Democrats and Abortion
I hate abortion. I hate the act, I hate the necessity a woman can feel to obtain one, I hate it as a political issue. I believe that this one issue could be the undoing of our constitutional republic.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about abortion and the Democratic Party. It wasn’t so long ago that the official position of the Democratic Party was that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare”. As recently as 2000, the Democratic Party platform stated “Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare.” Further, they stated that “We respect the individual conscience of each American on this difficult issue…”
By 2012, however, Democrats had removed the word “rare” from their platform and called for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal health-care programs from funding abortion procedures. During the Democratic presidential primary debates in 2019, candidate Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) used the “safe, legal and rare” language and endorsed limits on abortion in the last three months of pregnancy unless there were severe risks to the woman’s life or health. She was roundly criticized for this by abortion advocates, and her candidacy didn’t advance much further.
By 2016 the Democratic platform was calling for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, showing that the party as a whole had drifted even further to the extreme on this issue.
Now, Democrats across the nation are calling for abortion “rights” virtually up the moment before birth and want taxpayers to pay for it. On this issue, as with so many others, they have become increasingly disconnected from the vast majority of the American public, which polls show support some abortion capability in the early months of a pregnancy, with support diminishing as the pregnancy advances. Less than 20% of Americans support abortion in the third trimester, and then only to protect the mother (or “birthing person”, in today’s Leftyspeak).
Nobody in their right mind celebrates the taking of life through abortion, regardless of whether or not one thinks it should be legal.
In Colorado, three Democrats – Meg Froelich, Daneya Esgar and Julie Gonzales – sponsored HB 22-1279 the “Reproductive Health Equity Act” in anticipation that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v Wade.
This Act declares abortion to be a “fundamental right” and prohibits any public entity in Colorado from restricting abortion in any way and says an abortion can be performed at any time literally up to the minute before birth which is virtual infanticide. Further, it explicitly states that a “fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent or derivative rights under the laws of this state.”
This Act is more permissive than Roe v Wade and is probably the most egregious pro-abortion law in the nation.
The fervor with which the Colorado Democrats proposed and pushed forward this bill, and the delight they exhibited when Governor Polis signed it was disgusting in the extreme.
These people don’t celebrate Life – they celebrate Death.
Colorado has joined Connecticut, Oregon, New Mexico, New Jersey and Vermont as states that have no “gestational age restrictions” with Roe in place, and have abortion protected by state law throughout pregnancy” if Roe is overturned. These deep blue states stand in stark contrast to the 26 states that are likely to ban abortions if Roe is overturned.
The Supreme Court
Article III of the United States Constitution states that “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court…”
The Supreme Court (or SCOTUS) is a co-equal branch of government with the Congress (Legislative) and the President (Executive). Under our system of checks and balances, the Supreme Court is intended to be a co-equal branch, not a superior one. In other words, 5 black-robed justices are not (nor should they be) the final arbiters on what is (or is not) legal in the United States.
The Supreme Court has been far from perfect. This is the branch of government that issued the Dred Scott decision, which held that African-Americans could not be considered American citizens, undid the Missouri Compromise and overruled laws that would free slaves. Chief Justice Roger Taney (a Southern Democrat) hoped that this ruling would settle the issue of slavery, but it did the exact opposite and was a direct cause of the Civil War.
Another one of their worst decisions was Roe v Wade, issued in 1973. This ruling struck down state laws “unduly restricting” abortion. By creating a mythical “right to privacy” from the “penumbra’ emanating from the “emanations” of the Bill of Rights, the majority in Roe v Wade effectively fabricated a “constitutional right” that had not previously existed during the previous 182 years of the Republic.
Unlike other rulings, which have tended to settle the underlying issues, Roe merely ignited a 50-year war which shows every sign of escalating now that it is in danger of being overturned.
Because so many people think that SCOTUS is the ultimate arbiter of law, and because progressives – who think that they know what’s best for everyone and want to use the coercive power of government to impose it – often seek to use the courts to enact or enforce laws that they are unable to pass through democratic means (i.e. getting them passed in state and national legislatures), nominations to be a Supreme Court justice have become very high stakes games.
Unlike the genteel process whereby the most recent Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown-Jackson was confirmed, several nominations over the years since Roe have been gut-wrenching battles, with candidates being vilified, slandered and threatened by the pro-abortion Left.
Let’s recap a few of these battles, shall we?
Robert Bork, nominated by President Ronald Reagan, was the first post-Roe nominee to be attacked viciously by Democrats, led by Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Kennedy’s imaginary “Robert Bork’s America” ultimately led to a 42-58 defeat of his nomination. Democrats perceived Bork as a threat because he would be replacing a “moderate” who had been the key vote on several issues including abortion. What the Democrats did to Bork became a verb: to be “borked” – to obstruct a candidate for public office by systematically defaming or vilifying them.
The playbook had been created.
The nomination of currently sitting Associate Justice Clarence Thomas brought the sexual harassment gambit into the progressive playbook. Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, with whom he had previously worked. Despite investigations and days of hearings, Hill’s accusations were not believed by most Americans nor by the Senate, and Thomas was confirmed.
In 2016, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Because the Republicans controlled the Senate, Obama offered up Garland because he was a “moderate” who he thought could be confirmed. However, Majority Leader McConnell declined to hold hearings or bring the nomination to a vote. Because the Republicans wouldn’t have treated Garland the way Democrats treated Bork and Thomas, we were spared an ugly public spectacle. Unfortunately, this action by McConnell gave rise to the Left’s trope of a “stolen seat” (which it wasn’t) ultimately filled by President Trump when he nominated Neil Gorsuch.
(And in fact, this seat and other potential openings were powerful arguments for voting for Trump in 2016).
Dialing the sexual harassment ploy to 11, the Democrats threw everything they had at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Over 4 days in September 2018, Kavanaugh was questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee against a backdrop of disruptive protestors and shocking rudeness from Democratic senators including then-Senator Kamala Harris. The Democrats did everything they could before and during the hearings to obstruct and delay the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. They also accused him of being involved in racial profiling among other scurrilous accusations.
When it appeared the confirmation would still succeed, they pulled out the last accuser – Christine Blasey Ford, who had written a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein accusing Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s. Feinstein did not share the letter with the committee chair until after the hearings had concluded, so the circus continued with additional days of hearings to allow Ford to tell her story. Additional hearings were held on September 27, 2018.
With the large credibility gap in Ford’s story, the Democrats brought forth two other women who falsely accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault and rape.
After the hearings and investigations by the FBI, none of the accusers’ stories were found to be credible and Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 50-48. I’ll never forget the images of leftist hooligans hammering their fists on the doors of the Senate chamber during this process. The Left wants to whine about the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol, but they are old hands at political violence and intimidation.
The final vindication of conservative votes for Donald Trump came in September 2020 with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. President Trump nominated federal judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill that seat. Being a woman (or an “individual” in today’s leftist vernacular), the sexual harassment gambit was not available, so the Left pivoted to two other arguments: a) that since it was late in Trump’s term he should wait until after the election, (even though Barack Obama didn’t wait to nominate Merrick Garland), and b) that being a devout Catholic she would let her religion unduly influence how she would rule.
They gave it their best shot, but Judge Barrett was eminently qualified, performed well during her confirmation hearings, and was ultimately confirmed by a 55-43 vote, even earning 3 Democrat votes.
With the election of Joe Biden to the office of the president and the Democratic Party taking full control of 2/3s of the federal government, they started talking about “packing” the Court and doing away with the filibuster rule in the Senate. This is just another example of how when they can’t win at the ballot box or through democratically decided legislation, they try to change the rules.
The Leak
On Monday, May 2, the website www.politico.com published the initial draft opinion authored by Justice Alito which would overturn Roe v Wade. This document, confirmed by Chief Justice Roberts to be authentic, was leaked to Politico by someone who works at the Supreme Court. The conventional wisdom is that the leak came from a progressive law clerk working for one of the 3 “liberal” justices – Sotomayor, Breyer and Kagan. It represents an almost unprecedented breach of Supreme Court protocols and possibly a crime.
At first, I thought the leaker did it with the intention of firing up the Democratic base and influencing the 2022 midterm election. But the actual ruling was due to be released in the summer, closer to the election and it would have fired up the base anyway.
Now with reports of the intense media pressure on the Court and knowing Chief Justice John Roberts’ sensitivity to the Court’s public image, it’s clear that the leaker wanted to have the progressive base pressure 2 of the conservative justices to change their votes from a 6-3 majority to overturn Roe to a 5-4 majority to preserve it.
Now we’ve seen that pro-abortion activists have published the home addresses of the SCOTUS justices and are protesting at their homes to intimidate them into preserving Roe v Wade.
Again, it is clear that the progressive Left is willing to burn down the country to preserve the “right” to kill pre-born children. It’s disgusting. It’s immoral. It’s not to be borne.
Anti-Life
Not only are the Democrats the party of abortion – which kills the unborn – they are the party trying to tear down our modern life.
Before the advent of limited government, capitalism, and fossil fuels, life on this planet was harsh, brutish, and short. Now, thanks to these pillars of modern life, we live at the highest peak of human existence in history. Yet the Democrats want to tear it all down: they hate fossil fuels and cling to the childish dream that somehow “renewable” energy sources can take their place; they hate capitalism and want to impose a socialist economy on our nation and world; and they hate limited government, because they believe that government is the best solution to all of life’s challenges and problems.
The Democratic Party of today does not stand for individual liberty or human flourishing. They stand for collectivism, division and misery, equally shared.
On November 8 of this year, we have the opportunity to turn this country around. We can do so by voting all Democrats out of office and holding elected Republicans accountable to the founding principles of this nation. Let’s get busy – we’ve got a country to save!
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