Pro-life Democrats could be the latest casualty in the progressive war on the party, as one influential representative on Friday called for primary challenges and even stripping of funding from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for those who differ from the pro-abortion stance that many in the party hold, even going as far as saying "you can't say you're a Democrat..if you don't spport abortion."
According to Newsweek, Washington State Representative Pramila Jayapal said, "I think we should allow for strong primary challenges, so that people can really put their Democratic chops on the line, if you will, and let the Democratic voters decide who they want," referring to the choice between pro-choice and pro-life Democrats.
Currently, there are five pro-life Democratic officials in all of Congress such as Representatives Dan Lipinski of Illinois, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, and Henry Cuellar of Texas as well as Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
Jayapal also added that the DCCC needs to re-examine what it actually means to be a Democratic candidate and stop funding those who do not believe in a woman's right to abort her baby.
"I understand that the DCCC is funded by—we are a membership organization—it's funded by our members. And I understand that the DCCC is often going to try to protect the incumbent,” Jayapal said. "But I do think we have to look at all of these issues and think about what it means to be a Democrat.”
"Personally, I do think there should be a core set of Democratic ideals that we all agree to," she said at a press conference. "That you can't say you're a Democrat if you're against immigrants, if you're against abortion, if you're against gay marriage, LGBTQ rights."
Earlier this week, Rep. Ro Khanna out of California, a fellow progressive made similar statements saying that the "last person the DCCC should be supporting" is pro-life Democrat Rep. Dan Lipinski.
At a time when Roe v Wade is under threat with the Alabama law, the last person the DCCC should be supporting is Lipinski who does not believe in constitutional reproductive rights. It’s demeaning to women across this nation. https://t.co/a0sz7KvqZ5
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) May 16, 2019
The comments come as Republican state legislatures across the country have passed numerous state laws which protect life inside the mother's womb and limit when a woman can obtain an abortion.