Abortion reducing platform makes way to DNC
Jeff Diamant/Religion News Service
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Divine Intervention
In the history of abortion politics, it was a key event: the 1992 move by Democrats to deny Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey Sr., an opponent of abortion rights, a speaking spot at the party's national convention that year.
Bill Clinton, of course, won that presidential election, but the move barring Casey, a Democrat who hadn't endorsed Clinton, is widely seen as alienating to millions of religious abortion opponents who felt the party no longer had a place for them.
This year the party is trying to change that perception, in line with other attempts to woo religious voters who in recent years have voted Republican by large margins.
Casey's like-minded son, Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., an early supporter of presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, has been given a speaking slot at this week's upcoming Democratic National Convention. And the party's platform committee last week approved language that some liberal opponents of abortion say could draw back at least some of the alienated.
While part of the platform language maintains the party's historic support for abortion rights, another part takes an approach that prominent abortion opponents in the party say could effectively reduce the number of abortions. In this vein it calls for better pre- and postnatal care, parenting-skills programs and income support, all meant to dissuade pregnant women who don't think they can afford parenthood from having abortions.
"It was a historic step," said the Rev. Tony Campolo, a member of the Democratic Platform Committee. "It was the first time the Democratic Party spelled out directly what it believed had to be done to reduce abortions in America."
The platform will be voted on at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, which ends Thursday. Republican Party platforms have historically sought to ban abortion.
Campolo said that people like him - Democrats who oppose abortion rights - should be practical and try to work with abortion rights advocates to bring down the numbers.
Bill Clinton, of course, won that presidential election, but the move barring Casey, a Democrat who hadn't endorsed Clinton, is widely seen as alienating to millions of religious abortion opponents who felt the party no longer had a place for them.
This year the party is trying to change that perception, in line with other attempts to woo religious voters who in recent years have voted Republican by large margins.
Casey's like-minded son, Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., an early supporter of presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, has been given a speaking slot at this week's upcoming Democratic National Convention. And the party's platform committee last week approved language that some liberal opponents of abortion say could draw back at least some of the alienated.
While part of the platform language maintains the party's historic support for abortion rights, another part takes an approach that prominent abortion opponents in the party say could effectively reduce the number of abortions. In this vein it calls for better pre- and postnatal care, parenting-skills programs and income support, all meant to dissuade pregnant women who don't think they can afford parenthood from having abortions.
"It was a historic step," said the Rev. Tony Campolo, a member of the Democratic Platform Committee. "It was the first time the Democratic Party spelled out directly what it believed had to be done to reduce abortions in America."
The platform will be voted on at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, which ends Thursday. Republican Party platforms have historically sought to ban abortion.
Campolo said that people like him - Democrats who oppose abortion rights - should be practical and try to work with abortion rights advocates to bring down the numbers.
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