REP. LIPINSKI WINS IN ILLINOIS
Race highlights pro-abortion extremism of Democrat Party

WASHINGTON – Pro-life Democrat Rep. Dan Lipinski fended off a primary challenge by pro-abortion candidate Marie Newman in Illinois’ third congressional district last night in a race that highlighted the Democrat Party’s pro-abortion extremism. Lipinski was endorsed by National Right to Life.

“We congratulate Congressman Lipinski on his victory and look forward to continuing to work with him to advance the right-to-life cause,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Once again, the Democrat Party proved they would stop at nothing, including attacking one of their own, to advance their extreme pro-abortion agenda. That extremism is why they’re still the minority party.”

Newman’s challenge made good on a 2017 promise by Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez that the party would only support candidates who back an extreme abortion agenda calling for unrestricted abortion for any reason – including late abortions after 20 weeks – and taxpayer funding of abortion. In April 2017, Perez called support for abortion by Democrat candidates “not negotiable,” and said it “should not change city by city or state by state.”

“Dating back to the ouster of Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey from their 1992 convention, Democrats have become increasingly intolerant of pro-life Americans within their own ranks,” said Tobias. “There are still a significant number of Democratic voters who reject the abortion industry’s incessant call for unrestricted abortion on demand, and their party’s embrace of that agenda.”

A November 2016 poll conducted by The Polling Company for National Right to Life found that 20% of Democrats self-identified as pro-life. The same poll also found just 20% of Democrats supported their party’s current position of unrestricted abortion for any reason, while 22% support limiting abortion to cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life is in danger.

Additionally, post-election polling conducted by National Right to Life in previous elections consistently finds that candidates who oppose abortion enjoy a significant advantage over their pro-abortion opponents. The same November 2016 poll found that 49% said abortion affected the way they voted. Thirty-one percent said they voted for candidates who oppose abortion compared to just 18% who voted for candidates who favor abortion.

Founded in 1968, National Right to Life, the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

# # #