Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, said this week her party should be open to pro-life voters.
Klobuchar first gained attention for the issue after fellow competitor Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said it is “absolutely essential” for Democrats to be pro-abortion, echoing the words of Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, who made clear in 2017 that pro-life Democrats are not welcome in the party.
The senator re-upped her position during an appearance Tuesday on ABC’s “The View,” when co-host Meghan McCain asked the politician if it’s accurate to say she believes “there’s room for pro-life people” in the Democratic Party.
After first confirming her pro-abortion bonafides, Klobuchar said she is open to welcoming pro-life voters into the fold.
“I have always been pro-choice, but I believe we’re a big tent party, and there are pro-life Democrats and they are part of our party, and we need to build a big tent,” she said. “I think we need to bring people in instead of shutting them out, and that also includes independents right here in New Hampshire as well as moderate Republicans.”
Last year, Faithwire spoke with Jacob Lupfer, lead strategist for the Pro-Life Democratic Candidate PAC, a movement devoted to drafting an anti-abortion presidential candidate on the left. Understanding how difficult it would be to mainstream such a candidate, Lupfer said it’s important to start a conversation about “protecting the vulnerable, which is a progressive value” and “should include the unborn.”
After hearing Klobuchar’s comments this week, Lupfer urged the candidate “to get more specific about which abortion restrictions she would actually support,” if any. He suggested she throw her weight behind the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Such a bill should be “easy” for Klobuchar to support, “because it doesn’t infringe upon abortion rights at all,” Lupfer explained.
The legislation, which is under consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would require doctors to provide medical care to infants who survive attempted abortion procedures.
“Sen. Klobuchar sounds like someone who is serious about defeating President Trump,” said Lupfer. “Sanders sounds like a candidate who wants to win the nomination and move the party irreversibly to the left, but get destroyed by Trump and the Republicans in November.”
It’s worth noting another Democratic presidential hopeful, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, faced intense scrutiny when he acknowledged over the weekend that, though he is decidedly pro-abortion, such a procedure is “tragic.”
He went on to say Democrats should “celebrate” children and family.
Yang was then roundly rebuked for “shaming” women, “demonizing” abortion, and promulgating “dangerous” ideas that one critic referred to as “right-wing slander with no basis in reality.”
Lupfer has repeatedly said the Democrats’ message on abortion is not working. It looks like they still have a long way to go.