There was a time when Democrats had a relatively mainstream position on abortion. I can still remember when President Bill Clinton claimed he felt, despite his alleged personal dislike of abortion, that he wanted abortions to be “safe, legal, and rare.” It was a relatively moderate position that was pretty mainstream among pro-choice Democrats — and they owned it. But, over time, Democrats dropped the “rare” part and morphed from pro-choice to pro-abortion. Today, it’s not enough for the radical left if abortion is legal in most cases. To them, abortion must also be destigmatized and celebrated. Pro-abortion activists even brag about their abortions, like it’s a medal they earned.
Democrats have a long history of avoiding the obvious moral implications of legalizing infanticide by rebranding abortion as “choice” and framing the discussion as a women’s rights issue. But they don’t really care about choice or women’s rights as much as they care about donations from the abortion lobby — which wants unrestricted abortion under any circumstance. Choice is a misnomer. Choose life? Good luck to you, because Democrats have waged war against pro-life pregnancy centers.
Ironically, Democrats still believe they have the moral high ground on abortion. They read the tightening polls after Roe v. Wade was overturned as proof of this. But the truth is that Democrats know they’re too radical on the issue of abortion for mainstream America.
Consider these two examples:
First, when Fox News’s Shannon Bream asked Stacey Abrams on Sunday where she drew the line on abortion, the Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate dodged the question.
“Were you to become governor, where would you draw the line? 15 weeks? Viability? 36 weeks? What’s the limit?” Bream asked.
“Well, I’ve always said … that abortion is a medical decision that should be made by a doctor and the woman, and that the point of viability as determined by a doctor should always take into consideration the life and health of a woman. That should be the standard,” Abrams began. “But the arbitrary standards of timelines ignore the medical reality that it is a fallacy we know exactly when a pregnancy starts, that we know exactly where we are … in the term.”
“And what doctors will tell you is that they need to make decisions based on the woman they are treating,” Abrams continued, “and what women will tell you is that they need the right to make the medical decisions that can save their lives and save their ability to control their bodies and their futures.”
Related: Stacey Abrams Was Against Abortion Until She Decided to Run for Office
In a second example, Democratic Arizona gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs similarly dodged the same question during an appearance on CBS News’s Face The Nation.
“If it’s not 15 weeks, what is it?” host Major Garrett asked.
“Abortion is a very personal decision that belongs between a woman and her doctor,” Hobbs dodged. “The government and politicians don’t belong in that decision. We need to let doctors perform the care that they are trained and take an oath to perform.”
“So if an Arizona voter were to conclude from your previous answer that you do not favor any specific week limit on abortion, would they be correct?” Garrett pressed.
“I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it,” she said.
Both women gave cop-out answers. Rather than owning their abortion radicalism, they hid behind talking points. Why? Because Democrats have embraced unrestricted access to abortion at any point up to birth — a position so radical that it’s too extreme for progressive Europe and for mainstream Americans. So, they hide behind euphemisms like “choice” and “reproductive rights” and conceal their extreme views until after they’re elected.
What this proves is that Democrats have lost ground on the issue of abortion. They’ve gone from being on offense to a defensive position. When they refuse to articulate their personal beliefs on abortion, they prevent the GOP from exposing their radicalism.
The question is whether or not the GOP will use this to its advantage.
