So it turns out the Democrats are the pro-life party
Shocking, I know.
But it’s true.
A quick look at each party’s view on life-or-death issues like the death penalty, climate change, healthcare, and even abortion, shows that, in totality, Democrats support legislation and promote positions that save more American lives than Republicans do.
1. Death penalty
The 2016 Democratic Party platform says, “[The death penalty] has no place in the United States of America. The application of the death penalty is arbitrary and unjust. … And, exonerations show a dangerous lack of reliability for what is an irreversible punishment.”
A study conducted in 2014 found that one out of every 25 death row inmates are innocent, many of whom are killed before receiving proper justice.
The Democrat’s position is clear: the death penalty is government-sanctioned murder that too often incorrectly ends innocent American lives.
On the other side, the GOP states, “The constitutionality of the death penalty is firmly settled by its explicit mention in the Fifth Amendment. With the murder rate soaring in our great cities, we condemn the Supreme Court’s erosion of the right of the people to enact capital punishment in their states.”
What the Fifth Amendment does not do, however, is give a jury or court permission to convict an innocent person to death. If there was a method that could determine guilt and hand out sentences with complete certainty, that system would work. But that process does not exist. Therefore, the current death penalty convictions are unconstitutional, unfair, and immoral.
If every human life truly matters, a process that too often condemns guiltless Americans to death cannot be supported or promoted.
2. Climate change
Air, water, atmosphere — our surroundings are essential to our survival, and both parties recognize that. However, they disagree with how well America is currently doing at keeping our climate clean. In fact, they have completely opposite opinions.
The Republican Party says, “The central fact of any sensible environmental policy is that, year by year, the environment is improving,” while the Democrats claim, “Climate change is a global emergency. We have no time to waste in taking action to protect Americans’ lives and futures.”
So who is right?
The U.S. Global Change Research Foundation said in a 2017 report:
“The global climate continues to change rapidly compared to the pace of the natural variations in climate that have occurred throughout Earth’s history. Trends in globally averaged temperature, sea level rise, upper-ocean heat content, land-based ice melt, arctic sea ice, depth of seasonal permafrost thaw, and other climate variables provide consistent evidence of a warming planet. These observed trends are robust and have been confirmed by multiple independent research groups around the world.”
Independent scientists and federal government agencies agree that our current way of living is, overall, harming our environment:
“Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases lead to an increase of both average and extreme temperatures. This is expected to lead to an increase in deaths and illness from heat and a potential decrease in deaths from cold, particularly for a number of communities especially vulnerable to these changes, such as children, the elderly, and economically disadvantaged groups.”
The science agrees with the Democrats — or, rather, the Democrats agree with the science.
The climate doesn’t have a political opinion. In many ways, it’s a reactive entity, responding to what we do and how we treat it.
Unless human-caused climate changing variables are noted, reduced and controlled, innocent people will continue to die. Supporting legislation and regulations that protect our planet and our most susceptible friends, family, and neighbors is the pro-life position.
3. Healthcare
Both parties believe healthcare is important. They differ greatly, however, about how, when, and why Americans should receive care.
The GOP’s platform says, “[American medicine] is the consequence of marrying significant investment, both public and private, with the world’s best talent, a formula that has for a century given the American people the world’s best healthcare.”
In contrast, the Democratic platform says, “We fundamentally believe health care is a right for all, not a privilege for the few. … We need to protect, strengthen, and build upon our bedrock health care programs. … Private insurers need real competition to ensure they have incentive to provide affordable, quality coverage to every American.”
In summary, the Republican Party maintains that people will receive the best healthcare possible if only private insurance is offered, even if that means some people won’t be able to afford any type of coverage.
The Democratic Party, conversely, emphasizes that having affordable access to healthcare is a right all Americans are entitled to, whether they choose to purchase private insurance or take advantage of a public plan.
The fact is too many people die every day because they can’t afford a specific kind of medicine or an emergency room bill is too high. A study published in 2009 found that nearly 45,000 Americans needlessly die every year because they lack health insurance.
Lead writer, Andrew Wilper, M.D., explains, “The uninsured have a higher risk of death when compared to the privately insured. … We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease — but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications.”
Democratic plans don’t wish to erase an individual’s option to purchase private insurance: if a person wants to keep the insurance they currently have, they can. The Democrats simply seek for a system that gives everyone the chance to live another day.
Republican leaders seek to continue funding a system that allows pharmaceutical companies to make an extra buck or two while thousands die, unable to purchase help or secure adequate access.
4. Abortion
Between the two parties, Republicans disapprove of abortions the most. It would be silly to try to argue otherwise.
It’s important to note, however, that Democrats, in response to Republicans calling themselves pro-life, are not anti-life, nor are they pro-abortion — Democrats are pro-choice, meaning they support legislation that protects a person’s decision to receive or not receive an abortion. If someone views the chance to make such a choice as abhorrent, that’s a fair critique, but labeling the Democratic Party as pro-abortion is lazy and incorrect.
In fact, a substantial number of Democrats agree with the popular Republican idea that abortions ought only be legal and performed in specific situations. A 2020 Gallup poll found that 59 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Democrats believe abortions, “should be legal in only certain circumstances,” and another survey discovered that close to one out of every four Democrats considers themselves to be pro-life.
So as different as their extremes may be, the more-populated moderates of both parties hold similar personal feelings towards abortions. The morals of the majorities are comparable; their differences lay within the laws surrounding the topic.
