Story highlights Jill Filipovic: Democratic party may be open to backing anti-abortion candidates who can help them win back Congress

She says this is an option that should not even be on the table, is an insult to women and a losing strategy

Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and Nairobi, Kenya, and the author of the book "The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness." Follow her on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Ben Ray Luján, said in an interview this week that his party intended to support candidates who can win, regardless of their position on abortion rights.

There will be no abortion "litmus test" in the Democrats' drive to win back the House, he said. His comments echoed earlier ones from Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer and Bernie Sanders.

Jill Filipovic

That's not just an insult to the women (and men) who make up the Democrats' base. It's a fool's errand.

Much of the left has learned all the wrong lessons from Hillary Clinton's defeat. They could focus on increasing turnout among their base -- women and African-Americans -- but Democrats have instead taken a rhetorical page from both Donald Trump's sexism and Bernie Sanders's populism by trying to appeal to disaffected white guys.

This pivot to the right on women's health is particularly insidious, reflecting an anti-feminist backlash across the political spectrum.

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