As a pro-choice Dem,  I am pleased by the DNC’s plank on abortion. It reaffirms Roe…AND it also show party’s  respect for pro-life Dems.  Most smartlly, it challenges the Republican party to connect its rhetoric to results.  For years, Rs have simply condemned Roe, criticized women, and curried favor with Catholic hierarchy…which is all male.  But they made little effort to actually support women in their choice to have a child. They did not commit to funding. Now, thanks to Doug Kmiec, Tony Campolo and others, our party has specifically acknowledged the need to make sure that pregnant women receive pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support and caring adoption programs.

The platform underscores the fact that a  woman’s  decision  to have a child is not make in isolation but is connected to questions about many aspects of her life.  By specifying that a women should have access to  services  during pregnancy and after, the language reflects a significant part of the Catholic moral tradition of the common good…and the truth that the relationship that we have with one another can help us make good choices. 

For years, Dems have pointed out that  Democratic party policies in fact help to reduce the number of abortions.  Abortions were reduced under Bill Clinton and rose under George Bush. This new language by explicitly  connecting the support  for women  to the issue of abortion helps to make show why that could be so.