Anti-abortion-rights Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski

Dan Lipinski has been a Democratic Congressman from Illinois since 2005. As Joan McCarter reports, he's staunch opposed to abortion rights ('Democrat' Lipinski attacks fellow Democrats using the worst abortion lies in weekend rally Daily Kos 01/13/2020):

He crowed about being a "pro-life Democrat," saying "we need Democrats, Republicans, independents, everyone working together" and then attacking Democrats as "people out there who want to force taxpayers to pay for abortions." What Democrats are actually advocating for is access to full, and still legal, healthcare services for all women, especially low-income women. That's a regular smear the forced birthers have been using for decades, now, and Lipinkski is happy to promote it.

But that's not the worst he had in store. He picked up the latest big forced birth lie, that doctors are performing abortions up to the moment of birth. This is specifically what he said: "A child who’s born during an abortion - we are trying to get a bill passed that says you must care for that child." This myth has been around for years and persists because irresponsible politicians - Republicans and Lipinski - continue to repeat it. It is not a real thing. It is a figment of the sick and manipulative minds in the forced birth community. [my emphasis]

The Democratic Party really needs to be straightforwardly supportive of abortion rights. He has a progressive primary challenger, Marie Newman. Aída Chávez reported on her campaign last October (House Democrats, Dodging Party Policy, are Privately Supporting Marie Newman The Intercept 10/01/2019):

On September 17, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told the New York Times that she would endorse Marie Newman, the pro-choice woman challenging Illinois Rep. Dan Lipinski, one of the few remaining anti-abortion Democrats in Congress. The following day, when asked about her endorsement, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters that there’s “absolutely” room in the Democratic Party for anti-choice lawmakers. “That doesn’t mean we’re not a pro-choice party — we are,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that … either the Speaker or I believe that we ought to exclude people who have a different view.” ...

Many progressive House Democrats who want to stand up for reproductive rights have been privately helping Newman’s campaign, but are trying to keep it under wraps out of fear of retribution by party leadership. Other members have quietly expressed their desire to help. Much of the hesitation stems from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s longtime position of protecting incumbents, which DCCC Chair Cheri Bustos intensified through a contentious blacklist policy back in April.

But the eight-term incumbent is hardly a Democrat by today’s standards. Lipinski, who inherited the seat from his father, Bill Lipinski, in 2005, opposes abortion rights, LGBTQ equality, voted against the Affordable Care Act in 2010, and refused to endorse Barack Obama for reelection in 2012. According to one analysis, he votes with President Donald Trump about 40 percent of the time. [my emphasis]

If the US had a multiparty parliamentary system similar to those of most EU countries, the Democratic Party would be at least two separate parties, a labor-oriented progressive one and a corporate neoliberal ones. The official Party institutions are controlled by corporate Democrats and their donors. It's good to see progressives building parallel structures, which they need to have a fighting chance of becoming the dominant force in the party structure.

Until then, they will often be competing with the party establishment. And, yes, if progressive actually do take control of the party machinery, corporate donors will make sure of existing and new parallel structures of their own to try to take it back.