They are not the enemy

By Pulse Life Advocates | September 16, 2022

Democratic votersDemocratic voters are not the enemy of the pro-life movement. They are our friends, even though too many are misguided on abortion policy in our view. It is our job to make the case for life and encourage them to ask questions.

Most of these voters hold views that are far more pro-life than their party’s leadership, as we discussed yesterday.

A Harvard Harris poll revealed that only 10% of all voters agree with Democratic leaders’ insistence on allowing abortions through all 40 weeks of a normal pregnancy. 

Politicians flip flop on abortion

Various polls affirm that 7 out of 10 Americans support limits on abortion. In fact, President Biden supported limits on abortion at one point in his career, asserting that the Supreme Court had gone “too far” on abortion with the Roe v Wade decision. Said then-Senator Biden:

… a woman shouldn’t have the “sole right to say what should happen to her body.”

But he changed his position during his vice presidency, claiming …

… the government doesn’t have “a right to tell other people that women, they can’t control their body.”

A 100% flip flop.

Democratic voters tend to disagree with President Biden on abortion

Most Democratic voters disagree with his new positions on many other aspects of the abortion debate, including taxpayer funding (he’s for; most of his party is against) and conscience protections (he’s against; most of his party is for).

And yet despite the more pro-life tilt of rank and file Democratic voters, party leaders continue to promote abortion-on-demand without restriction, as Ohio Senator Tim Ryan makes clear:

Democratic leaders won’t dialogue on abortion

One of the most prominent U.S. Catholics, Bishop Robert Barron, attempted to dialogue on the subject of abortion with leaders from the Democratic Party a couple of years ago.

Barron wrote of the encounter:

“Would they, I asked, consider the banning of third-trimester abortions? Absolutely not, came the reply.  Would they, I pressed, be open to restricting partial-birth abortion, the procedure by which a pair of scissors is inserted into the brain of a baby already in the birth canal? No way, they said.

All right, I wondered, would they be agreeable to supporting born-alive legislation, designed to protect the life of a baby who has miraculously managed to survive an abortion? No, they said.  And lest you think this intransigence was peculiar to this particular group, recall that, just a few months ago, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) made a born-alive proposal, and it couldn’t muster enough votes to break the Democratic filibuster.”

That’s how out-of-touch Democratic leaders have become, not just from the entire country, but much of their own party.

Democratic leaders are increasingly antagonistic to pro-lifers

Prominent Democrats have smeared pro-lifers for years, labeling them as “chumps” (Biden) and “deplorable” (Hillary Clinton). 

Just Wednesday, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono went on the Senate floor threatening violence to pro-lifers for supporting Lindsay Graham’s proposed legislation to limit abortion to 15 weeks. Said Hirono:

“This is an outright attack on women in this country. That’s how I see it … That is how more and more women and those who support our right to make decisions about our own bodies, that is how we see it. And why? Because that’s what’s happening … But clearly, this is a — literally call to arms in our country.”

Hirono’s ‘literal’ call to arms threat of violence to pro-lifers is scary, especially in light of the 66 attacks on women’s pregnancy resource enters (including 2 in Des Moines) and 72 Catholic churches since the Dobbs decision was leaked in May (none of which have been solved).

The pro-life movement rejects violence as a solution to the violence of abortion

The pro-life movement needs to reject both the rhetorical and physical violence that defines the abortion movement and focus on changing the hearts and minds of ambivalent Democratic voters. After all, 60% of Democratic voters, according to the Harvard Harris poll, agree with Republicans that abortion should be banned after 15 weeks.

For 50 years, Pulse Life Advocates (formerly Iowans for LIFE) has informed, educated, and inspired new generations to value the sanctity of all human life from fertilization to natural death.

In recent years, we’ve produced a growing body of video content to address in a very direct way the pro-life concerns on the minds of Democratic voters, such as this:

And this:

If you tend to vote Democrat, we encourage you to push your party’s leadership in a more moderate direction on life issues. You won’t be alone. Most of your rank and file voters will agree with you. We certainly don’t view you as an enemy and hope you’ll be open-minded to sincerely dialogue with us on the critical life-and-death issue of abortion. Thank-you for reading to the end. We appreciate it.

[It’s time to reserve your seat at our November 19th Christmas Gala, “The Stars Are Brightly Shining.” Order online today.]

Posted in Abortion

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