Can you be a Democrat and pro-life?

[OnlinePoker]

According to Gallup, 10% say they are pro-life and only 57% say abortion should be legal in all cases with another 38% saying it should be legal only under certain conditions.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/246278/abortion-trends-party.aspx

[Iggo]

1. Let me jump on this grenade so nobody else has to.

Yes.

(And please quit falling for this bullshit.)

[mitch96]

21. I agree, just don't try to shove the pro life agenda down my throat and try to stop someone

from getting the procedure... YMMV
m

[H2O Man]

27. Right.

What they think in their personal life should apply to their personal life. So long as they advocate for sex education and coverage for birth control -- and not support the "pro-life" anti-science agenda -- that is fine with me.

[sarisataka]

2. I call.

Yes

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. "Only 57%" is still the majority. But IMO, no, you can't. If you don't believe

Woman must bodily automony, then you might as well be a Republican, because being pro-choice is non-negotiable for this Democrat.

[brush]

7. It's Gallup, always right-leaning, not that credible.

[karynnj]

22. Maybe it would be better to define at least some of the 38% prochoice as well

If you add the 57 and even half of the 38 percent, you have a supermajority. A deeper dive into what these groups mean could help codify something that would be widely supported. I would assume that, like R vs W, it would have a time period when no reason is asked and after that specified exceptions.

Later term abortions are almost always due to the health/life of the mother or baby. In fact, I would guess that no doctor/hospital would do one in the last trimester otherwise. That part is already handled by Biden's emergency order.

I think that someone who is either the two groups I spoke of who agrees with other Democratic positions - economic policy especially as it provides support to those who need it, taxes, climate change, democracy .. etc should be welcomed as a Democrat. Litmus tests are not helpful. Obviously, especially in the primaries , more can be asked for those wanting to be elected. As to voters, we want to be the big tent party.

As to "might as well be a Republican", it is MUCH better to warmly accept that pro life voter, emphasize issues where you agree - maybe school lunches, climate change etc and show how a Democratic nominee agrees with her/him on those issues. This could get the few extra votes needed to win a seat -- and maybe the majority. What is the up side of ruling out that person? (As to candidate, if a pro choice Democrat is the only one with a chance -- vote for them because they will vote for a Democratic speaker or Schumer.)

[State the Obvious]

4. You can be whatever you want to be because....

YOU ARE a Democrat.

[JanLip]

36. Totally agree.

Best response yet

[obnoxiousdrunk]

47. +1. N/T

[brush]

5. Gallup has long been a right-leaning poll. Take it with a grain of salt.

[Caliman73]

6. The way the questions are asked likely influenced the numbers.

You can be "pro-life" AND "pro-choice". You are either anti-choice or anti-abortion, not "pro-life". People who are "pro choice" can choose to have an abortion at one point in their lives then actively plan and want to have a baby at another point.

My wife and I are pro-choice, but it is highly unlikely that she would ever choose to have an abortion, as a personal matter but being pro-choice is about YOU making that choice for yourself, having the option even if you NEVER use it.

The so-called "pro-life" people typically show very little in the rest of their actions, that they are actually pro life, they will support militarism, the death penalty, and oppose funding social programs that allow children and families to thrive. They are anti-choice, not pro-life. I am sure that there are some people who do actually care about all life and show it in their actions, but in the Conservative movement, they are few and far between. It has rarely to never been about the fetus/child. It is about punishing women for being sexual beings and wanting bodily autonomy and that is not "pro-life" either.

[Nevilledog]

11. Exactly.

The right is arguing that not being against abortion means you want to make them have abortions. There's only one absolutist position and that's anti-choice.

[Caliman73]

25. Yep. They love to project their own intentions.

Same with other social equality issues like LGBTQ rights issues. Because they are actively trying to impose restrictions on others, they think that our side is thinking the same, when our position is simply to leave people alone to make the best decisions for their own life.

No one is forcing people to get abortions, or get gay married, or anything of the sort. If you are against abortion, don't get one. If you oppose gay marriage, don't go to any gay weddings.

[MANative]

15. This!!! NT

[ForgedCrank]

8. In my

humble opinion, there are two positions getting blurred together on this subject.
There is a big difference between being personally anti-abortion, and being someone who insists other people be denied their personal opinion on the same matter.

I would likely never consider abortion as an option (that is a personal choice right there), but that in no way equates to insisting that others do the same. When someone else is faced with making a decision about themselves, my personal opinions are irrelevant.
Denying someone else their rights is among the most grave of offenses in my eyes, no matter my opinion on a particular subject.
And it needs to be said that my personal stance comes from that of a male. If I were female, I don't know where I would stand, I'm not there so I won't pretend. I think it would be dishonest to make a claim like that.

[Polybius]

9. Yes

You can also be opposed to Roe v. Wade and be pro-choice.

[FoxNewsSucks]

10. If "pro-life"

means taking care of children, old people, poor and hungry people, animals, providing health care, banning military weapons outside of the actual military, taking care of the planet and things like that, which all reflect concern for living beings, then of course YES, that is what I would hope Democrats stand for.

If "pro-life" means letting the religious beliefs of a minority be used to legally dictate to others what they must and must not do, then FUCK NO.

[milestogo]

12. Yes

There have been some excellent members of Congress who were pro-life Democrats. Always Catholic. Not sure if that always indicates how they would vote.

[Takket]

13. I'm surprised anyone who is a Democrat would call themselves pro forced birth

But that being said, anyone can join the party and I wouldn’t want us to start doing purity tests on people who want to join. They should be well aware though that the party isn’t going to become pro forced birth just to satisfy them.

[In It to Win It]

14. Yes

[Ocelot II]

16. You can personally be opposed to abortion as long as you don't

oppose the Democrats' position that women have the right to control their reproductive choices.

[Retrograde]

17. I'm pro-life:

I think every woman - nay, every person - has a right to live their life, and I believe that means allowing them to prioritize their own health and well-being over hypothetical lives of theoretical offspring. I further believe that everyone is entitled to live in a society that is not actively trying to kill them by allowing any disgruntled sociopath to purchase a weapon capable of murdering them en masse while they are about their business in a public location. I also believe that everyone is entitled to live in an environment with clean air and water, and with sufficient uncontaminated food for their needs.

So yeah, I'm pro-life, just not the way the Reactionary Right defines it.

[867-5309.]

18. Of course, but you won't pass the purity test for some

Pelosi and Clyburn campaigned for a pro-life Democrat in his primary (Cuellar).

[Nanjeanne]

19. I'll rephrase this. Can you be anti-choice and a Democrat? Answer is

No. You can choose not to get an abortion if you are a Democrat and believe abortion is against your own personal beliefs. But as a Democrat you should be pro choice in policy. Just like you can be a Democrat and personally believe gay marriage is against your personal belief. But as a Democrat you should be pro marriage equality. The end.

And for the record - no Republican is pro life. Nothing in their policies is pro life. They are simply anti choice. For women. Not for themselves and their vaccination status.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. Can you be pro-life without being pro forced birth?

I've come across some public figures who seem to adopt that position.

[EnergizedLib]

23. Yes

I’ve come to the realization that I’m pro life on moral grounds, while seeing on legal grounds what a disaster Dobbs and forced birth are.

[Thtwudbeme]

30. and I have come to realize that the issue is NONE of your

business whatsoever.

Please explain why your "moral" feelings should impact anyone else. Please.

[EnergizedLib]

31. It shouldn't

It isn’t my business. Hence me personally morally not liking abortion while still thinking Roe should be codified and restored. I don’t like it, but this is much worse.

[Thtwudbeme]

32. Good goddess...what is there to "like?" Do you actually spend time during the day

worrying about the possiblity of women that you don't know, and will never meet, having abortions?

It has never crossed my mind to "like it" or not.

[EnergizedLib]

40. I'm on your side

I’m just empathetic and have gone back and forth on this issue through the years. My father actually wanted me aborted and my mother chose to give me life.

I have empathy and understanding, even though I think Dobbs was the wrong decision and Roe should have never been overruled.

Again, what I feel is moral and what I feel should be legal are not one in the same. I personally don’t like drugs or weed. That doesn’t mean I think it should be criminal.

[Thtwudbeme]

44. I hear you, and I hope you are in therapy for having been told

that one of your parents wanted you aborted.

My nephew was the same; and he is 40 now with his own children. We agreed as a family that he would NEVER- ever- for any reason be told that he was almost aborted. What a shitty thing to tell a person.

[EnergizedLib]

50. I'll be starting therapy soon

And the one who apparently wanted me aborted has been out of my life for several years.

[Thtwudbeme]

52. I will be thinking of you

My early childhood was horrible- and I struggle constantly with things that were said to me. It's awful; I completely empathize with you.

[EnergizedLib]

55. Thank You

My thoughts are with you as well, and sorry you had to go through that.

[lindysalsagal]

24. The term "pro life" is a lie, and shouldn't be used on DU.

The actual terminology should be "pro-choice" or "forced birth". I am "Pro-life" about the lives of women, not unborn embryos.

[Voltaire2]

26. Only if that is a personal rather than a political position.

If you are a forced birthed you can just fuck off.

[Thtwudbeme]

28. NO. Not just "no," but oh FUCK NO

Get your fucking egotistical "but I believe all fetuses are ALIVE" and your religious shit out of people's lives.

I don't give a flying rat's ass what anyone here "believes." A woman should have the right to do whatever she wants to with her body.

Your "special relationship" with your god is none of my business...and mine is none of yours.

If I were younger and wanted to get pregnant because I ENJOYED having an abortion- that is STILL none of your damned business. None. Whatsoever.

[Bettie]

29. I know several "pro-life" Democrats

they oppose the death penalty, they would prefer that abortions not be necessary, would never have one themselves, and want it to remain safe and legal, because they know that everyone gets to make their health care choices for themselves.

Most of those people screaming in front of clinics? 99.99% of them are all for the death penalty.

[MissMillie]

33. yes, because the argument is framed incorrectly

It's not pro-choice vs. pro-life.

It's pro-choice vs. anti-choice.

Even someone who is pro-choice can choose life.

[sagetea]

34. Probably...

My daughter is one. She won't get an abortion, and is a little mad that I got one as she would have liked to have a sibling. However, she would never force her opinions/beliefs on others, and she doesn't call it 'Pro-life'. She calls it her own life.

I feel that 'pro-life' is a whole concept of life, not just regulated to a woman's bodily autonomy. I am 'pro-life'. Pro animal life, pro tree life, pro human life. But, then again, I think in a whole and not in abstract form.

sage

[Emile]

35. Can you be a Democrat and anti choice?

[brooklynite]

37. "Pro-Life" is not "Anti-Choice"

See: Casey, Bob, Senator

[Nanjeanne]

49. He May call himself "pro-life" but he as a Senator votes pro choice. So he has his

own personal beliefs which is great but he also supports the Democratic platform. That should be the litmus test for all Democratic candidates. There is no room in the party for anti choice candidates making or promoting anti choice policies.

The use of pro life to mean anti abortion is ridiculous and a great pr stunt by Republicans who are as decidedly not pro life in any way, shape or form. No Democrat should use their language.

[Spazito]

38. You mean pro-forced birth, right?

Just because the polling companies use the right wing phrasing 'pro-life' doesn't mean we should, imo. We should call it as it is; pro-forced birth.

[hunter]

39. There's nothing "pro-life" about those who would outlaw abortion. They can go to hell.

The majority of my extended family are "pro-life" Democrats, mostly in the Catholic tradition, and anti-death penalty as well.

We also recognize that life is a messy business. Abortion is not an issue where the law can draw lines. Everybody knows what happens when abortion is outlawed.

One of the things I find most offensive about the anti-abortionists is that they often oppose realistic sex education and birth control as well.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

41. If the question is...

Suppose you're generally liberal on other issues, but want abortion to be illegal.

Do I want you vote for Democrats? Yes.
If you're in Congress, do I want you to caucus for Democrats? Yes..
Do I consider you a Democrat? If you do the above, yes.

[Novara]

42. You can personally believe in little green gremlins

But don't you dare make legislation based on it.

[treestar]

43. I think so

If you aren't really hot on the issue, you could vote for Democrats, though you know they are pro-choice. Like the President, might not like the idea for yourself, but willing in law to leave it to individual conscience.

[Mariana]

45. You answered your own question. nt.

[Celerity]

46. Stop with the RW framing, stop calling it 'pro-life'. It is forced birth.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

48. Sure. Should you be tasked with making abortion policy or leading on the issue? Nope.

[Hekate]

51. Can you be a Democrat & be for forced-birth for women? Hell no. Can you be a Dem & never ever...

… in your personal body ever have an abortion, no matter what? Yes, absolutely yes — it is your choice for your body. Die and leave your existing children orphans if that’s how you roll — but leave me and mine out of it.

Stop saying “pro-life.” Those people do not care if little girls die carrying their rapist’s fetus. They do not care if women bleed out in a miscarriage. They do not care if a woman with an already-dead fetus rotting inside her is told to go home until her body expels the thing on its own — which it may or may not do before she goes septic and dies herself.

They are forced-birth, and they do not give a flying fig for the lives of actual women and girls.

[AntivaxHunters]

54. THIS!

Thank you!

[Demsrule86]

53. Gallup polls are shit.

[ananda]

56. Yes because you can be both pro choice and pro life.

In fact, pro choice IS pro life.

[bullwinkle428]

57. IOW, 95% of Democrats agree with Roe v. Wade's allowances for abortion.

[Solly Mack]

58. I'm very much "pro" life of the woman. I am not "pro" fetus.

[Hortensis]

59. Anti-abortion. Of course. Tends to run at least 20%. Nt