Rep. Ben Ray Luján, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told The Hill on July 31 that when it comes to abortion, "There is not a litmus test for Democratic candidates." He made it clear that when it comes to funding, candidates who are not champions of abortion rights could still qualify.
The idea that a Democrat can be pro-life, even marginally, was enough to set off a firestorm of condemnation by abortion extremists. Spokesmen for Planned Parenthood, the All* Above Action Fund, the Women's Health and Rights Project at the Center for American Progress, and EMILY's List, hammered Luján. No one went more ballistic than Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Hogue noted with anger that Luján's position was previously voiced during the presidential campaign by Sen. Bernie Sanders, and more recently by Rep. Nancy Pelosi. She will have none of it. She stood by her gal, Hillary Clinton, saying she "ran the most progressive campaign on abortion rights ever." She certainly did.
Did Hillary lose because of abortion? It played a role: Who can forget her unbelievably cold response to a question about partial-birth abortion during one of the debates? Her lack of empathy for the child—not a trace was detectable—left most Americans uncomfortable, if not revolted.
Reading the accounts of Hogue, and the other fans of abortion, makes one wonder if they sincerely believe that women are a monolithic group, all committed to abortion rights. "Democrats can't fight Trump without women," Hogue writes. Reality check: Trump lost the women's vote and won the election.
Obama did better with women than Hillary did: he won the women's vote 55% to 44%; she won by a margin of 54% to 42%. Among white women, 58% broke for Trump; Hillary won only 39% of their vote.
Hogue lives in such a bubble that she cites the Women's March on Washington, held after the election, as proof that women are anti-Trump. She did not mention that pro-life women's organizations were barred from marching in this "inclusive" event.
The pro-abortion activists need not worry too much. The fat cats who work at Goldman Sachs, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the Arca Foundation, and the various entities run by Warren Buffett and George Soros, will always grease whoever pledges to go to the mat for abortion rights.
There is one problem, however: the American public does not support abortion-on-demand, yet the Democratic Party supports it for any reason and at any time of gestation. The leadership will have to decide who matters most: donors or voters.
If they lighten up a little, they will incur the wrath of the death industry. Just ask Rep. Luján. If they don't lighten up, they may wind up unemployed. Just ask Hillary.
