The endless debate over what went wrong for Democrats in the last election has almost entirely avoided what has become the party’s signature issue: abortion.
Democrats believed they could ride the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade to victory, and not without reason. Polling consistently showed that more than half of Americans disapproved of the ruling. And yet, even though Kamala Harris and Tim Walz made abortion rights a centerpiece of their campaign, they lost ground among women.
Most analysts blame the economy for that, but the party’s central emphasis on abortion rights probably made it more difficult for voters to identify Harris with her economic agenda. Nearly eight in 10 voters who named the economy as their top issue voted for Donald Trump, while only 23% of voters named abortion as one of their top three issues.
The problem, however, wasn’t just one of emphasis. Tone mattered, too. Over the past decade, the party’s rhetoric on abortion has grown more divisive, often taking an accusatory form. Those who wish to ban or restrict it are trying to “control women’s bodies” because they “don’t trust women,” since they’re “weird.”
Careful phrasing
Although the end of Roe has understandably heightened passions on the issue, Democrats would benefit politically by remembering who didn’t make those kinds of accusations: the last three Democrats to win the presidency.
Joe Biden mostly avoided the issue in 2020, not even mentioning it in his convention speech. Bill Clinton memorably spoke about wanting to ensure that abortion was “safe, legal and rare” — a phrase no longer tolerated by party activists, because of the word “rare.” And Barack Obama, who likewise strongly supported abortion rights, took pains to respect opposing views.
In a 2009 speech at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Obama told the story of getting an email from a pro-life doctor who wanted to vote for him — but wouldn’t, because Obama’s campaign website mentioned “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose.”
The doctor did not ask Obama to change his view on abortion, only to speak about it “in fair-minded words.” Obama, who directed his staff to change the language on the website and wrote a thank you note to the doctor, urged each side of the debate to make its case respectfully, “without reducing those with differing views to caricature,” and to find common ground on reducing unintended pregnancies, increasing adoptions and improving maternal care.
Obama’s approach to abortion — magnanimous and humble, inclusive and unifying — helped him become the first Democrat since 1964 to win Indiana. But since then, Democrats have effectively disqualified those who call themselves pro-life from winning party nominations, even though in most red districts, they offer the best chance to win over not only Republicans, but Democrats, too. About one in four moderate or conservative Democrats, or independents who lean Democrat, believe that abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.
“Our party sends the wrong message when it has any kind of litmus test: abortion, guns, health care,” former Indiana Congressman Tim Roemer told me last fall, during an RV trip that brought me through his old district. (I interned in Roemer’s office as a student at Notre Dame.)
“Democrats do a disservice to themselves if they say, ‘If you’re not with us on a particular issue, you’re not a Democrat,’” he said. “We’ve always been a party with a big tent and diversity.”
Or at least, it was when Democrats were winning national elections.
Dissenting voices
Last week, Democrats for Life participated in the annual March For Life in Washington, D.C., but no Democratic members of Congress spoke at the group’s breakfast. Its executive director, Kristen Day, is running for vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, but no delegates have endorsed her candidacy. The outgoing chair of the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison, refused even to meet with the group, Day told me — the first party chair to do so.
“People want to be listened to and have their views heard,” said Day. “I represent the people who don’t have a 100% DNC scorecard, but we still want to be part of the party because there’s a lot we agree with — on paid parental leave, the child tax credit” and other pro-family issues.
Without listening to these dissenting voices, the Democratic Party seems unable to recognize — or countenance — that many of them favor middle-ground positions. (Democrats for Life has supported the type of laws that prevail in much of Europe, including legal abortion through a pregnancy’s first 20 weeks.) And the party seems unable to recognize — or countenance — that a big tent approach on abortion would help it reclaim areas that have gone from blue to red. In 2024, Democrats for Life’s political action committee endorsed 39 candidates; 37 of them won.
As Democrats wander the wilderness, they pine for candidates with Obama’s political talents. To have a chance to win the districts and states he did, they should start by embracing his spirit — and giving Day’s candidacy for DNC vice-chair a fair-minded hearing.
Frank Barry is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. ©2025 Bloomberg. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.