The 2016 Democratic Party platform is so radically pro-abortion that it can only be called extreme, denying any protection for the unborn child and disregarding women’s safety. A new Marist poll gives us numbers on where average Americans stand on the abortion issue — and it is not with the Democrats.
About eight in 10 Americans support restrictions on abortions and would confine the procedure to the first three months of pregnancy. This number includes 85 percent of African Americans and 84 percent of Latinos. Tax-payer funding for abortion is opposed by 62 percent, including 44 percent of Democrats. Nearly 80 percent of Americans support common sense regulations such as safer abortion clinics and doctors being required to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. In general, these numbers show that the general public thoughtfully views abortion as morally significant and ethically complicated. Abortion in the Democratic platform, on the other hand, is insidiously re-designated as a “reproductive health service” on a par with mammograms and pap smears.
In particular, the platform supports abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, and rejects the view of a majority of the voting public who would like to see the procedure prohibited in the second and third trimester as it is in most countries. Perhaps the most startling departure from mainstream opinion, however, is the bold demand for more taxpayer funding of abortion. The Democratic platform states: “We will continue to oppose, and seek to overturn — federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including repealing the Hyde Amendment.”
The Hyde amendment prohibits federal funding of elective abortions — which accounts for almost all abortions — and it primarily affects Medicaid. It was passed in 1977 because so many Americans feel passionately that they should not be made to pay for the procedure. Unfortunately, our tax dollars already heavily subsidize the abortion industry. Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest provider of abortions and combined federal, state and local government funding just for Planned Parenthood (a company with a total revenue of $1.2 billion) was $553 million in 2015.
2016 Democratic Convention speaker Cecile Richards knows that adding a payment stream from Medicaid by repealing the Hyde Amendment would bring a huge boost to her company’s bottom line. This boost will affect poor minorities the most, since the African American and Latino populations are disproportionately dependent upon Medicaid. It will be more of their children who will be eliminated by abortion. The Democratic Party platform shows that the once-great party that stood for protecting the weak and vulnerable is now promoting their elimination — and asking American taxpayers to underwrite it.
Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie specializes in radiology in the Miami area and serves on the advisory board for The Catholic Association. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
