Pro-Life Democrats are using this week’s Democratic National Convention to advocate for a more moderate approach to abortion in order to avoid alienating the pro-life wing of the party.

Anymore, it seems like a pro-life Democrat is an oxymoron, especially considering that one of Congress’ lone pro-life Democrats, Rep. Dan Lipinski, recently lost his primary battle to a pro-abortion, NARAL-backed candidate. But there remains a strong and passionate, though underrepresented, pro-life caucus.

In a letter signed by several prominent pro-life Democrats, including Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards, the writers stated concerns over the party’s prominent pro-abortion policy, which will likely alienate possible Democrat voters. “We should not cede large swathes of the United States to the Republican Party. We support reintroducing conscience language from 2000 into the 2020 platform, which acknowledges that Americans have differing and deeply held views on abortion.”

The letter also raises three major concerns with the party’s platform on abortion, including “that many Democratic leaders support policies on abortion that are radically out of line with public opinion. Many Democratic leaders support abortion at any time, for any reason; this position is opposed by 79% of Americans. The 2016 Democratic Platform endorses taxpayer funding of abortion, opposed by a supermajority of the population. The same platform endorses taxpayer funding of abortion in developing countries, opposed by three-fourths of voters.”

The letter concludes by stating, “Fundamentally, we believe that every single state and county in this country deserves Democratic governance…In the U.S., pro-life Democrats have been a critical part of the coalition to expand voting rights, improve health care, and pass criminal justice reform…We respectfully submit that the Platform Committee considers these suggestions and opens the hearings to hear the voices of innumerable elected pro-life Democrats across the United States of America.”

But at this point, the party has not been receptive.

At the convention this week, the pro-life caucus has been denied a spot in the schedule, but still plans to meet in a virtual caucus, according to DFL executive director Kristen Day, and has already held protests locally to raise awareness about this wing of the party.

Shockingly, the news story about this DFL protest was censored by Twitter, stating that, “The following media includes potentially sensitive content.” It’s unclear what that could be.

“(We’re here) to address the abortion extremism that emanates from that institution. We are Democrats, and we want to see our party represent the majority of Democrats,” Terrisa Bukovinac said in an interview with the local Fox6 affiliate station in Milwaukee. She is one of the board members of Democrats for Life. “We came here despite it being virtual because there’s really no other way for this story to be told.”

In a recent opinion piece from The Daily Beast, senior columnist Matt Lewis stated how he cannot vote for former Vice President Joe Biden, despite his strong dislike of President Donald Trump, because of his pro-abortion stance.

Lewis wrote, “If you believe (as I do) that the unborn child (call it a fetus if you like, but nobody calls it that if the baby is wanted) has the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as, say, a 1-year-old child does, then this is a weighty moral issue that cannot be easily brushed away or bargained over as a lesser-of-two-evils decision.”

Kristen Day, DFL’s executive director, wrote on Twitter, “We will not be silenced. Our voice and our vote matters.”

The Daily Citizen will continue to monitor this story.

Photo from Democrats for Life

 

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