Sisolak, Democrats attack group for helping pregnant women

Nevada’s Democratic Party doesn’t think a women’s right to choose should include picking where she gets medical treatment.

Last week, Republican gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General Adam Laxalt visited First Choice Pregnancy Services, a crisis pregnancy center. It provides free services for pregnant women, including pregnancy tests, ultrasounds and counseling. The goal of crisis pregnancy centers is to help mothers choose life for their preborn babies.

“If his outspoken opposition to Planned Parenthood isn’t enough, his embrace of this shameful group is enough to demonstrate where he stands,” tweeted Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisolak in response to Laxalt’s visit.

Shameful? Really? Is it shameful to give pregnant women free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds? Is it shameful to give a pregnant mom emotional support and information on how abortion isn’t her only option? Is it shameful for a pregnant woman to choose life for her unborn child? Is it shameful for a mom such as Katrina, who chose to keep her child after visiting a different Las Vegas crisis pregnancy center, to call her baby “the best thing that has ever happened to me”?

Neither Sisolak nor his campaign responded to calls for comments.

It wasn’t just Sisolak attacking Laxalt for visiting a group dedicated to helping pregnant women. Laxalt “threatens to roll back decades of progress on women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions,” said Nevada Democratic Party spokeswoman Helen Kalla.

Silly me. I thought “women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions” included the freedom to choose what clinic to go to. Instead, you have Democrats acting as if women aren’t capable of processing information and making up their own minds and must be protected from the horrors of free ultrasounds.

Remember this the next time Democrats claim the abortion debate is about a women’s right to choose.

Attacking crisis pregnancy centers makes it seem as if Democrats see pregnancy as a zero-sum political game, not as a personal decision. If a woman gets an abortion, that’s 1 point for the left. But if she chooses life for her child, that’s 1 point for those right-wing religious zealots.

This is a major shift from where Democrats were just 22 year ago. Then, Bill Clinton called for abortion to be “safe, legal and rare.” Today, pro-life Democrats are an endangered species.

That’s a problem for Sisolak, a self-proclaimed moderate, who’s “not in favor of” abortions done “very late” in a pregnancy. Despite his fundraising advantages, Sisolak faces a credible primary challenge from fellow Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani. Unlike Sisolak, Giunchigliani has been an outspoken and hard-core lefty for decades. Nevada’s Democratic primary voters are historically from the left wing of the party.

On her website, Giunchigliani says she will “always stand up to Republican attempts to put the government between a woman and her doctor.” EMILY’s List, a national pro-choice PAC, has also endorsed her. Those realities explain, but don’t excuse, why Sisolak has resorted to such attacks.

Sisolak also tweeted that “Adam Laxalt’s anti-choice views are beyond the pale.” If that’s what he thinks of Laxalt’s pro-life stance, he needs to share what he thinks of the Catholic Church’s view on abortion. News reports have called Sisolak a “devout Catholic.” The Catholic Church is one of the world’s leading abortion opponents.

In 2013, Pope Francis wrote people “cannot receive Holy Communion and at the same time act with deeds or words against the commandments, particularly when abortion, euthanasia and other grave crimes against life and family are encouraged. This responsibility weighs particularly over legislators, heads of governments, and health professionals.”

If Sisolak thinks a crisis pregnancy center is “shameful,” how would he and other Nevada Democrats describe Pope Francis?

Listen to Victor Joecks discuss his columns each Monday at 9 a.m. with Kevin Wall on 790 Talk Now. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.