Kristen Day, a self-described “pro-life” Democrat, said she didn’t feel welcome at last week’s Women’s March on Washington.
“I’m usually the most hated woman in the room wherever I go, whether it’s a Democratic group or a pro-life group,” Day said. “It was really a sad experience to go to the feminist march and be told I don’t belong there.”
Friday, Day made sure she was on hand during the March for Life in Washington. She was one of a few dozen secular abortion opponents marching alongside hundreds of conservative religious groups.
Day, a 47-year-old Virginia resident, is the executive director of Democrats for Life of America, a group with chapters in 13 states.
“I got a lot of messages during the campaign saying, ‘I can’t vote for her,’ ” Day said, referring to Hillary Clinton, the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee.
She argued that Clinton’s loss in traditionally Democratic states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin was due in part to the candidate’s decision to unequivocally support Roe v. Wade instead of supporting abortion only as a last resort – like former President Barack Obama did as a candidate in 2007. Roe v. Wade is the 1973 Supreme Court decision that disallowed many state and federal restrictions on abortion.
“I will defend Roe v. Wade,” Clinton said during the final presidential debate in October, “and I will defend women’s rights to make their own health care decisions.”
That passionate defense of Roe v. Wade, Day argued, will have disastrous implications in the 2018 midterm elections, when 23 Senate seats held by Democrats are up for re-election.
The most vulnerable Democrats include Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota – all states where Trump beat Clinton by at least 19 percentage points.
“We’re in bad shape,” Day said. “Republicans are in full control of 32 state legislatures. I fear this next election we will have more losses.”