Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she still sees room for pro-lifers in Democratic Party

While some of her 2020 presidential primary opponents have not been welcoming of the prospect, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Tuesday that she does indeed see room in the Democratic Party for pro-life members.

During an interview on ABC's "The View," co-host Meghan McCain asked the candidate if there was "room for pro-life Democrats" to vote for her.

"Well, first, I say this: I am strongly pro-choice; I have always been pro-choice," Klobuchar answered. "But I believe we're a big tent party and there are pro-life Democrats, and they are part of our party."

The senator added, "I think we need to build a big tent; I think we need to bring people in instead of shutting them out. And I think that includes independents right here in New Hampshire as well as moderate Republicans."

Klobuchar's statement comes on the heels of a far more exclusionary statement made by Klobuchar's fellow 2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) about whether pro-lifers can be members of the party.

"I think being pro-choice is an absolutely essential part of being a Democrat, if you're asking me," Sanders said at a Saturday campaign event to applause and cheers from the audience. "I think by this time in history, I think, when we talk about what a Democrat is, I think being pro-choice is essentially, an essential part of that."

Prior to that, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was asked last month by Pro-Life Democrats executive director Kristen Day if he would support "more moderate platform language in the Democratic Party to ensure that the party of diversity and inclusion really does include everybody?"

Buttigieg wouldn't say whether or not he would support more moderate abortion language, but instead responded, "If we can't agree on where to draw the line, the next best thing we can do is agree on who should draw the line and in my view it's the woman who's faced with that decision in her own life."

But Klobuchar's position seems to be a lot closer to where Democratic voters actually are, at least according to the numbers. Gallup polling conducted in May 2019 showed that 29% of Democrats identified as "pro-life." And while it found that a smaller percentage of Democrats identified as "pro-life," Marist polling conducted in January found that 44% of Democrats favor restrictions on abortions that range between limiting it to the first three months of a pregnancy to not allowing it under any circumstances.