Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says he is “troubled” by his Democrat party’s radical stance on abortion, its promise to work to expand taxpayer funding of the procedure, and its advocacy for abortion business Planned Parenthood.
Edwards attended a Democrats for Life event at the Party’s national convention last week in Philadelphia.
“There are folks like me all across the country,” he said, reports CNSNews. “I would just encourage them to become part of the party and become part of the solution, seek elected office so that collectively we can change the Democratic Party on this issue.”
Edwards added that being a pro-life Democrat is “not difficult in Louisiana like it would be in some other places.”
“While I’m troubled by the platform, I’ve never been one to honor that particular plank [on abortion] in our platform anyway, so I think we can do better and we’re going to do better,” Edwards said, “I think we’re going to have to.”
Edwards says his pro-life views are informed by his Catholic faith.
“My mother and father raised all eight of their children to be Catholic,” he said. “I’m a cradle Catholic, my wife is a convert, and we pray together every day, to start the day and to finish the day.”
“It’s important for us not just to pray in quiet but to allow those values to dictate the way we live our lives — and now as a governor and before as a legislator to actually turn that into action, and so it’s very important,” he added.
Regarding his Party’s stance on abortion, Edwards said, “We like to say we’re a big tent party but the platform is getting smaller and smaller.”
In June, Edwards signed a measure that bans dismemberment – or dilation and evacuation (D&E) – abortions commonly performed in the second trimester of pregnancy. The procedure involves tearing the unborn baby’s limbs from his or her body.
The Democrat party and its nominee Hillary Clinton have fully embraced abortion, vowing to defend Planned Parenthood against attempts to eliminate its taxpayer funding. Democrats have also promised to work to repeal the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding provision that prohibits federal taxpayer funding of abortions. Clinton has said unborn babies have no constitutional rights and that she will seek to repeal the Hyde Amendment so that taxpayer funds can be used to provide abortions for low-income, mostly black and Hispanic women.
Clinton’s running mate Sen. Tim Kaine (VA) also claims to be Catholic and to hold “a traditional Catholic personal position” on abortion. Unlike Edwards, however, Kaine said, “I’m a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade and women being able to make these decisions,” according to CNN.
As Breitbart News reports, Kaine is trying to get more liberal Catholics to vote for Clinton by making a false distinction between traditional Catholics and what he calls “Pope Francis Catholics.”
Pope Francis, however, has been highly critical of abortion and the meme created by the abortion industry and its leftwing media allies that abortion is “women’s healthcare.” As Breitbart News also reported, Francis has called such a narrative a “false compassion.”
During a press conference in February, Pope Francis asserted that abortion is “a crime” and an “absolute evil.”
Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards said about Kaine, “He has been a champion for Planned Parenthood.”
Other pro-life members of the Democrat Party are denouncing the platform’s radical stance on abortion, and agree the position is intolerant.
“This platform’s language just says (to abortion opponents) you are no longer welcome,” said Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, “This has been the general message pro-life Democrats are receiving across the country.”
Day said the pro-abortion language in the platform is diminishing the size of the Democrat Party. She added that some Democrats have called her to say they will not vote for Clinton because of her extreme pro-abortion stance.
At least four Democrat U.S. senators also claim to object to their Party’s radical stance on abortion: Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).
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