Despite calls for the Democratic Party to reject an extreme pro-abortion position, some are calling for the party to stay absolute in its support of abortion on demand. According to pro-abortion organization NARAL, there is no room for the Democratic party to welcome pro-life candidates. Apparently, the abortion industry can’t fathom that there are Democrats who are pro-life and would run for office.
Heath Mello is running for mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, as a Democrat. In 2016, Nebraska was ranked as the sixth most pro-life state. He has support and backing from Sen. Bernie Sanders, former 2016 Democrat contender for president. DNC Chair Tom Perez and DNC Deputy Chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) both back Mello as well.
In 2009, Mello co-sponsored a bill in the Nebraska Senate which required abortionists to show women ultrasound images of their preborn children, calling it a “positive first step to reducing the number of abortions in Nebraska.”
Below is a video featuring former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino. He describes what happens in a D&E abortion, the most common second trimester abortion in the United States, and one that is performed in Nebraska. Mello’s 2009 ultrasound legislation requires a woman to be shown an ultrasound first.
But Mello’s decision to support this popular piece of pro-life legislation has come back to haunt him. NARAL Pro-Choice America heavily criticized Mello in a ranting series of tweets from its president Ilyse Hogue, as well as in a statement from her organization, which reads in part:
If Democrats think the path forward following the 2016 election is to support candidates who substitute their own judgement and ideology for that of their female constituents, they have learned all the wrong lessons and are bound to lose. It’s not possible to have an authentic conversation about economic security for women that does not include our ability to decide when and how we have children.
The Democratic Party, and its leaders, would be ill-advised to ignore data that blocking access to legal abortion does not win you a single vote, and robs women of dignity and autonomy…
In 2016, the Democratic Party’s platform contained support for taxpayer funding for abortion and for Planned Parenthood. Yet the party not only failed to win the White House, but also remained the minority in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, in a majority of state legislatures, and in governorships around the nation, proving Hogue’s statements both ironic and flat out wrong.
The rejection of pro-life Democrat candidates and the hit jobs placed on them by organizations like NARAL will only serve to alienate voters who identify as pro-life Democrats. Kristen Day, the President of Democrats for Life, spoke to Live Action News at the end of last year about the party’s sweeping loss in 2016, particularly when it came to the loss of pro-abortion Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton:
…Kristen Day, the executive director for DFLA told Live Action News that “[t]here were other factors that also led to Secretary Clinton losing, but the pro-life issue contributed.” She also pointed to the extremist positions adopted: “The radicalization of the Democratic Platform was unnecessary and a real slap in the face to pro-lifers who tolerated ‘safe, legal, and rare,’ but could not accept legal until nine months and paid with taxpayer funding.”
Neither NARAL nor the liberal media has learned from 2016’s abortion extremism, however. The usual suspects, including Bustle, the Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, and Rewire (where it is the top trending article) have all called out those in the Democratic party who are standing by Mello.
As NPR reported, Sanders is still supporting Mello, despite Hogue’s ranting. “The truth is that in some conservative states there will be candidates that are popular candidates who may not agree with me on every issue. I understand it. That’s what politics is about,” Sanders said. Though he emphasized his support for abortion, he also explained, “I think you just can’t exclude people who disagree with us on one issue.”
The controversy has caused Democrats across the nation to clash. After Hogue’s criticism, DNC Chair Tom Perez doubled down on the party’s pro-abortion stance, as the Washington Examiner reported, taking his own shot at his fellow Democrats and all Americans: “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.” Senator and Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also echoed Perez’s statement.
Pro-life Democrats may be getting support from one unlikely ally, however. For now, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who herself is pro-abortion, is saying that Democrats can be pro-life. Of course, there is a difference in being personally pro-life and taking a stand against the human rights violation of abortion. What actions Mello would take as mayor are in question, as his campaign is claiming he voted 100 percent with Planned Parenthood Votes of Nebraska during his latest term. “While my faith guides my personal views, as Mayor I would never do anything to restrict access to reproductive health care,” Mello said. Such a position would be the same as Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Clinton’s running mate who espouses the “personally pro-life” viewpoint, but who ultimately went along with his party platform, calling for taxpayer-funded abortions.
