The Great Abortion Schism

Abortion is never an easy topic to discuss or write about. I remember there was a brief moment when I was in high school where I considered that maybe being in the "pro-life" camp wasn't such a bad thing. I told that to my maternal grandmother. She told me I don't have a right to think like that because I am not a woman and I will never have any idea what it's like to be pregnant. Being a mother of three children and having faced the possibility of losing one of her children while pregnant, I knew she was absolutely right. I will never know that feeling, whether physically or mentally. So since that day, I have been staunchly pro-choice.

And I know the Democratic Party reflects that view as well, which is why I am a Democrat. We are the party of choice. As my paternal grandmother, who (ironically) is in the "pro life" camp says: "We all have choices to make in our lives." That mantra guides not only my daily life, but my social views, and abortion falls into that as well. To get or not get an abortion is a choice only a woman can truly make.

So when I see that the Democratic Party is in an uproar about allowing "pro-life" candidates to run as Democrats, you can count me as part of that uproar.

We are the party of the individual, empowering women to make their own choices about their own bodies. If you want an abortion, you should be able to get one in a safe and sanitary environment, free from harassment. Simple as that.

Now we have had many so called "pro-life" Democrats who have been very successful in promoting the party. People like the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, and Frmr. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden are all people who were personally opposed to abortion. At the same time though, they realized that it was a choice that they couldn't make for someone else, and so they didn't try to undermine the laws of the land.

That kind of disagreement, I am okay with, because though you may be personally against abortion, you recognize that not everyone will hold that same view, and you respect that by not trying to impose your will, whether or not fueled by your own personal faith, on everyone else. If you can put your own personal views against abortion aside in the name of choice, then you should always be welcomed in the Democratic Party.

But if you're a person who will undermine the laws that protect a woman's right to choose, if you're a person who votes to defund Planned Parenthood, or if you're a person who will work to make it harder for women to receive an abortion, then good riddance.

The Democratic Party's platform is about choice. We advocate for universal health care so that people don't have to stay at a job their miserable at just to keep the health insurance. We advocate for everyone to be able to go to college or trade school so that they can decide, through the process of education, what they ultimately want to do for their careers. Abortion is no different. An abortion for someone can make the difference of whether or not to drop out of high school to raise a baby; to stay in or leave an abusive relationship; or even to live or die.

If the Democratic Party abandons that awesome tenet of choice, which defines their party platform across the board from social issues to economic policy, then what are we fighting for?