Democratic Attorneys General Association Disowns Pro-Life Candidates

The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) has announced that it will only support candidates running for state attorney general offices around the country if they “publicly commit” to supporting abortion. 

Called its “Reproductive Rights Protection Requirement for Candidate Endorsements,” DAGA makes it increasingly clear that Democrat candidates running for office are persona non grata in the Democrat Party.

“The committee will only endorse candidates who support the right to access abortion and publicly commit to protecting reproductive rights,” the announcement reads. “DAGA will only provide financial support, activate digital tools and engage strategic partners for candidates who publicly commit to protecting abortion.”

This announcement is notable for two reasons. State attorneys general (AGs) hold a lot of power, both in their individual states and nationally.

Their job is to defend the laws passed by the state legislature in court. But sometimes, an AG will choose not to defend a law passed by the state because they personally disagree with it.

This occurred recently when the former Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear chose not to defend Kentucky’s 20-week abortion ban in court, despite the fact that it is his job to do so.

AGs around the nation also join together to file briefs at the Supreme Court, and lower courts, to try to influence how they’ll decide certain cases. For example, according to DAGA 22 AGs led by ultra-liberal California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus brief in a case defending Mississippi’s only abortion clinic after the state passed a 15-week abortion ban. This shows how state AGs can affect cases even outside of their own home state.

Another reason for the announcement is that state attorney general candidates often seek higher office after getting elected. Some former state AGs that have now been elected to higher office include Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Governor-elect Andy Beshear (D-KY) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). This new policy will help ensure that future Democrat candidates for high office are pro-abortion through and through.

In the statement, DAGA made it clear that this fact was one of the reasons for its new endorsement policy. “Here at DAGA, we know that Democratic AGs are the backbone of the party and often move on to other offices such as Governor, U.S. Senator and even President of the United States,” said Sean Rankin, Executive Director of DAGA. 

Interestingly, this move towards ensuring the entire Democrat Party is fully in support of unlimited, free abortions funded by taxpayers comes on the heels of a win by pro-life Democrat Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.

The media has been spinning the re-election of a Democrat governor in Louisiana as a loss for Trump. But what should be taken away is that only pro-life Democrats can win statewide in the South.

Gov. Bel Edwards is a conservative Democrat who is one of the most pro-life governors in the nation. Earlier this year, Gov. Bel Edwards signed into law a heartbeat bill which would ban abortions after six-weeks of pregnancy. The governor’s signature made Louisiana the sixth state in the nation to have such a law. However, this ban has not taken effect since it is being held up in court.

It seems the secret for Democrats to win in the South is to support pro-life measures. Unfortunately, DAGA hasn’t received the memo and is taking the opposite approach by all but declaring any Democratic pro-life candidate unworthy of their support.

As the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board humorously put it, “Anti-abortion Democrat officeholders are about as rare as pandas, but many in their party’s leadership won’t be satisfied until they’re extinct.”

The handful of elected pro-life Democrats that remain should be warned. Their own party is dead set against them.