Poll after poll proves that although the majority of people in the United States want abortion to remain legal, they also want it to become infrequent. Amy Klobuchar might be the only Democratic candidate who agrees.
Today I asked @amyklobuchar if there is room in her coalition for pro-life people. She said yes of course. I asked if she’d try to find common ground on bringing down the number of abortions.
She said “Yes. Yes.” And told me about her work in the adoption caucus in the Senate. pic.twitter.com/CIvfMSulEE
— Chris Crawford (@CrawfordStuff) February 10, 2020
Klobuchar seems to understand that the radicalism seeping into the Democratic Party from the pro-choice movement is not sustainable. More than 70% of voters — both Republicans and Democrats — favored limiting abortion to the first three months of pregnancy in a recent Marist survey, and a plurality (46%) agreed that allowing each state to determine its own policies on abortion would be best for the country. A notable proportion of voters who identified as pro-choice (41%) also said they’d vote for a candidate who supported abortion restrictions.
Right now, the only contending Democratic candidate who seems to fit that standard is Klobuchar. (Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang have made similar comments, but neither stands a chance against the leading candidates.) The other self-proclaimed centrists have all but abandoned the traditional “safe, legal, and rare” standard that was once the Democratic status quo. Pete Buttigieg suggested last week that pro-lifers have no place in the Democratic Party, and Joe Biden’s past support for abortion restrictions, such as the Hyde Amendment, changed the moment he decided to run for president.
Klobuchar’s position won’t be popular among the liberal bloc Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders appeal to. But it could make a difference among centrist and independent voters who haven’t yet made up their minds. And it just so happens that those are the very voters Klobuchar is trying to win.
Klobuchar’s centrist approach to abortion might not make a difference in the long run. Democratic voters tend to be motivated by many different policies, not just abortion. But for the sake of this nation, I hope it does. We desperately need to restore a common respect for life and family, but right now, the Democratic Party seems intent on not just protecting but also celebrating a practice that eliminates both. Klobuchar could change that — if the Democratic Party lets her.
