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Democrats for Life opened its Washington office two and a half years ago with five state chapters and 300 members. Today, they have 32 state chapters and between 2,000 and 3,000 dues-paying members. The group has been active this week during the Democratic National Convention, holding events for pro-life Democrats. They have also been wearing buttons saying "43 percent can't be wrong," which refers to a Zogby poll that determined that 43 percent of Democrats agree that "abortion destroys a human life and is manslaughter." Christianity Today talked with executive director Kristen Day on Wednesday, while she was in Boston.

Do you think you're gaining ground, trying to gain recognition of a pro-life position within the Democratic Party?

It's amazing. When I opened the Washington office two years ago, the DNC would not return my calls and I was pretty persistent. I think I called every other week for maybe six or seven months. But now they return my calls. The conversation has started. We met with [DNC Chairman] Terry McAuliffe on Super Tuesday, one of the busiest days of his year. The dialogue is starting.

We received correspondence from Senator [John] Kerry saying why he supports Roe v. Wade and believes that life begins at conception. I don't know how those two mix, but he did say he wanted us to continue to bring this issue up and that there is a need for discussion on this issue. I think we're going to see more of it. Two years ago Democrats weren't even allowed to talk about this issue. I think we've made an important step here. It's going to be talked about now.

What do you think of Kerry's position that life begins at conception?

We were very pleased to see that he came forward and said that. But now he needs to follow through. Maybe this is a new thing for him. We would really like to meet with him after the convention, maybe in the next couple months to help him develop his new position and be consistent. If he believes that life begins at conception, then he should start to vote that way and really protect life.

Do you feel that the Catholic bishops' attention on Kerry's abortion stance helps or hurts the pro-life segment of the Democratic Party?

In a way, I think the pressure did bring Kerry to come out and say that he does believe that life begins at conception. I think that's one of the problems with being pro-life and Democrat. People are so afraid to come out and say that they're pro-life because of the backlash they might get from the party. That's what we are trying to stop. People who are pro-life and Democrat should be proud to stand up and say they are pro-life and Democrat. They shouldn't feel that they need to hide behind anything and be afraid of the abortion lobby, which is so powerful. I think that's what it comes down to is fear of the abortion lobby and their vast sources of money. Our efforts are to really give support to pro-life Democrats and hopefully support the people like Kerry and Jennifer Granholm, the governor of Michigan, who also says she believes that life begins at conception but doesn't vote that way. We want to give these politicians support and tell them they should vote their conscience, and they should protect life.

On that front we are going to start a PAC [Political Action Committee] next year. We've been working with one of Gov. Casey's sons, Pat Casey [of Pennsylvania], and we're going to kick it off next year.

In 1992, Gov. Bob Casey wasn't allowed to speak at the Democratic Convention because of his pro-life position. And there has continued to be debate over pro-life speakers. Have there been any?

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July (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48