Democrats for Life brace for new debates

As outraged Democrats jumped on social media after the fall of Roe v. Wade, some symbolic voices in the party offered careful words of celebration.

“Let’s Stand Together and Support Women and Children!!!,” tweeted state Sen. Katrina Jackson, the Democrat who sponsored Louisiana’s trigger bill that includes potential 10-year prison sentences for those who perform abortions.

Jackson’s added calls for “womb to tomb” legislation includes raising wages for childcare workers, funds to fight human trafficking and establishing new state programs helping families.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, also a Democrat, posted several tweets, including: “My position on abortion has been unwavering. I am pro-life and have never hidden from that fact.” He stressed that this Louisiana bill included clauses protecting procedures in cases of “medical futility” and ectopic pregnancies and added that he believes it needed “an exception to the prohibition on abortion for victims of rape and incest.”

The Democratic Party, in its 2020 platform, remained committed to “protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights and justice,” while promising to “fight and overturn federal and state laws” limiting or opposing abortion rights.

But in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, crucial debates about abortion laws will move to state governments. Some have already passed bills protecting unborn children and others have taken equally strong stands defending abortion rights.

Many states are located somewhere in between, noted Kristen Day, leader of Democrats for Life of America. In these states, there will be tense negotiations over legislation such as “heartbeat bills” -- usually defined as abortion bans after six weeks of gestation -- that were impossible under court actions linked to Roe v. Wade.

While pro-life Democrats are an endangered species inside the D.C. Beltway, there are “hundreds of us active in state governments,” said Day, reached by telephone. Many of these Democrats are linked to Black and Latino churches -- grassroots workers that national party leaders may not want to attack or alienate.

“This is where we can help bridge some divides by working with people who want to increase aid for women and families, while also doing everything possible to protect the unborn,” she said. “If there are problems in some of these state bills, then pro-life Democrats are the kinds of people who can get in the middle of things and help fix them.”

Frequently, these clashes will -- like it or not -- involve religion.

Truth is, it’s almost impossible to debate legalized abortion without mentioning centuries of beliefs in major faith groups, noted a recent study from Pew Research Center. This is true when discussing debates inside both political parties.

“Who are the Republicans who support legal abortion and the Democrats who oppose it, and how else do they differ from their fellow partisans?,” asked a recent Pew summary of research on this topic. “Republicans who favor legal abortion are far less religious than abortion opponents in the GOP, while Democrats who say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases are much MORE religious than Democrats who say it should be legal.”

In the supercharged atmosphere after the fall of Roe, with threats rising against some churches, it’s important for angry activists not to ignore the role religious believers have played in helping needy women and children, noted Michael Wear of Public Square Strategies. He served as faith-outreach director for Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign and joined the president’s White House staff.

“I’m all for responsible, honest critiques of Christians, but I’m seeing folks on [Twitter] literally claim no Christians personally care for an ‘unwanted’ child,” he tweeted. “About half of the refugee resettlement agencies are Christian. Christians essentially invented the idea of a hospital. Look into what percentage of hospital beds are faith-based in your state. Check out who volunteers in this country . ... Why the need to tell a demonstrably false story about the church?”

When trying to build coalitions on these issues, he added, it’s “much more common for those of minority faiths to feel isolated and marginalized by an imposed secularism than an expressed, positive Christianity.

... Hungry kids aren’t getting fed by your tweets. They’re getting fed by a Summer Food program that is largely administered by the government via partnerships with churches and faithbased institutions.”

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Terry Mattingly leads GetReligion. org and lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is a senior fellow at the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi.