GregsOpinion.com

Yepsen: Welcome pro-life Democrats

A very heartening read on how the tent is expanding in Iowa, with pro-life Dems returning to the fold and Democrats for Life expanding on the issue of life beyond the abortion wars. If they succeed, all the Iowans (of both parties) will accomplish is in finding a third way on the issue of abortion. Kudos for the early effort.

The Democratic "tent" hasn't been as big as some Democrats would like to believe. That's been costly, and Republicans have welcomed the votes of these "Reagan Democrats." While some pro-choice Republicans left their party over this issue, the trade-off seems to have netted the GOP more.

(Polls show there are more pro-choice people than pro-lifers, but it's also true there are more single-issue pro-life voters than single-issue pro-choice ones. Advantage: Republicans.)

At the same time, these pro-life Democrats haven't been totally comfortable with the GOP or its candidates. For these Democrats, the abortion issue isn't just about a right to be born, it's also about the right to have a decent quality of life. It's why they're big on health care for kids and education programs and oppose the death penalty, positions Republicans often don't champion.

The 2004 election changed some Democratic thinking. At the national level, Democrats watched as Republicans captured a majority of votes of people most concerned about moral values. "As a wedge issue, this has helped Republicans tremendously," Kibbie said. "I don't want to see our party get narrowed down to a pro-choice party."

Also, in Iowa, one reason Democrats picked up legislative seats is that some candidates they ran were anti-abortion in districts where many voters hold similar views. While that upset the pro-choicers, it proved a successful political strategy for legislative Democratic leaders, some of whom are also anti-abortion.

Organizers of Democrats for Life hope to broaden the debate beyond whether abortion should be restricted to include some of these other quality-of-life issues. They hope to reach out to Republican pro-lifers to convince them it's time to worry as much about health care and education as they do about repealing Roe vs. Wade.

Few issues are as vexing as this one. While most politicians agree abortion is horrible and should be discouraged, there is passionate disagreement over just how coercive the government should be in trying to do that.

It's good to see a group form to bring another point of view to this debate, one that says if society is going to try and force women to bear unwanted children, we'd also better do things to make those children more wanted.

The right to life is more than just a right to be born.