Democrats: Second-Thoughts about Party's Defense of Abortion?

In "Confessions of a 'moral issues' voter" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 6, 2004), Democrat Eric Miller explains why he was compelled to cast his reluctant vote for Bush:

Herein lies the heart of my quarrel with the Democratic Party. In the vast arena symbolized by the single word "abortion," your party is not only permitting a category of choice that humans must not sanction, it is intent on enlarging that sphere to permit a kind of experimentation that will only further diminish our experience of being human. To be complicit in such conduct is not just to despise the gifts of the creator. It is to despise him.

"Abortion" and its accompanying cluster of concerns, to put it differently, are not "issues" to me. They are practices, practices whose effects are far from "private." As public and social acts that have to do with the treatment and definition of human life in its most elemental, unprotected forms, they demand the most careful evaluation and judgment of the body politic in whose midst they are taking place.

Such moral and philosophic deliberation lies at the heart of democracy, and of democratic freedom itself, as I understand it. But the Democratic Party has committed itself to stifling any form of deliberation on these matters. We Pennsylvanians know this better than some. When the party rigidly denied our pro-life Democratic governor Robert Casey the opportunity to address these concerns at its 1992 convention, it shut down the very conversation that might have retained many old friends and brought new ones into your midst, including people like me.

Amen, Eric -- and thank you for your post. God willing more and more Democrats will have the courage to speak up on this matter: to the press, to their friends, to their representatives. As I said, let this be a wake-up call for Democrats across the nation.

Other signs of Democratic renewal (or at least promptings to renewal):

• Democrats Should Soften Abortion Stance, Louisiana Governor Says. LifeNews.com Nov. 7, 2004. Democratic Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said that the Democratic party needs to moderate its pro-abortion views to appeal to Southern, Midwestern and rural voters. According to Lifenews.com, "Kerry lost the presidential race in large part because of the 22 percent of voters who said moral issues such as abortion were most important."
  
• Democrats for Life: "Party Should Moderate Abortion Stance After Election Loss" LifeNews.com. Nov. 4, 2004. Democrats for Life Kristin Day pointed to election victories for pro-life Democrats as a motivation for the Party to re-think their position. “The good news is pro-life Democrats are winning campaigns," Day said. "Pro-life Democrats win because they withstand the pressure of the national party and represent the values of their local communities."
  
• Democrats For Life have released their updated list of "Democrats for Life All Stars". Says Pete Vere (Catholic Light"): "Democrats-for-Life has just posted the following score-card. If current trends continue, it appears that we may be the only Democrats left as voters continue to abort the political aspirations of Abortion Democrats."
  

  According to LifeNews.com, "while a January 2003 Zogby poll revealed 43 percent of Democrats oppose all or most abortions, a CBS News poll indicated that delegates to the Democratic convention in Boston that nominated Kerry were twice as likely as Democratic voters to support abortion in all cases." Pro-abortion Democrats are reaping the consequences of that nomination.