If you read Lois’s blog last week about the Republican National Convention, you’ll know that the GOP adopted its most pro-life platform in history. Unfortunately, not long after this pro-life victory, America watched the Democratic National Convention (DNC) adopt its most pro-abortion party platform ever. In 1996, their platform mentioned abortion one time. This year’s platform mentioned it 19 times.
The Democratic Party has stopped calling for abortion to “safe, legal and rare.” For the first time, the platform includes a call to remove the Hyde Amendment. This amendment forbids using federal taxes to pay for abortion except for rape, incest or the life of the mother. It is the “greatest domestic abortion reduction law ever enacted by Congress,” according to National Right to Life Committee’s Doug Johnson. “Well over one million Americans are walking around alive today because of the Hyde Amendment.” The platform also calls for abortion to remain legal all 9 months of pregnancy. It doesn’t mention support of even the most basic safety standards for women seeking abortions.
The attempt to normalize the killing of the unborn on live TV was also virtually unprecedented at a political convention. Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, made the case that abortion rights are “the very foundation of our freedom.” She shared her own abortion story: “I made the decision that was best for me, to have an abortion.” That line was received with applause from the crowd. We’re not surprised though. Her organization recently released a video titled “Comedians in Cars Getting Abortions.” It was a highly revealing look at NARAL’s throw-away disposition towards children, both born and unborn, to say the least.
Perhaps worse than Hogue’s speech was the one given by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She insisted that “women’s rights are human rights,” ignoring the irony that unborn women have no rights in today’s world. There was no mention of Planned Parenthood’s profiting off of the exploitation of this so-called right to abortion. There was no mention of last year’s undercover videos that exposed Planned Parenthood’s selling of aborted baby body parts for research.
Instead the DNC decided to showcase abortion as a moral good. They nominated Hillary Clinton for president, a candidate who could only be more pro-abortion if she performed the procedure herself. The Democratic Party, which once had room for some who weren’t so sure abortion was a good thing, now has fully embraced the culture of death and is pushing out almost everyone who dares to disagree.
My hope for the party is that the Democrats who are committed to the pro-life cause can impact their platform and candidates in the future. My fear is that history will only be able to judge the Democratic Party and lament its celebration of death over life.
David Kilada is the ORTL deputy political director.
