On Monday, Senate Democrats defeated the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill mandating care for babies born in botched abortions. (Every 2020 candidate in the Senate voted against it.) As Democratic leaders become more radical on abortion, however, Americans — and even Democrats — are rushing to embrace the pro-life label. Over the past month, Democrat support for late-term and after-birth abortion has driven more Americans to embrace the pro-life label.
A Knights of Columbus (KoC)/Marist poll found that 34 percent of Democrats identify as “pro-life,” while 61 percent identify as “pro-choice.” Last month, 20 percent of Democrats called themselves “pro-life,” while 75 percent called themselves “pro-choice.” In one month, Democrats went through a 28 percent shift — 14 percent more pro-life and 14 percent less pro-choice.
Nearly half of Democrats under the age of 45 (47 percent) identify as pro-life, the poll found. Only 1 percent more (48 percent) embraced the “pro-choice” label. This represented another massive shift from last month when only 28 percent called themselves pro-life and 65 percent said they were pro-choice. This represented a 36 percent shift.
Americans, in general, are also just as likely to identify as pro-life (47 percent) as pro-choice (47 percent). Last month, Americans were 17 points more likely to identify as pro-choice (55 percent to 38 percent).
The poll also found that 80 percent of Americans would limit abortion to the first three months of pregnancy, up from 75 percent in January. Two-thirds of pro-choice Americans, 64 percent of Democrats, and 83 percent of independents take this position.
“Arguments in favor of late-term abortion are simply not convincing the American people,” KoC Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said in a statement. “If anything, since these proposals have been unveiled, people are moving noticeably in the pro-life direction. It is now clear that these radical policies are being pursued despite the opposition of the majority of Americans of both parties.”
Abortion became a central issue last month after the March for Life attracted far more people than the Women’s March and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) signed a radical abortion bill. The New York bill made abortion legal up until the moment of birth if a doctor deems it necessary for a woman’s life or health, removed protections for babies born in botched abortions, and even amended New York homicide laws to remove protections for wanted babies killed in their mothers’ wombs.
Then Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran (D-Springfield) testified that her radical abortion bill would make abortion legal up until the beginning of labor. This led notable Democrats like former vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to oppose the bill.
Yet Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.) defended the bill — and went even further. Northam defended the practice of allowing a baby born alive in a botched abortion to die if the parents do not want the child. He later argued that he had not endorsed infanticide (despite the fact he clearly had done so), and doubled down on the comments.
These comments so angered an old friend of Northam’s that the friend leaked an offensive photo to the media — a picture on the governor’s medical school yearbook page showing two men, one in blackface and the other in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. Planned Parenthood, which had stood by Northam through the infanticide comments, quickly abandoned him, and many Democrats called for his resignation.
Few Americans understand how radical the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade (1973) really is, and how radical the Court’s abortion protections are. It is already legal — across the nation — for an abortionist to kill an unborn baby at almost any point in pregnancy if that abortionist says it is necessary for the health of the mother, broadly defined.
After the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion activists are rushing to protect the status quo against a potential Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. In the process, however, they are unwittingly educating the American people about the heinous nature of late-term abortion and after-birth abortion.
Americans overwhelmingly favor stronger limits to abortion than current Supreme Court precedent. In the wake of Democrats’ increasing radicalism on the issue, Americans are becoming more and more pro-life.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member