On Friday, April 21 National Democratic Party Chair, Tom Perez, listed abortion as a “fundamental value” of the Democratic Party and that pro-lifers were not welcome. Perez went on to say that the national party would not endorse, nor help, pro-life democrats get elected to public office. Instead, Democrats are expected to encompass all aspects of the party’s ideology. Taking party ideology to this extreme could alienate many pro-life and moderate Democrats while further weakening a party reeling from losses that put Republicans in full control of the US government and increased their number in state governments.
Furthermore, Republicans have been handed a political tool that could be used to encourage pro-life Democrats to switch parties and that could be used in attack ads against Democrats running for public office in 2018.
Voters on both sides think the abortion issue belongs in the courts.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines democracy as "a government by the people, in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through equal representation." Many Americans want their views on social issues to be accepted regardless of party or religion.
The October 14, 2014 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine included an article by author Jill Filipovic based on an interview with five pro-choice Republican women about their views.
They included co-chairs of the Republican Majority for Choice, North Dakota State Rep Kathy Hawkins, Kansas State Rep Stephanie Clayton, and Yale sophomore Briana Burroughs. The conservative women were all in agreement that the abortion issue should never have been politicized. They also talked about the GOP having completely distanced itself from the issue of reproductive choice.
They vowed to continue their work, along with other pro-choice Republicans, to try and change the party’s stance.
The DNC's opposition to pro-life Democrats could splinter the party even more.
Voters and candidates from both political parties represent all religions, but that does not mean they agree with their party's views on abortion.
Many Hispanics and Latinos, who have typically supported the Democratic Party in the past, embrace the Catholic faith, as do other voters by wide margins. tom perez, at the urging of The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), one of the largest and most powerful pro-choice lobbying and fundraising organizations, threw millions of Democrats under the bus. This latest move also undermines progressive and millennial voters' determination to denounce special interests and their money.
If Democrats ever hope to regain control of the US Congress and Senate, or even increase their majority, they must accept pro-life democrats. Sadly, the DNC Chair could have potentially destroyed the chances of Democratic candidates, especially those that are pro-life, to get elected to local, state, or federal office. Democrats can only hope that Tom Perez's words do not come back to haunt them later.
