(Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) – Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Sunday at the Fox News town hall that he does not support adding language to the Democratic Party’s platform that will be inclusive of pro-life Democrats.



Buttigieg admitted he is pro-choice and believes a woman should make the decision on abortion, not any government official.







Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America (DFLA), asked Buttigieg, “I'm a proud pro-life Democrat. Do you want the support of pro-life Democratic voters? There are 21 million of us, and if so would you support more moderate platform language to insure the party of diversity and inclusion really does include everybody?”



“I respect where you’re coming from, and I hope to earn your vote, but I'm not going to try to earn your vote by tricking you,” Buttigieg said. “I am pro-choice, and I believe that a woman ought to be able to make that decision, but I know that the difference of opinion you and I have is one that we have come by honestly.



“The best I can offer – and it may win your vote – and if not, I understand. The best that I can offer is that 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. In my view it's the woman who’s faced with that decision in her own life,” he said.



“This is an interesting moment, because President Trump spoke at the March for Life - He was the first president ever to actually appear at the March for Life movement, and I’m curious Kristen, are you satisfied with the answer you got from the mayor?” host Chris Wallace asked.





DAY: No, I was not, because he didn't answer the second part of my question, and the second part was the democratic platform contains language that says we don't belong. We have no part in the party, because it says abortion should be legal up to 9 months and the government should pay for it.



And there’s nothing that says that people have a diversity of views on this issue should be included in the party. In 1996, and several years after that, there was language in the Democratic platform that said that we understand that people have very differing views on this issue, but we are a big tent party that includes everybody.



And so therefore, we welcome people like me into the party so we can work together on issues we agree on. My question was would you be open on language like that in the Democratic platform that really did say that are party is diverse and inclusive and we want everybody.



BUTTIGIEG: I support the position of my party that this kind of medical care needs to be available to everyone, and I support the Roe versus Wade framework that holds that early in pregnancy, there are very few restrictions and late in pregnancy there are very few exceptions. And again, the best I can offer is that we may disagree on that very important issue, and hopefully, we will be able to partner on other issues.”



WALLACE: So what do you say to Democrats who are pro-life – and there are obviously millions of them as well? What do you say to them on an issue of such deep conscience? That they should overlook this particular issue and look at the whole sum of views or go find another party?



BUTTIGIEG: I’ve never encountered a politician or frankly another person that I agreed with 100% of the time, and even on very important things we may sometimes disagree, but at the end of the day, this is I what I believe, and people I care about and respect view it differently.



This is something I believe is so important, especially because I'm never going to have to make that decision, and so I may have my views, but I cannot imagine that a decision that a woman confronts is going to ever be better medically or morally because it's being dictated by any government official, and that's just where I am on the issues.

Meanwhile, Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, tweeted, “Really saddened to see how out of touch D candidates are with mainstream America on life. 7/10 Americans for over a decade would limit abortion at most to the first three months of pregnancy including six out of ten pro choice Americans.”

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Marjorie Dannenfelser, president, of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said that Buttigieg couldn’t name a single instance where he would limit abortion, or even acknowledge room for debate on the issue within the Democratic Party.”



“This is a mistake,” she said, adding that “Recent polling shows 44% of rank-and-file Democrats want to vote for a candidate who supports common-ground limits on abortion. The modern Democratic Party is the party of abortion on demand through birth, paid for by taxpayers, and even infanticide,” she said in a statement.



“President Trump, in stark contrast, has championed popular legislation to stop late-term abortion and protect babies who survive abortions. The choice for voters is clear. Only one candidate will uphold the compassionate consensus of the American people when it comes to abortion: President Donald Trump,” Dannenfelser added.





