Over the past seven-and-a-half years, pro-life activists have regularly referred to President Obama as the most pro-abortion president in history. Hillary Clinton seems eager to assume that mantle if she wins in November.
The most recent indication came when Democrats released a draft of their party platform last week. For the first time, the party of Clinton will probably call for repeal of the Hyde Amendment. This 40-year-old bipartisan rule bans the use of Medicaid funds for abortion except in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother.
It is not a controversial issue, for polls show that three-quarters of the public support it. It has been included in appropriations bills for decades. Abortion opponents say the amendment has done much to reduce abortion.
This is doubtless why it is now under attack by Democrats, for whom abortion has long since ceased to be a necessary evil and is now a public good in and of itself. Some pundits say it is Bernie Sanders’ role in negotiating the terms of the platform that is taking the party into uncharted pro-abortion territory. But Clinton has demaded repeal for some time now.
In January, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which would stand to gain more than anyone from more abortions, formally endorsed Clinton for president. It was the first time it has endorsed a candidate in a presidential primary. In accepting the endorsement, Clinton called for an end to Hyde.
The party’s Platform Committee will consider and approve the platform on July 8 and 9, and it will be presented to the Democratic National Convention later this month for final ratification.
Whether or not the platform as ratified includes a commitment to repeal the Hyde language, inclusion of such language in the final draft highlights the Democratic Party’s steady shift toward abortion extremism.
Back when Clinton’s husband was president, Democrats’ said abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” This was intended to signal to voters that Democrats knew abortion was undesireable but that they were the party of compassion and wanted to make it generally be available to women.
Today, Democrats encourage women to be proud of their abortions. The party abandoned the word “rare” in the 2008 platform, as abortion activists began claiming that the word stigmatized something that was both a benefit to society and a constitutional right.
A change in the Hyde Amendment language could create problems for that dwindling group of Democrats who claim to be pro-life. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine has historically supported the amendment, but that would probably change if he became Clinton’s running mate, a position for which he is front-runner.
If so, Kaine’s name would be added to the long list of Democrats who held nuanced positions before embracing the no-exceptions pro-abortion extremism that is now the price anyone in their party must pay to rise to national prominence.
The party is no longer pro-choice, as it claims. Let’s call it what it is. It is pro-abortion.
