Contrary to the title of this article, the Democrats are not so much "rethinking" abortion, as deciding how much of an emphasis to place on it. They're still the party of abortion, but they'd like to be known as the party of "family planning".
The Democrats' public positioning on abortion has been evolving for many years beyond a pure rights-based philosophy to a more nuanced view that takes greater account of many Americans' deeply conflicted feelings while still solidly supporting the principle that women should have the choice of aborting a pregnancy. Bill Clinton won the White House in 1992 with promises he would seek to make abortion "safe, legal and rare."
The party has recently gone further. In the last election, Democrats embraced anti-abortion candidates, at least on the state and local level. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., an abortion opponent, was one of the Democrats' marquee candidates in 2006. And aggressive recruiting of anti-abortion candidates for rural conservative districts was a key component of party leaders' strategy to re take the House.
This is interesting because Roe v. Wade is hanging on by a thread. Specifically, Justice Stevens' thread, as he will be 88 years old in 2008. Unfortunately for NARAL, he can't live forever.
But I would suggest that a moderate sensible approach to abortion would be to throw it to the people in the states and trust democracy to do the right thing. Some states would allow it, many more would allow it but with much tighter restrictions, some would outlaw it. But all states would eventually reflect the will of the residents therein. Why is that a frightful thing to Democrats?
When a national Democrat suggests that Roe was an awful verdict and proposes letting it die wake me up. Until then, this is for public positioning only. The Democrats are the party of abortion, that now doesn't want to be seen as the party of abortion. The position on Roe is the true test.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. The dems can't be the party of special interests and win the white house. Same goes for the republicans and their base.
Steve Bonomo at 5:56PM on Jul 23rd 2007
2. I love the solution given above. Since we will never agree on this issue, consistently called 'pro' choice and 'anti' abortion (notice a bias?) it would be refreshing to be able to 'choose' to live where you know your daughters cannot be aided in an abortion by another adult without your consent. And consider the absurdity that the same adult, (school official) cannot give your daughter an aspirin without your permission.
Well, you've probably heard it all before. Just in case there's one of you out there that hasn't, I thought I'd add my comments.
Debe Pevnev at 9:50PM on Jul 23rd 2007
3. The Democrats, traditionally the party of states's rights, do not want states to make their own abortion laws because the majority of the states believe in the sanctity of the unborn. Abortion is not family planning. Family planning is abstaining before marriage and deciding what kind of birth control to take when preparing for it.
Gintrelle at 5:30AM on Jul 24th 2007
4. > But all states would eventually reflect the will
> of the [majority! of the] residents therein. Why
> is that a frightful thing to Democrats?
Because forcing a woman to bear a child is fundamentally beyond what a state should be allowed to legislate (and reflects the imposition of particular interpretations of some religions on the whole population).
Zach at 12:13PM on Jul 24th 2007
5. I am still a firm believer in the seperation of Church and State! Abortion is clearly a Church issue. And there is a simple solution:AGAINST ABORTION? DON'T HAVE ONE!
Jamie at 7:49PM on Aug 5th 2007
6. [[Abortion is clearly a Church issue]]
NO, it is NOT. There are many atheists who oppose abortion. There are certainly millions of non-Christians who oppose it, including most Muslims and many, many Jews. You just plain don't know what you're talking about. I have a biology degree. Every intellectually honest biologist will tell you that human life begins, at the very latest, at implantation in the uterus (which occurs about a week after conception.)
OomYaaqub at 10:23PM on Aug 12th 2007