Second Democratic debate shows radical pro-abortion consensus
In the second Democratic debate held in Detroit at the end of June, there was much fighting and arguing between the candidates, but one topic of discussion was conspicuously absent–abortion. There was little to no discussion of the issue, aside from attempted jabs and side remarks. This seems odd for the party whose platform unabashedly supports the “right” to kill preborn children.
The only notable mention of abortion was when Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) attacked former Vice President Joe Biden. Harris attacked Biden’s previous support for the Hyde Amendment, saying Biden “made a decision for years to withhold resources to poor women to have access to reproductive healthcare.” Biden rebutted, claiming that the Hyde Amendment had a different intent and he claimed “I support a woman’s right to choose. I support it’s a constitutional right.” After deciding to run for president, Biden flipped his stance on the Hyde Amendment, in his words, “Because there was not full federal funding for all reproductive services prior to this point.” The Hyde Amendment is a federal budget rider that prohibits tax dollars from being used for abortions.
Apart from this small tussle, there was no discussion whatsoever about abortion.
In the first Democratic debate of 2019, all of the presidential candidates on stage reaffirmed the radical stance prohibiting limits on abortion, most even calling for taxpayer money to be funding those abortions through their proposed healthcare plans. All the candidates seemed to be jockeying for position as the “most left” about the abortion issue. Placing no limits on taxpayer funded abortions is about as left as you can get, especially when transgender women are drawn into the discussion.
The second debate was promoted as a means of discovering the real differences between the candidates. Given this premise, there was little need to mention abortion at all, because abortion appears to be the one issue on which all of the candidates agree. Every single Democratic candidate for president supports no restrictions on elective abortion up until the moment of birth, sometimes even after birth, and they all think that American taxpayers should be the ones providing the funding.
For each and every presidential candidate in the Democratic Party to have the exact same view on this controversial subject seems odd. Only 6% of Americans believe abortion should be legal until birth, and only 8% believe abortion should be legal in the third trimester. Does every candidate in this diverse group happen to fall into the 6% of Americans, or is there a different pressure at play here? The Democratic Party has increasingly favored abortion, ostracizing members of the party who disagree with the radical stance of taxpayer funded elective abortion without limit until birth.
The abortion industry would benefit greatly from a president who fights for abortion without restriction until birth. Having all the candidates hold the same position indicates to voters that a majority of the party holds these same radical views, with which even the data disagree. Allowing the candidates to hold differentiated views and attack each others’ stances on abortion will encourage voters to reflect on their beliefs about abortion, demonstrating the dicotomy between the Democratic party views and those of mainstream America. Both the Democratic Party and the abortion industry want abortion accepted and evern promoted. Thus, what viewers witnessed during the second debate was, for the most part, moderators and candidates alike avoiding a conversation on the abortion issue and the implications of abortion policy for preborn Americans.
Tags: 2020 election, Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke, Democratic debate, Joe Biden, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris