Dems need to reverse moral misstep on abortion: Column

A well-publicized part of the Democratic Party platform draft is its opposition to the death penalty, which contradicts the views of presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton. But there is a less noticed change that, if accepted by convention delegates, would be a far more radical departure. For the first time, the Democratic Party would call for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits direct use of federal funds for abortion.

The Hyde Amendment was passed by Congress in 1976 and signed into law by President Carter in 1977. While some in the party’s more liberal factions disagreed with this, the Democratic Party did not officially contest the Hyde Amendment. After a decade dominated by Republicans, Democrats in the 1990s seemed to believe they should de-escalate some of the more controversial aspects of their abortion language. The 1992 platform called for making abortion “less necessary.” The platform in 1996 lauded the drop in the abortion rate, and called for all Americans to embrace “personal responsibility” to “reduce unintended pregnancies.” In 2000, the Democratic Party spoke of the “individual conscience of each American” on the issue of abortion, and welcomed Democrats of diverse views on the topic to “participate at every level of our party.”

President Obama ran in 2008 promising to “turn the page” on the culture wars, and he delivered a speech at the University of Notre Dame calling for common ground on abortion in his first five months in office. In 2010, President Obama refused to call for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment in the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and assured pro-life Democrats that the law would not use federal funds for abortion. But years of conflict have ensued between the Department of Health and Human Services and the consciences of conscientious objectors to abortion — including nuns — from paying for what they believe to be life-ending contraceptive drugs and devices.

A setback that settles nothing: Opposing view

Even so, for the past 25 years, the Democratic Party, at least rhetorically, acknowledged that compelling taxpayers to fund abortions was a step too far in the culture wars. If the call to repeal the Hyde Amendment remains in the Democratic platform, that era is officially over. A party that calls for government funding of abortion does not merely disagree with pro-life Americans, but wants to implicate them through their government of supporting what they believe is a moral evil.

The two of us see this issue somewhat differently. One of us (Wear) voted twice for Obama and served him in his campaign and White House. One of us (Moore) voted twice against him, and opposed him throughout the administration on questions of abortion. One of us (Wear) saw in some of Obama's language a goodwill effort to achieve something of a big tent. The other (Moore) sees it as political rhetoric because the central issue is whether a human being can be denied the right to life simply based on his or her age, size and vulnerability. Nonetheless, we agree that a major American party calling for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment would be a foreboding sign for American civic life.

A big win for abortion rights: Our view

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Such a call would mean repudiation not only of Americans who are conscientiously pro-life, but also of those who are pro-choice and still morally conflicted about abortion. That would include those who would agree with Vice President Biden, who said in the 2012 vice presidential debate, “Life begins at conception. That's the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews.”

As taxpayers, our money goes toward all kinds of things we do not personally support. It is part of living in a pluralistic society. Even so, for 40 years, our government and our people have decided to respect abortion as a unique moral issue. The Democrats should reverse course and remove opposition to Hyde from their platform. Wherever you stand on abortion, forcing people to pay for it can’t be good for Democrats, or for democracy.

Russell Moore is the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Michael Wear is the author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America. Follow Russell Moore on Twitter: @drmoore Follow Michael Wear on Twitter: @MichaelRWear 

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