February 26, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Despite skipping his scheduled appearance at the 2018 March for Life, voting to fund military “sex change” surgeries, and ending his opposition to gay “marriage,” Rep. Dan Lipinski, the last pro-life Democrat in Congress, cannot secure his party’s endorsement as he runs for re-election.
Lipinski, who represents Illinois’s third district, faces massive opposition from the his party establishment and the abortion lobby during his seat’s Democratic primary next month.
Lipinski’s challenger, Marie Newman, is endorsed by EMILY’s List, NARAL Pro-Choice America, MoveOn.org, the LGBT lobby group the Human Rights Campaign, Gloria Steinem, and Planned Parenthood.
The concessions Lipinski has made on issues like immigration, as well other social issues like marriage and the LGBT cause, are not nearly enough for the Democrats and their pro-abortion allies. Lipinski’s fellow Illinois Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Luís Gutierrez have both endorsed Newman.
Lipinski’s opposition to shredding, poisoning, and dismembering babies throughout all nine months of pregnancy mean “he has put women’s reproductive health care in jeopardy,” said EMILY’s List president Stephanie Shriock.
#VoteProChoice, a “radically inclusive” new initiative to elect pro-abortion candidates, maintains that “there’s only one real Democrat in this race and that’s Marie Newman.”
Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, told LifeSiteNews he has “witnessed how Rep. Lipinski lives out his commitment to his constituents, born and unborn.”
“The fact that the Democratic party will not endorse him does not surprise me, however, because it is consistent with their radical alliance with the abortion industry,” said Pavone. “The party platform issued in 2016 was worse than ever in its support of killing children in the womb and making taxpayers fund it. In this, the party elites are far out of step with the grassroots.”
After the 2016 presidential election, there was a public bout of in-fighting amongst Democrats over whether their party should tolerate members with pro-life views.
Surprisingly, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, defended the notion that pro-life Democrats, or Democrats who had previously voted for mildly pro-life measures, might be welcome.
“I’ve met countless pro-life Democrats across the country, some of whom are elected officials at the local level,” said Pavone. “But [once] you reach the level of the U.S. Congress, the Party simply does not want members who stand up for the children in the womb.”
In the 20 states that have passed a limit on abortion after five months, 277 Democratic legislators – 27 percent – have voted in support of the legislation.
Pro-abortion and anti-Catholic Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-CA, has also failed to win her state party’s endorsement for re-election.