TEN WAYS TO STAND UP AS A PRO-LIFE DEMOCRAT

/ Kristen Day

by Mary Ann Chimera, president of DFL-OH

This is the beginning of a list of ways in which you can let it be known that you are a Democrat who stands up for life. The list is incomplete. I invite anyone who cares to step in to suggest still other ways.

  1. Become a member of Democrats for Life of America (DFLA). Politics is a game of numbers, of how many votes can be delivered. The more of us who are standing together in an organized way, the more effective is our clout and the more our views will gain attention.
  2. Encourage every pro-life Democrat you know to become part of our movement by joining DFLA or your state chapter. Membership in one is membership in the other.
  3. Distribute our brochures. This can be done at Party meetings and functions, county fairs, festivals and anywhere else you can think of. Brochures can be obtained through your state chapter and there is also one you can duplicate at democratsforlife.org.
  4. Organize a local or campus group affiliated with DFLA. Hold meetings to discuss effective strategies for spreading the pro-life/DFLA message, especially among Democrats. Then, act on those strategies.
  5. Write letters to the editor discussing pro-life issues from a Democratic perspective. (We’re usually gentler and more concerned with the Mom than is the GOP.)
  6. Contact your state and national officeholders to encourage them to vote pro-life. Inform them of your stand. Keep in touch with them to let them know your thinking. If it seems to you that groups like NARAL and Planned Parenthood are doing their thinking for them, gently point out your different perspective. Suggest how you think they should vote on upcoming legislation,

Every communication officeholders receive is very important because it suggests that many others share your views. Please be polite and respectful in these communications. We want to win these folks to the right side of our issues, not persuade them to write us off as cranks or enemies.

  1. Step up and volunteer to help out your state chapter. There are currently many necessary things that are not being done because we lack the people to do them. Attend your state chapter meeting to meet the folks.
  2. Loosen up your purse strings to support both DFLA and your state chapter. Your money helps us be more effective.
  3. Lend a hand to help pro-life Democrats get elected. They and we need all the help they can get. Take an active part in the campaign of a pro-life Democrat.
  4. If qualified, run for office as a pro-life Democrat. Our officeholders are our front line in winning back the Democratic Party for LIFE.