Abortion is a question of choice.

Abortion is the ultimate violence.

A 1990 Gallup poll found that 77 percent of Americans polled said abortion was the taking of human life. I agree, and believe that taking the life on an innocent child is unjust.

I come to urge my party to be open to debate and discussion; to move away from a lock-step litmus test which advocates abortion on demand in an effort to reach a broader national consensus.

By rejecting abortion-on-demand, we can move our party back to the mainstream.

In short, our response as a party should be to work to solve the crises that produce crisis pregnancies, and work to make life worth living for mother and child, rather than victimize the child as a way of dealing with the crisis.

In this generation, the issue pressing that question on our consciences is the issue of abortion.

If our country is to reach a workable solution to the abortion issue, the Democratic party must be open to and tolerant of opposing views.

As I discovered, even the governor of a major state who holds pro-life views can be denied a hearing at his party's convention without the national media protesting it.

We must make children and families a national priority.