Politics

Exclusive: Pro-Life Democrats Rip Party Platform: ‘Most Extreme Pro-Abortion Platform In History’

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Executive Director of Democrats for Life Kristen Day sharply criticized the Democratic party platform on Monday, calling it “the most extreme pro-abortion platform in history,” adding that it “will usher in an era of unsafe abortion paid for with taxpayer funds during all nine months.”

The Daily Caller previously reported on Monday that the final draft of the Democratic platform calls for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal taxpayer dollars for abortion, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother.

The final draft of the platform, which was written by the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee, will go before the full Platform Committee for final approval on July 8 and 9 in Orlando before being presented for ratification at the Democratic National Convention later that month in Philadelphia.

“Approving this platform in Orlando will be the final nail in the coffin of ‘safe, legal, and rare’ and will usher in an era of unsafe abortion paid for with taxpayer funds during all nine months,” Day said.

“It is a sad day in America when we develop policies that facilitate ending the lives of prenatal children instead of offering compassion and support,” Day said. She also called the platform “the most extreme pro-abortion platform in history.”

As recently as 2004, the Democratic platform said, “Abortion should be safe, legal and rare.”

The party dropped that language from the platform in 2008 when then-Senator Barack Obama was named the party’s nominee, saying instead:  “The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.”

The 2016 Democratic platform is the first major party platform to explicitly call for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment.

A real Democratic platform on abortion, Day said, would read:

We believe that we can reduce the number of abortions because we are united in our support for policies that assist families who find themselves in crisis or unplanned pregnancies. We believe that women deserve to have a breadth of options available during pregnancy, including the support and resources needed for a successful pregnancy and subsequent adoption or parenthood; access to education, healthcare, and childcare; and appropriate child support. We envision a new day without financial or societal barriers to bringing a planned or unplanned pregnancy to term.

Day  was sharply critical of the current platform on Twitter as well, saying: “I think @TheDemocrats sold their soul to the abortion lobby. What is a pro-life Democrat to do?”

She also said that it’s “Time for pro-life Democrats to come out of the closet to change the pro-abortion Platform language.”

Follow Peter Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson