Why he’s no longer pro-life: the “misadventures of Tim Ryan”

The once pro-life congressman switched sides last week—and now here’s some reaction and analysis from Kristen Day of Democrats for Life in The Hill: 

His pronouncement is a symptom of a larger problem within the Democratic Party – the abortion litmus test.

Democrats once held a 292-seat majority in the U.S House with 110 pro-life Democrats. Today, we are in the minority and there are only a handful of pro-life Democrats. The number of pro-choice democrats has remained about the same over the last 30 years – around 180 give or take. It is the number of pro-life Democrats that can win in pro-life districts and states that propel us to the magic number for the majority.

The truth is you cannot get funding from national Democratic spigots unless you pass the pro-choice litmus test. Tim Ryan, former champion of pro-life and common ground initiatives, former Advisory Board member of Democrats for Life of America (DFLA), offers the latest evidence. That litmus test, more than anything else, continues to undermine the Democratic Party’s development of candidates who can contest red-leaning and purple states and districts. In so doing, it cedes control of Congress to the GOP.

Ryan’s case is instructive.  I first met the then starry-eyed congressman following his first election in 2004. We sat down together, spending many hours in his office discussing how there was not enough being done to provide support for pregnant women and too much focus on restricting abortion. It was a meeting of like minds and shared values. We agreed that providing more support and giving women real choices when pregnant was the solution because an abortion is not a choice – it’s a desperate measure.

He also shared with me his staunch support for protection of the most vulnerable among us. Who is more vulnerable than a child in the womb, he asked? We proudly asked him to join our Advisory Board and were thrilled with his obviously heartfelt commitment to whole life principles.

It was with great regret that, a few years later, we quietly removed him from our Advisory Board.

Read more and learn why.