Abortion has recently been a very hot political topic, one that many are following closely. Abortion is defined as “a procedure to end pregnancy” (MedlinePlus). Abortion is extremely controversial as the different political parties have different views and approaches towards the subject. Republicans typically believe that abortion in some, if not most (or even all) cases is wrong and immoral or in other words known as pro-life. Democrats typically believe that abortion in most cases is okay, or also known as pro-choice. Independents for the most part are split in half. Below is a chart on trends of the two major parties’ (and Independents) views on the controversial subject of abortion. The key point to make with this observation is that not all Republicans think abortion should be banned and not all Democrats think abortion should be a right. This observation here might be the start of an even more polarized political system than we have now.
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One main hot topic at this point in time is the suspicion that Democratic party members against abortion are having a tougher and tougher time staying with the party. Why is this you may ask? The short answer would be that they feel unwelcomed. According to The Washington Post it has something to do with the fact that all of the 2020 Presidential Election Democratic candidates are extremely vocal about their interest in keeping abortion accessible with little-no restrictions. For example, “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeted “Abortion is healthcare” last week as President Trump was speaking to abortion opponents at the March for Life. In December, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she would wear a Planned Parenthood scarf to her inauguration” (Bailey). These candidates are not holding back when it comes to making their cry for abortions accessible.
While these vocal candidates are stating their beliefs, they are pushing members of their own party away. These people have a different belief than the majority of their peers, so they find it difficult to interact with them, and clearly the opposing belief does not want to interact as well. As one antiabortion Democrat states that these vocal Presidential candidates “were trying to make sure people like [him (pro-life)] were not welcome in the party” (Camosy). One may ask, “Why would these candidates try to push away members of their own party? They’re losing votes.” I would look at it in a sense that antiabortion Democrats probably would not have voted for these candidates anyway.
With this up and coming hot topic of more antiabortion Democrats comes a few questions. Is the rise in pro-life Democrats a major issue for the Democratic Presidential Election candidates? Are these anti-abortion Democrats going to cause a problem for the Democratic party in the 2020 Presidential Election?
While no one is sure of how much, if any, trouble this “issue” will cause for the Presidential Election candidates, according to The Washington Post, “Those who work and consult in Democratic campaigns say the increasing polarization on the issue means it is more and more difficult for people who oppose abortion rights to feel at home in the Democratic Party” (Bailey). Why would these people stay with a party that they don’t feel as comfortable with? Are they going to vote for a member of their party in this upcoming election? I would believe they are staying with the Democratic party as they don’t have much of a better option in their opinion. They would rather disagree with their party on one issue, than move over to the opposing party and disagree with many more issues. Perhaps, they would move to become an Independent? Will these Democratic candidates address those antiabortion Democrats and try to appeal to them as well?
All in all, this seems to be a very sticky situation at the moment. While these vocal Presidential Election candidates are freely speaking their mind on having minimal-no restrictions on abortions, they may be losing many supporters along the way. How will the rise in antiabortion Democrats speaking out affect the election in November?
Thanks for reading and I hope you find this topic on abortion and antiabortion Democrats as intriguing as I do. Until next time!
WORKS CITED:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/246278/abortion-trends-party.aspx