BY BEN JOHNSON
Thu Sep 06, 2012 11:35 EST
CHARLOTTE, September 6, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Critics say the 2012 Democratic Party platform is the most anti-life document the party has accepted to date.
Delegates at the Democratic National Convention
The Democratic Party platform, which delegates formally accepted on Tuesday, recognizes a woman’s right to obtain “a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay” - an endorsement of taxpayer-funded abortions.
“What we’re seeing is the abortion lobby taking over an entire political party,” said Elizabeth Graham, director of Texas Right to Life. “The Democratic National Committee’s revised platform calls for unrestricted abortion on demand, at any time during pregnancy, and on the taxpayer’s dime. That’s been the abortion lobby’s goal all along.”
Recent polls show 72 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortion, a position once shared by such Democrats as Al Gore and Wednesday night’s speaker, Bill Clinton.
The Democratic platform has long called for abortion to be safe, legal, and “rare”; however, this year the party removed the word “rare.”
A growing number of observers state Barack Obama has decided to run on controversial social issues to avoid talking about the poor state of the economy and the ballooning national deficit, which hit $16 trillion this week. Polls show Obama enjoys a lead among unmarried women, as most Democrats in recent elections have.
“The platform mentions abortion more times (four) than unemployment (three),” notes The Washington Examiner in an editorial. “It mentions ‘gay’/‘LGBT’ more times (six) than debt (five). It also mentions four times that President Obama killed Osama bin Laden.”
Even as the president focuses on abortion rights, his surrogates studiously avoid the use of the word, instead saying they support “reproductive rights.” That, too, is a poll-driven decision.
“In the age of the ultrasound, the framing of ‘choice’ does continue to resonate with a segment of voters, but not everyone,” said Matt Bennett of the center-left Democratic think thank Third Way. Discussion of “rights” is more politically appealing, he said.
“That an entire campaign can rally around death and call it ‘women’s health’ is very disturbing,” said Graham. “Abortion is not healthcare. It’s a cop-out to real opportunity and respect for women.”
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A segment of Democrats agree. Some 25,000 people signed a petition drawn up by Democrats for Life of America asking the party to amend its platform to recognize the existence of its pro-life members. This disproportionately affects Roman Catholics like Ray Flynn and the late Governor Bob Casey, who supported the right to life while endorsing government intervention in the economy. Although the DNC altered its platform to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by a much-contested voice vote in response to widespread criticism, it demurred on recognizing pro-life Democrats.
Liberal pundits have asked if the convention’s focus on abortion has not estranged the party from the broader American mainstream. Perhaps the most well-received speech so far was a 48-minute address from former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday night. It did not mention abortion once.
However, Clinton was preceded by Sandra Fluke and Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, and experts say the Obama campaign shows no signs of pivoting from its pro-choice, pro-homosexual “marriage” message.
The platform also calls for the redefinition of marriage.
“The Democrats have done their part and presented Americans with a truly radical secular liberal agenda,” wrote Richard Virguerie on ConservativeHQ.com. “It is now time for Governor Romney to begin to present the conservative alternative.”
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