The platform

Parties have platforms, and platforms have planks. So do decks and loading docks, for that matter, but today we're going to talk about parties. Specifically ours.

Members of the West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women support the West Virginia Democratic Party platform. We are bound to through our bylaws and, frankly, we wouldn't be Democrats if we thought their (and by "their" we mean Republicans') ideas would result in a better life for all, without regard to race, creed, color or the size of your bank account.

One plank of the platform that is especially near and dear to us is F-8: Women's Health. We are women, after all, and we like to think that our health is important. (Interestingly, there is no plank for Men's Health, but one has been designated for "Health." In general.)

Here's what we Democrats agreed to at our last party convention, in 2012:

That last bullet point is important enough that it bears repeating:

• all health decisions, including reproductive health, are made privately without interference by the government, insurance companies, or employers.

HB 2568, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is up for its third reading before the full House of Delegates today. Otherwise known as the abortion bill, some iteration of it appears perennially in the legislature and – as written – is unconstitutional. Last year's version passed through both chambers and was vetoed by the Governor. Because Democrats held a majority in both chambers in 2014, the veto was upheld.

Screeeeeech. Wait a minute. The Democratic party platform says women's reproductive health decisions are made without government interference. Says so. Right there in blue and white. If Democrats held a majority last year, in both chambers, then at least some Democrats must have voted FOR it. Begging the question: How did the bill ever make it to the Governor's desk?

Well, last year if you'll recall – and, really, how could you forget? – we held elections. And while the Democratic platform gives women the benefit of the doubt about their ability to take care of their bodies, their selves, privately and without interference, Democratic voters in West Virginia tend to disagree. Democratic lawmakers who support 20-week abortion bans, no matter what state, want to be re-elected.

We Democrats think having a "D" after your name is better than any other letter, especially if you represent us. We make phone calls and fire off angry e-mails, but in the end, for the most part, we forgive and forget.

But we can also be somewhat passive-aggressive. Staying home on Election Day is the ultimate act of passive-aggression and in 2014 it came back to bite us.

HB 2568 will be read today and voted on soon, and it will pass. It will pass with no exceptions for rape or incest. Which, one would hope, would not be a major issue. Most pregnancies resulting from rape or incest are terminated long before the 20-week threshold.

So why would a woman suddenly, after FIVE MONTHS, choose to terminate? The fact is, they don't, unless there is something horribly, dreadfully wrong with the fetus. Or the mother. So in those few cases – fewer than a dozen each year here in West Virginia – the law doesn't impede those women from making the most difficult and painful decision of their lives, right?

Well … wrong. A floor amendment making an exception for the health of the mother was voted down yesterday.

In the end, it doesn't matter what we of the Democratic Party or we of the WVFDW or we of the female gender wish or think or believe. In the end, a minority of registered West Virginia voters elected a majority of Republican legislators. And in the end, it's not just a handful of pregnant West Virginia women who will have to figure out a way to risk their lives to save their lives.

Because we stayed home last November, all West Virginians are going to feel the pinch of gut-and-cut politics in Charleston.

In the end.