Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Ohio) said during a Wednesday interview that pro-life Democrats should be welcomed into the Democratic Party.
Radio host Bill Press asked Ryan if there is a place in the party for pro-life Democrats like Nebraska mayoral candidate Heath Mello. Ryan said if the Democrats ever want to be a majority party in Congress, they must welcome pro-life Democrats.
"Absolutely. Needs to be. If you want to have a majority party in the country. If you ever want to govern again," Ryan said.
Ryan said that the last time the Democrats had a majority in the House of Representatives, there were dozens of pro-life Democrats who voted with them on 80 percent of the issues.
"When we were the majority. We had 36 pro-life Democrats in the House of Representatives," Ryan said. "We probably had another 10 to 15 that would vote for partial-birth abortion. They were pro-choice but they voted for that partial birth ban. They voted for Nancy Pelosi for speaker. They voted healthcare. They voted for energy bill. They voted for Lilly Ledbetter. They voted for equal pay. They were with us 70 to 80 percent of what we wanted."
Democratic Party leaders have recently been in disagreement about whether pro-life Democrats are welcomed in the party. This started when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) endorsed Mello, who had a record of supporting legislation requiring doctors to inform their patients they had the right to a fetal ultrasound before an abortion. The pro-choice group NAARL called Sanders' endorsement a "betrayal to women," and liberal site Daily Kos withdrew their endorsement of Mello.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez released a statement about the controversy, where he asserted that being pro-choice is "not negotiable" for Democrats. Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) said Democrats will be welcomed only if they support pro-choice legislation.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) disagreed with Perez and Durbin, and said that pro-life Democrats are welcomed in the Democratic Party. Ryan, who challenged Pelosi for Democratic leadership earlier this year, shared Pelosi's feelings on the party welcoming pro-life individuals.
"I think we got to be accepting. It looks judgmental to people. It looks like we know better," Ryan said. "We got to be open and we can't eliminate a large swath of the country because they want to be with us on these other issues."
"Amen to that. Amen to that," Press said in approval.