The Tragic Extinction of the Pro-Life Democrats

[Valin]

The Weekly Standard:

 

JONATHAN V. LAST

Sept 5, 2012

 

Charlotte

Four years ago in Denver, the group Democrats for Life hosted an event. A tiny cadre of anti-abortion Democrats assembled in a hotel conference room and were treated to a hopeful talk led by Senator Bob Casey and Representatives Lincoln Davis and Heath Shuler. The pro-life caucus was a minority in the party, they realized, but it was a crucial bloc and it would not be left behind by a President Obama, he of the purple states and the hope and change. A new era for pro-life Democrats was just around the corner.

 

It turns out, they were right about it being a new epoch. Except that instead of making a place in the sun for pro-life Democrats, the Obama presidency was more like a meteor-strike, triggering an ice age and driving the species to extinction.

 

(Snip)

 

President Obama forced pro-life Democrats into a position where they had to make one end of their whole-life spectrum subordinate to the other. And when the chips were down, the pro-life Dems agreed to compromise on abortion in order to press forward with the rest of the social justice agenda. Suddenly, the tail was wagging the dog. And voters noticed.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Is it possible to be a Pro-Life Democrat?

Nathan Harden

9/4/12

 

Did you know that, in today's Democratic party, being pro-life is morally equivalent to being a racist? That's what Donna Brazile, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, indicated at the DNC Women's Caucus gathering in Charlotte when she compared Republicans to segregationists: “They want to relegate women to the back of the bus,” she said. Democrats, on the other hand, “don’t have to pretend to love women."

 

Brazile's statement came in the context of a meeting dedicated to portraying Republicans as anti-woman, anti-choice, and even "anti-contraception." Nancy Pelosi said Republicans are "not even pro-birth control." (Alas, last I checked abolishing birth control was nowhere to be found on the Republican platform. But never mind the facts; this is Pelosi talking.)

 

(Snip)

 

Each day this week, I'm picking a theme from a chapter of my new book, Sex & God at Yale, to discuss here on Ricochet. Today, the theme is extreme abortion activism on the left. Case in point: Chapter 4 of the book details the exploits of of Aliza Shvarts--a former classmate of mine who catapulted herself to fame a few years back, with help from her academic advisers, who approved a phony senior art project she said consisted of the blood and tissue of numerous self-induced abortions. When abortion becomes an art form, I think we can all agree that that's extreme.

 

(Snip)