With the defeat of John Kerry and the rise of Howard Dean as party chair, many have surmised that perhaps the party need to change it's stance on the issue of abortion. Some groups have formed to attempt to change the national and certain state party's bylaws to recognize that a pro-choice attitude has alienated many Americans from voting democratic. The Democrats for life of America and pro-life liberals are a couple of such organization attempting to alter the face of the party.

Questions for debate.

1.)On the issue of abortion, is the party out of sync with the majority of the American people?

2.)Do you see a time when the Democratic party will become pro-life?

3.)If you are a pro-choice democrat, would you support a pro-life democratic candidate?

1.)On the issue of abortion, is the party out of sync with the majority of the American people?

No the Democratic party is not out of sync with the rest of America on this issue, but it goes all about support choice all wrong in the sense that the choice should be in the hands of individuals because with laws banning abortion they will continue to go on.

2.)Do you see a time when the Democratic party will become pro-life?

Isn't this really the trap. As soon as the democratic party is branded as not pro-life it loses. We should continue to support a woman's right to get abortions, but we should be against the abortions themselves. We should support birth control and family planning and notifying parents of children who seek abortions. We should support options to abortion as the best way and argue by evidence about what happened when abortions were not available legally, that abortion bans are worse than allowing abortions.

3.)If you are a pro-choice democrat, would you support a pro-life democratic candidate?

I would definitely support a pro-life democrat who disliked abortions but cherished our individual liberties enough to leave such decisions in the hands of doctors and their patients. I may support pro-life candidates who think otherwise because it is not my deal breaking issue.

1.)On the issue of abortion, is the party out of sync with the majority of the American people?

No, but it's probable that the majority of the American people did not go to the polls and vote Democratic on the pro-choice issue.

As a Catholic, I took umbrage with some bishops of my church who made voting for pro-life candidates (who also were hawks and pro-death penalty, unfortunately) a sort of litmus test. I know that many Catholics felt obligated to vote for the current inhabitant of the White House for that reason and nearly that reason alone, although homophobia was probably also a factor.

2.)Do you see a time when the Democratic party will become pro-life?

I'm not sure that the Democratic party will become pro-life, but as a pro-lifer I would welcome it. I would like to see a larger presence of pro-life Democrats in the party. The Republican party has co-opted this issue, and there are enough committed pro-life voters to make a big difference in any given election, so it is worth it to be more inclusive of this point of view in the party that otherwise shows a great interest in improving the quality of life for all of our citizens.

3.)If you are a pro-choice democrat, would you support a pro-life democratic candidate?

N/A

1.)On the issue of abortion, is the party out of sync with the majority of the American people?

Yes. Polling seems to indicate that americans are generally against second and third term abortion. At the same time Polls are usually liberal bending.

2.)Do you see a time when the Democratic party will become pro-life?

No. They would lose a lot of territory to the greens, and the republicans could easily proclaim it "one of the biggest flip flops of all time". More would be lost then gained.

3.)If you are a pro-choice democrat, would you support a pro-life democratic candidate?

I'm not a pro choice democrat. As I said before, a lot of our core will feel betrayed (which will in turn propagate the greens, and make us lose a lot of political viability).