Today, over 100 Christian pastors sent a letter to the Democrat National Committee (DNC) urging it to end its explicit support for extreme abortion policies. The letter was organized by the pro-life group Democrats for Life and includes signatures from pastors, professors and theologians, some of whom are registered Democrats.
The letter, shared in advance with The Daily Citizen, urges the Democrat Party leadership to “reject a litmus test on pro-life people of faith seeking office in the Democrat Party.”
“Crucially, we urge you to end the explicit support in your platform for abortion extremism, such as taxpayer-funded abortion in America and overseas, opposed by 60% and 76% of voters,” the letter states.
Signatories of the letter include Christians from numerous denominations, including Rev. Samuel Rodriquez, president of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference, Charlie Camosy, a professor at Fordham University, Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and John DeBerry, a former Tennessee state representative who was removed from the primary ballot by state party officials, in part, over his pro-life stance.
In January 2020, Democrats for Life Executive Director Kristen Day questioned then-presidential contender Pete Buttigieg at a townhall in Iowa over whether he thought there was room for pro-life supporters in the Democrat Party. He refused to directly answer her question.
The letter notes that 79% of voters oppose “elective abortion on demand,” and says that these voters deserve a home in the Democrat Party.
It was addressed both to the DNC and the members of the Democrat Platform Committee. Every four years, committees from both parties release a party platform informing the public where their party stands on important political issues.
As recently as 2000, the Democrat Party’s official platform position on abortion was more nuanced: “Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficult and more dangerous… We respect the individual conscience of each American on this difficult issue.”
However, the Democrat Party’s 2016 platform called for “repealing the Hyde Amendment,” which prohibits taxpayer dollars from directly funding abortion, and the goal of making abortion “rare” was no longer included.
According to The Associated Press, a draft of the Democrat Party platform will be released this week.
Considering the current leadership of the Democrat Party, the letter is unlikely to be well-received.
Current Chairman of the DNC, Tom Perez, stated in March 2018 that support for abortion within the Democrat Party is “not negotiable.”
“Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health. That is not negotiable and should not change city by city or state by state,” the DNC chairman said.
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Survey Shows that Only 33% of Americans Believe that Abortion is Morally Wrong
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