Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg gave a solid reminder this weekend that the Democratic Party is inflexibly pro-abortion, not at all interested in courting or keeping pro-life liberals in the fold.
The moment occurred Sunday during a town hall event in Des Moines, Iowa. Voter Kristen Day, who self-identified as a pro-life Democrat, asked the former mayor whether he would support efforts to broaden the party’s hardline stance on abortion.
“Well, I respect where you are coming from and I hope to earn your vote, but I’m not going to try to earn your vote by tricking you,” Buttigieg responded. “I am pro-choice, and I believe that a woman ought to be able to make that decision.”
The crowd applauded.
“Here’s what I can tell you. I know that the difference in opinion that you and I have is one that we have come by honestly, and the best that I can offer — and it may win your vote, if not, I understand — the best that I can offer is that if we can’t agree on where to draw the line, the next best thing we can do is agree on who should draw the line,” the 2020 Democratic primary candidate continued. “And, in my view, it’s the woman who’s faced with that decision in her own life.”
The town hall moderator, Fox News’s Chris Wallace, interjected to note that President Trump last Friday became the first president in U.S. history to attend the annual March for Life in person. Wallace then asked Day whether she was satisfied with Buttigieg’s answer. The Iowa woman responded in the negative, saying he failed to answer whether he supported efforts to broaden the party’s language regarding abortion.
“The second part of the Democratic platform contains language that basically says we don’t belong,” she said, noting that it was not too long ago that the Democratic Party tried to accommodate pro-life liberals. “We have no part in the party because it says abortion should be legal up to nine months, that the government should pay for it, and there’s nothing that says people who have a diversity of views on this issue should be included in the party.”
Buttigieg responded: “Well, I support the position of my party, that this kind of medical care needs to be available to everyone, and I support the Roe v. Wade framework that holds that early in pregnancy, there are few restrictions and late in pregnancy, there are very few exceptions.”
He added, “And again, the best I can offer is we may disagree on that very important issue, and, hopefully, we’ll be able to partner on other issues.”
That is a long-winded way of saying, “No. I don’t support changes in the language.”
Pro-life leaders expressed dismay this week at the former mayor’s remarks, arguing that it is further proof that the 2020 field of candidates are out of step with most Americans when it comes to restrictions on abortion.
“Doubling down on abortion extremism, last night Mayor Buttigieg could not identify a single instance where he would limit abortion, or even acknowledge room for debate on the issue within the Democratic Party. This is a mistake,” Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement made available to the Washington Examiner.
She cited recent polling that shows 44% of self-identified Democrats want a candidate who supports at least some limits on abortion.
“The modern Democratic Party is the party of abortion on demand through birth, paid for by taxpayers, and even infanticide,” Dannenfelser continued. “President Trump, in stark contrast, has championed popular legislation to stop late-term abortion and protect babies who survive abortions. The choice for voters is clear. Only one candidate will uphold the compassionate consensus of the American people when it comes to abortion: President Donald Trump.”
March for Life President Jeanne Mancini said elsewhere that she is “saddened” to see “how out of touch” the 2020 Democratic candidates are with the mainstream when it comes to abortion.
“7/10 Americans for over a decade would limit abortion at most to the first three months of pregnancy including six out of ten pro choice Americans,” she tweeted.
Buttigieg is exactly in line with his party’s core values, as expressed by Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez, who said in 2017 that every Democrat “should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health.”
“That is not negotiable,” Perez added, “and should not change city by city or state by state.”
Also, let us not forget New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said in 2014 that “extreme conservatives” who are “right-to-life” have “no place in the state of New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”
Buttigieg is not going rogue. He is merely being a good company man, and his company happens to really, really favor abortion.
