No matter who wins tonight, babies will lose. While Students for Life does not advocate for or against any candidate, it’s worth pointing out the tremendous gap between where Americans stand on abortion and where the Democratic candidates stand on abortion.

In November, the New York Times published the results of a survey of most of the Democratic candidates for abortion (not all of the candidates answered all questions, and at the time, Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick had just entered the race). You can read more here.

The 2016 Democratic platform on abortion states in part, “Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights, and justice. We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured…” No leading Democrat has said they want to move this platform away from this, and Pete Buttigieg recently told Kristen Day of Democrats for Life that he would not support editing the platform to simply acknowledge that there are pro-life Democrats.

But these positions are out of the mainstream. For example, our poll in January 2019 found:

• 7 of 10 Millennials support limits on abortion through specific policies like parental notification, limiting abortions later in pregnancy like at 5 months of pregnancy, and opposition to government funding of abortion.
• Only 7 percent shared the position of the Democratic Party Platform – abortion without any exceptions and funded by tax dollars.
• More Millennials than not support Roe’s reversal. Asked directly about support for overturning Roe and returning abortion to the states, 41 percent supported Roe’s reversal.
• 65 percent of Millennials support the right to vote on abortion-related policy and want a voice on abortion policy

A Knights of Columbus poll released in January 2020 also found:

• 65% of Americans are more likely to vote for candidates who support candidates who want to limit abortions after twelve weeks.
• 75% of Americans are against taxpayer-funding of international abortions.

Furthermore, while candidates are courting the college vote, many of their views are not aligned with what college students want.

A survey of 10,000 college students by College Pulse found:

• 20% said that fetal abnormalities is a reason to keep abortion legal.
• 23% said in the cases of rape.
• 24% said when health is at risk.
• 17% said in abusive relationships.
• 14% said if the partner of the mother left during the pregnancy.