Democratic Party (United States)

==== Abortion and reproductive rights ====
{{see also|Abortion in the United States}}
The Democratic position on abortion has changed significantly over time.<ref name="Williams-2015">{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Daniel K. |date=June 2015 |title=The Partisan Trajectory of the American Pro-Life Movement: How a Liberal Catholic Campaign Became a Conservative Evangelical Cause |journal=Religions |language=en |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=451–475 |doi=10.3390/rel6020451 |issn=2077-1444 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Williams-2022b">{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Daniel K. |date=May 9, 2022 |title=This Really Is a Different Pro-Life Movement |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/south-abortion-pro-life-protestants-catholics/629779/ |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |quote=This was not merely a geographic shift, trading one region for another, but a more fundamental transformation of the anti-abortion movement's political ideology. In 1973 many of the most vocal opponents of abortion were northern Democrats who believed in an expanded social-welfare state and who wanted to reduce abortion rates through prenatal insurance and federally funded day care. In 2022, most anti-abortion politicians are conservative Republicans who are skeptical of such measures. What happened was a seismic religious and political shift in opposition to abortion that has not occurred in any other Western country. |archive-date=May 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510043840/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/south-abortion-pro-life-protestants-catholics/629779/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Republicans generally favored legalized abortion more than Democrats,<ref name="Halpern-2018">{{Cite news |last=Halpern |first=Sue |date=November 8, 2018 |title=How Republicans Became Anti-Choice |language=en |work=[[The New York Review of Books]] |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/08/how-republicans-became-anti-choice/ |access-date=February 4, 2023 |issn=0028-7504 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204085532/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/08/how-republicans-became-anti-choice/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although significant heterogeneity could be found within both parties.<ref name="Taylor-2018">{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Justin |date=May 9, 2018 |title=How the Christian Right Became Prolife on Abortion and Transformed the Culture Wars |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/christian-right-discovered-abortion-rights-transformed-culture-wars/ |access-date=February 4, 2023 |website=[[The Gospel Coalition]] |language=en-US |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204085533/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/christian-right-discovered-abortion-rights-transformed-culture-wars/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During this time, opposition to abortion tended to be concentrated within the political left in the United States. Liberal Protestants and Catholics (many of whom were Democratic voters) opposed abortion, while most conservative Protestants supported legal access to abortion services.<ref name="Williams-2015" />{{clarify|date=April 2024}}

In its national platforms from 1992 to 2004, the Democratic Party has called for abortion to be "safe, legal and rare"—namely, keeping it legal by rejecting laws that allow governmental interference in abortion decisions and reducing the number of abortions by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and contraception and incentives for adoption. The wording changed in the 2008 platform.{{cn|date=April 2024}} When Congress voted on the [[Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act]] in 2003, Congressional Democrats were split, with a minority (including former [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Majority Leader]] [[Harry Reid]]) supporting the ban and the majority of Democrats opposing the legislation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/HouseVote/Party_2003-530.htm|title=House Votes on 2003-530|publisher=Ontheissues.org|date=October 2, 2003|access-date=March 18, 2014|archive-date=February 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228171204/http://www.ontheissues.org/HouseVote/Party_2003-530.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the 2020 Democratic Party platform, "Democrats believe every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion."<ref>{{cite web |title=2020 Democratic Party Platform |url=https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-07-31-Democratic-Party-Platform-For-Distribution.pdf |website=2020 Democratic National Convention |access-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-date=February 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216091833/https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-07-31-Democratic-Party-Platform-For-Distribution.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>