The Weekly Standard has an article this week on that most endangered of species, the pro-life Democrat. John McCormack goes over familiar territory: Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, Dick Gephardt, and numerous other Democrats were pro-life until they ran for the party’s presidential nomination; more recently, Bart Stupak and a bunch of his ostensibly pro-life colleagues voted for Obamacare once it came with a dubious gimmick — an executive order that would maybe, perhaps ban only some abortions from being funded by taxpayers. McCormack reports that Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List (a pro-life political action committee), says the shrinking contingent of pro-life Democrats is harmful to the pro-life movement. McCormack summarized her arguments thusly: “Typically, pro-life laws that passed the House have had the support of anywhere from 190 to 210 Republicans, with pro-life Democrats providing the votes for a majority. Pro-life Democrats are never more important than when the Republicans are out of power, as they are now.”
There is no reason that abortion is not a partisan issue, but there are benefits when one party “owns” an issue and exploits it for political reasons. However, legislative successes on social issues usually require support from across the aisle and the disappearance of pro-life Democrats is a problem for a movement that wants to get things done politically.
An interesting question largely unaddressed by McCormack is why this is happening. To some degree, it is that pro-lifers in America no longer feel they can trust Democrats who profess pro-life views (see turncoats from Gore to Stupak to Bob Casey Jr.). But there is also the polarizing nature of politics that insists on and us-versus-them game, and a pro-abortion leadership that only tolerates diversity of opinion when it is politically convenient. Democrats made political inroads in the Midwestern and Western states because they attracted broadly socially conservative candidates (pro-God and pro-gun) who appeared to share the traditional values of Middle America. These voters are asking what have they done to represent our values since going to Washington.
In the polarized system of government, it is good politics to have one party representing the views of a special interest group, but it is bad for policy. The reality of federal politics in the United States (and Canada, too) is that socially conservative policy successes are non-partisan.
