions are not possible even late in pregnancy without exceptions for life and health. The Court then defines health so broadly that it includes pregnancies that causes "distress" or "emotional strain," which is to say every pregnancy. Thus, according to Roe you can regulate, even proscribe, abortion in the third trimester, with the exception of every single pregnancy. Very clever. This is the part most Americans don't get. Every pregnancy is the exception to the rule. Thus there really is no way to proscribe any abortion, even late term pregnancies.
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