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The 112th Congress now beginning its work is certainly more conservative than the one that precedes it. But it’s also vastly more pro-life. New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith, long a warrior for the sanctity of life, says... the 112th Congress contains “arguably the most pro-life House ever.” Wow! Let’s hope these folks are pro-life enough to pass some good legislation at the national level. The Washington D.C.-based non-profit, Susan B. Anthony List, works to elect pro-life women, (and some men)...from either party...to Congress. The group’s director, Marjorie Dannenfelser, counts 38 seats that “switched” from pro-choice...to pro-life. And in another 14 seats, “unreliable” pro-life votes were replaced with “reliable” ones. So in an election where over 60 seats changed from Democrat to Republican, 52 were “strengthened” in their potential to advance the cause of life. In a recent column for The American Spectator, Grove City College Professor Paul Kengor observesthat in “Perhaps the sweetest justice of all, leadership of the House goes from Rep. Nancy Pelosi to Rep. John Boehner, a tectonic shift in the pro-life direction—from one lifelong Roman Catholic to another...”
And in the U.S. Senate, the seats that switched from Democrat to Republican, plus a few more, also turned pro-life
This is certainly to be celebrated...and capitalized upon. But the sad fact is that, among Democrats in Congress, pro-lifers are becoming an endangered species. Professor Kengor worries that, “We’re approaching the point where you may be able to count them on two hands, potentially even one hand.”
He points out that it took a few years after the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision to discern where the Republicans and Democrats would come down on the abortion issue. As the Democrats have progressed towards a pure pro-abortion position, pro-lifers are weeded out. Take the debate over national healthcare. Professor Kengor identifies “the Bart Stupak Democrats” led by then-Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak, who stood strong for awhile to keep tough prohibitions against federal funding of abortion in the bill. But in the end, they traded their votes for what is likely a toothless executive order. Most of these pro-life Democrats are no longer in Congress.
One Democrat tried to stop the slide. Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey very publicly requested a speaking slot at the Democrats’ 1992 convention to argue for the protection of the most innocent among us. He was denied the opportunity.
It would be good for the country if there was a strong pro-life component to both major political parties. Imagine the two parties trying to outdo each other, not only in claiming the pro-life mantle to get elected, but also in really earning pro-life votes. Pro-life Democrats are needed to join with strong pro-lifers on the Republican side to pass legislation that discourages abortion. Polls show the country is trending pro-life. The demise of the pro-life Democrat is bad for the party....and the country.
