by Matthew Hay Brown
House Democrats picked up an anti-abortion member over the weekend with the special election victory of Don Cazayoux, and could gain another if Travis Childers defeats Greg Davis in Mississippi next week. So does that mean the caucus, which has relied on the support of voters who favor legal abortion, is growing more conservative?
"This is not a party issue," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said this morning, when asked the question at his weekly meeting with the Capitol press corps. "We don't make that a party issue. We don't whip that issue. Members have to vote their conscience on that issue, and do."
Hoyer, himself a moderate Democrat from conservative Southern Maryland, listed the issues that unite the party as "the quality of life for real people, jobs, their health care, their education for their kids, and their national security and homeland security and security at home."
"That is why people are Democrats," Hoyer said. "And that is what distinguishes, I think, the Democratic Party from the Republican Party. The social issues are issues which people feel strongly about for one reason or another. But the issues that I think you will see pretty consistent Democratic unity on are issues affecting families every day."
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Comments
Thank you, Representative Hoyer. That is a personal and a religious issue, not a political football!! As good women say: Mind your own business and your own bodies!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | May 6, 2008 4:20 PM
Steny Hoyer a moderate? Conservative southern Maryland? You're kidding, right?
And, Matthew Hay Brown, Democrats don't play the abortion game? Is that why four years ago, now Pa. Sen. Casey was not allowed to speak at the Dem convention because having a pro-life speaker would upset the pro-baby killing majority of the Democratic party?
Posted by: John D | May 6, 2008 4:25 PM
Hoyer is pretty right on here. There isn't a single Democrat who is "for" abortion or "in favor" of abortion. This is about the role of government, and Democrats believe in small, efficient government that does not tell women what medical procedures they can receive.
Posted by: Paul | May 6, 2008 4:39 PM
Now that yet another prolife Dem has been elected to Congress, I wonder if he will be a target in 2010 of the neo-Stalinist "Open Left" organization that targeted so many conservative Dems in 2008.
Posted by: Tim1979 | May 6, 2008 5:10 PM
This is about the role of government, and Democrats believe in small, efficient government that does not tell women what medical procedures they can receive.
Posted by: Paul | May 6, 2008 4:39 PM
If abortion only involved the woman, I could agree with you. Sadly, though, an abortion does not remove merely an internal organ from the woman. Pregnancy is not a "venereal disease" or some kind of malady to be treated by surgery. Abortion terminates a developing human being with its own unique DNA, heart, brain, fingerprints, etc. You cannot deny this.
Posted by: JB | May 6, 2008 6:26 PM
It is great news that pro-life Democrats are winning more elections.The Democratic Party desperately needs more leaders who believe in the sanctity of life.I believe in the right to life and that is the chief reason why I will vote for John McCain for President.The Declaration of Independence states that we are given unalienable rights by our Creator.The greatest of thse rights are life and liberty.The unborn deserve thse rights as much as any one.
Posted by: Shawn M. Hussey | May 6, 2008 7:48 PM
Try and sell a kidney and then tell the judge about your rights to your own body.
Posted by: whatnow | May 6, 2008 8:25 PM
Shawn: with all due respect, I can't believe that voters are STILL falling for the Republicans' supposed stance on abortion.You ( we) always hear about it at election time!!! If they were REALLY against abortion don't you think they would have done it YEARS AGO???? Voters fall for this tirade every 4 years and yet NOTHING EVER CHANGES!!! l guess I'm not too knowledgeable about the workings of government but it seems to me that if he (Bush) has the power to keep the WAR going he's ALSO got the power to end abortion!!! Women will have to answer for their actions someday (just as we ALL have things to answer for ) and if they REALLY want an abortion they'll find a way. Meanwhile there are other issues that we CAN control...please consider these things.
Posted by: Mary in Ft. Madison | May 6, 2008 10:10 PM
Folks here in Maryland are petitioning to get a new party on the ballot. Here's the plank of our platform which directly addresses abortion: "Because the stated ultimate purpose of our Constitution is "to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity," we recognize the personhood of all unborn children and their protection by the Fifth and the Fourteenth Amendments. The right to life of all innocent persons, from conception to natural death, is God-given and unalienable. For the principled man or woman, no compromise is possible concerning such a critical matter of life and death. We believe that violators of this supreme right, in their words and actions, are unfit for any office of public trust, since this constitutes the breaking of the oath of office and the destruction of the very basis of our liberty." The rest of the platform, and other info, is available at Maryland Independent Party website. Other independent parties are being started across the nation, too.
Posted by: Steve Schulin | May 7, 2008 10:38 AM
There is real progress being made to protect the unborn in our nation.President Bush signed into law the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.He has also severely restricted government funds for embryonic stem cell research.In addition, the President has appointed many federal judges to the courts who believe in the sanctity of life.Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito are strict-constructionist judges who could vote to overturn the horrendous Roe v. Wade decision in the future.The Supreme Court now has a majority of its members who believe in the right to life and liberty.
Posted by: Shawn M. Hussey | May 7, 2008 7:43 PM