As someone who is a Democrat and also pro-life, I have been frustrated by those who vote Republican solely because of the Republican stance on abortion. For me, the Republican stance on abortion doesn’t make up for the fact that the Republican platform is in every other way anti-life and ignores the tenets of Christianity except when it suits their purposes.

Finally, in an editorial in today’s NY Times, I’ve found something else saying who has the same idea:

During the eight years of the Reagan presidency, the number of legal abortions increased by more than 5 percent; during the eight years of the Clinton presidency, the number dropped by 36 percent. The overall abortion rate (calculated as the number of abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44) was more or less stable during the Reagan years, but during the Clinton presidency it dropped by 11 percent.

(Note, [Tom] that the author gives both change in number and change in rate.)

I have long felt that the policies of conservatives are not conducive to healthy families, and that the conservative concern for children ends immediately following the birth of the child.

It is all well and good to say that we want a culture of life in this country, but saying it isn’t enough. It has to be backed up with things like health care, child care for working parents (single and married), quality education, real jobs with decent benefits for the parents of those children. All these things will contribute to a culture of life, instead of a culture of poverty and despair.

It’s one thing to claim, like the current president, that you are pro-life. It’s something else entirely to create policy that supports those who are living.