{"id":156736,"date":"2016-12-31T09:34:56","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T14:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=156736"},"modified":"2017-01-03T16:29:56","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T21:29:56","slug":"leaving-pro-lifers-behind-look-hillary-clintons-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/leaving-pro-lifers-behind-look-hillary-clintons-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving pro-lifers behind: An end-of-year look at Hillary Clinton’s loss"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Democratic Party bragged about<\/a> making their 2016 platform the most pro-abortion platform yet. But on Election Day, Democrats and Hillary Clinton — who was endorsed by<\/a>, funded by<\/a>, and had staff associated with Planned Parenthood<\/a>\u00a0—\u00a0suffered a giant loss. As a result of the 2016 election, the Republican Party, which adopted the most pro-life platform<\/a>\u00a0in years<\/a>, will not only control the White House in 2017, but also a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Is the Democratic party’s pro-abortion platform to blame?<\/p>\n

Democrats for Life of America (DFLA) thinks it at least contributed. Kristen Day, the executive director for DFLA told Live Action News that “[t]here were other factors that also led to Secretary Clinton losing, but the pro-life issue contributed.” She also pointed to the extremist positions adopted: “The radicalization of the Democratic Platform was unnecessary and a real slap in the face to pro-lifers who tolerated ‘safe, legal, and rare,’ but could not accept legal until nine months and paid with taxpayer funding,” Day said. Polls supported Day’s claim, as Life News reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

POLLS: 13% ADVANTAGE TO PRO-LIFE POSITION
\nA national poll of voters taken on election day, November 8, by the polling company Inc.\/Woman Trend found that essentially half of all voters (49%) said that abortion affected their vote. How did they vote \u2013 31% said they voted for candidates who opposed abortion while only 18% said they voted for candidates who favored abortion \u2013 a 13% advantage for the pro-life side. When you think how close the vote was in Pennsylvania and other states which determined the election, it is clear that abortion made a clear difference in the election.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a press release<\/a> the day after the election, Day noted that Clinton and the party\u00a0“decisively lost,” and that Trump’s election, as well as “the weakness shown in the coalition of Democratic voters should surprise no one.”<\/p>\n

Day cautioned “‘that the party is slowly dying and on the way to being irrelevant if it does not start a dialogue with its pro-life members. For years, Democrats have been eroding their base of pro-life voters as abortion opponents flee to the Independent category and Republican Party.”\u00a0DFLA’s press release continued:<\/p>\n

The recent election reflects the party\u2019s shift to wholesale support for the abortion industry. Standing on a severe party platform on abortion, Hillary Clinton lost soft Republicans, anti-abortion Independents, and millions of pro-life voters in her own party. She lost key states, long part of the Democrats\u2019 Blue Wall, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons she lost these groups is that she championed an extremist abortion platform, one that embraces so-called later-term abortion and rejects bipartisan efforts such as the Hyde Amendment,\u201d Day said. \u201cClinton promised that if elected, she would nominate pro-abortion justices to the Supreme Court.\u201d The consequences are dire. Americans throughout the country rejected the Democratic allegiance to abortion-on-demand throughout pregnancy, giving Trump Republican majorities in the House and Senate and in governors\u2019 mansions and state legislatures. \u201cAmericans want to see wages rise, and they want to see more people protected with health insurance, and they want to protect the environment, but they absolutely do not support abortion-on-demand,\u201d Day said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Day also pointed Live Action News to a July report, “Make Room for Pro-Life Democrats and Achieve our Party Goals Nationwide.” In a section titled, “Where We’ve Been — Great Days in 2006 and 2008,” the report spoke of having goals such as a move away from radical pro-abortion views, a “Move to the Mainstream,” “Stand Up to Pressure Groups,” and “Agree the goal should be to reduce abortion.” These goals were originally suggested in, “Take It Back, Our Party, Our Country, Our Future,”\u00a0by James Carville and Paul Begala after losses in 2000 and 2004.<\/p>\n

From an analysis by Heidi Miller<\/a>, one can see that the Democratic Party Platforms have become more radical in abortion over the years, culminating in the results of the 2016 election.\u00a0Polls\u00a0reflect<\/a> that Americans across demographics — and even with various beliefs on the abortion issue —\u00a0favor abortion regulations and restrictions. Polls also show<\/a> that Millennials favor them even without necessarily calling themselves pro-life.<\/p>\n