The Platform Committee of the Democratic National Committee declined to adopt a more "big tent" approach to abortion, despite the efforts of the group Democrats for Life of America to push more inclusive language into the party platform. Here is a news story about the decision with great quotes from DFLA executive director Kristen Day.
That's the bad news. The good news is that this was the first time in 20 years that the Platform Committee even heard from pro-life Democrats. As Day states, fully a third of Democrats are pro-life so the number is not "trivial." It is time for pro-life dems to stand up and be counted at the local level. The national party will always be more responsive to organized interest groups with large fundraising operations here in DC. But, at the local level, efforts to elect pro-life Dems to positions within the party and as candidates for election will hopefully, over time, permit that one-third of the party to be heard in ways it can't today, at the national level. If ever there was a fight worth having, this is it.
