Democrats’ losing abortion strategy doubles down on extremism
The Democrats’ losing abortion strategy doubles down on extremism
It was a rare opportunity, since the Democratic Party is so overwhelmingly pro-abortion, to demonstrate that it is a force for social justice in the Democratic Party. When the new Democratic Party leadership gathers in Philadelphia for a meeting, they should take great comfort in what they are about to hear.
From the beginning, the Democratic Party has struggled to present a progressive message. Many Democratic Party leaders have embraced the social gospel language and the language of Christian conservatism in the attempt to appeal to social conservatives and moderate voters. But few have done the same for abortion.
This is understandable. Democrats are much more influenced by women’s rights and issues about poverty than they are by abortion. In addition, most Americans don’t see abortion as the cause of economic inequality and believe that abortion opponents are using the issue as a weapon against women and families to limit abortion rights.
The Democrats’ winning message on pro-choice policy issues — the importance of Roe v. Wade and abortion rights; the central importance of combating poverty; and the necessity of protecting and expanding access to comprehensive reproductive health services — have been drowned out or drowned by other social justice and anti-abortion issues.
The pro-life movement has used this to its advantage. The Democratic Party, as a whole, is far too far right to support abortion rights. As a result, as a pro-choice organization, the Democratic Party has adopted pro-life positions as its policies. This has led to Democratic Party leadership that have adopted abortion rights ideology and positions on reproductive rights.
As a result, the Democratic Party has adopted anti-abortion positions. According to Pew Research Center research, the Democrats score lower than Republicans on abortion than on any other reproductive health-related issue, with 78 percent of Democrats believing abortion should be legal in all or some cases. Only 35 percent of Republicans think abortion should always be legal, and only 18 percent consider it to be the country’s main method of family planning. Only 26 percent of Democrats believe abortion should be legal in all cases, and only 15 percent believe the country should have as many abortions as it has today.
In other words, the Democrats don’t believe in abortion rights, and they are