Democratic Party leaders have frequently tried to play down abortion to win elections. After Democrats failed to take the White House in 2004, Howard Dean, who would soon become chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said, “I have long believed that we ought to make a home for pro-life Democrats.” This thinking among Democrats paved the way for debate on the Affordable Care Act to come to a screeching halt when Blue Dog Democrats like Bart Stupak wanted to insert anti-abortion provisions.

While this game plan could make a certain amount of electoral sense — according to Pew Research Center polling, about a third of independents believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, although a majority of the country believes it should be legal — it is galling coming from someone like Senator Sanders. He takes a hard line on vitally important economic issues yet refuses to see abortion as a strand of the same financial fabric. Mr. Sanders himself has a solid track record on supporting women’s reproductive choices. But as he jockeys to lead a transformation of the Democratic Party’s priorities and policies, it’s not an issue he’s committed to focusing on.

“You just can’t exclude people who disagree with us on one issue,” Mr. Sanders told NPR in defense of his decision to campaign with Mr. Mello. In 2015 he made it even clearer that he sees abortion as divorced from the economics he champions: “Once you get off of the social issues — abortion, gay rights, guns — and into the economic issues, there is a lot more agreement than the pundits understand.”

Yet he would happily exclude from the progressive movement even those he formally supports, like Mr. Ossoff, who don’t seem to talk enough about income inequality to satisfy Mr. Sanders.

It’s true that abortion access, as well as contraception and other reproductive health needs, may not motivate the working-class voters who helped send Mr. Trump to the White House. But any woman who has had to decide whether she could afford to keep a baby will most likely be able to tell you that economics is deeply embedded in her choice. To pretend that these issues are different and that one can be abandoned for the other is disproved in countless women’s lives.

Women fuel Democratic victories and are at the forefront of organizing against the Trump administration. Their votes and activism are more necessary than ever. It’s both smart economics and smart politics to take a firm line on reproductive rights.