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<\/source><\/picture>A pro-life Democrat is running for president to serve as a \u201cthorn in the side of the Democratic Party\u201d and draw attention to what she describes as the \u201cgenocide\u201d of pre-born babies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Terrisa Bukovinac, a pro-life progressive atheist who founded the anti-abortion group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising<\/a> two years ago, launched her campaign as a Democratic candidate for president on Thursday.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Christian Post, Bukovinac recalled how she went to \u201cevery single Democratic debate\u201d in 2019 and 2020, seeking to provide representation for pro-life Democrats. According to her campaign website<\/a>, one-fourth of Democrats oppose abortion.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought \u2026 I just can\u2019t go into another election cycle doing the same thing, demanding representation if I’m not willing to get out and do it. So, I decided this year, I\u2019m going to step into the ring and be that representation,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another factor that spurred Bukovinac to run for president was the horrific discovery<\/a> of the remains of 115 aborted babies in a container marked for disposal picked up by a medical waste truck outside the Washington Surgi-Clinic<\/a> abortion facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n The contents included the remains of five full-term babies who Bukovinac believes could have either been killed in partial-birth abortions, a violation of federal law, or possibly could have survived the abortions if abortionist Cesare Santangelo<\/a> and his staff had rendered urgent medical care to save the babies’ lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read: 12 lesser-known candidates running for president in 2024\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Bukovinac and other pro-life activists have launched a \u201cJustice for the Five\u201d campaign<\/a> that’s calling for an investigation into the deaths of the five full-term babies and the revocation of Santangelo\u2019s medical license.<\/p>\n Reflecting on seeing the babies’ remains, Bukovinac told CP she \u201chad never seen abortion up close and seen such animosity toward our own humankind in such a personal and intimate way, and it changed my life forever. I just feel called to be a voice for these children, and I’m going to show these victims to the American people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The candidate plans to run campaign ads highlighting the discovery of the late-term aborted babies. She’s currently raising money to cover the cost of the ads in the states where her name will appear on the ballot. \u201cI\u2019m planning to hopefully get on the ballot in between five and 10 states,\u201d she said, including New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Michigan (her home state), South Carolina, Iowa and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a campaign to win,\u201d Bukovinac clarified to CP. Rather, she sees the purpose of her campaign as \u201cbeing a voice for these babies\u201d and \u201crefusing to give up and allowing our society to bury these victims.\u201d \u201cIt’s about refusing to give up and allowing our society to bury these victims, and I\u2019m going to use every opportunity I can to be a voice for them and to represent pro-life Democrats in the political sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the progress toward achieving her goal of running ads in states where she’ll appear on the ballot, Bukovinac says she’s received \u201cquite a few individual donations.\u201d Even though she doesn’t expect to win the Democratic nomination for president, Bukovinac sees herself competing in the primaries \u201cuntil the very end\u201d because she wants to \u201crun as many ads\u201d as she possibly can and \u201cwork as long and hard\u201d as possible to \u201cbe a voice for these babies in this election.\u201d<\/p>\n Read: Who are the declared candidates running for president in 2024<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no way this campaign is going to go anywhere \u2026 in terms of winning or catching on enough to get major funding. But what this campaign is going to be is a protest; it\u2019s a thorn in the side of the Democratic Party,\u201d she asserted. \u201cI\u2019m here to reform the Democratic Party and to force it to change and to reject this toxic relationship they have with the abortion industry so that we can stop a genocide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bukovinac also hopes her campaign will motivate other pro-life Democrats to run in down-ballot races: \u201cI’m very much hoping that it will inspire other pro-life Democrats like [Louisiana Gov.] John Bel Edwards and [Louisiana state Sen.] Katrina Jackson to seek federal office. And I\u2019m hoping that it will absolutely draw out pro-life Democrats all across the country and maybe even moderate Democrats who want to see abortion more restricted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think what I want to see is more nuance in the Democratic Party on this issue so that we can begin to roll back this extremism and stop allowing the abortion industrial complex to run the show,\u201d she declared. \u201cMost leftists actually don\u2019t agree that abortion should be allowed for elective reasons into the late second and third trimester or past the point where a baby can survive outside of the womb.\u201d She also believes many Democrats aren’t even aware that \u201cthat\u2019s what the party platform stands for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In an earlier interview<\/a> with CP, Bukovinac suggested that many pro-life Democrats reluctantly voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 because of their opposition to former President Donald Trump. She’s now warning the Democratic Party that they \u201ccannot rely on those votes going forward because of the dynamic of Trump in the last election.\u201d Many pro-life Democrats, she says, could opt to stay home and not vote rather than vote for Biden if Trump isn’t the Republican nominee in 2024.<\/p>\n However, Bukovinac lamented that \u201cit\u2019s very likely we\u2019re going to see 2020 all over again,\u201d referring to the possibility of a rematch between Biden and Trump and expressed disappointment with the trajectory of the race.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the two least trusted people in the world who are the frontrunners to lead our nation. I think everyone is very frustrated by the thought of another Trump versus Biden election,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Bukovinac hopes her candidacy will offer an alternative and advance the cause of \u201ccollectively building a better world through progressive policy and by ending abortion.\u201d She’s also seeking to \u201ccreate a space for pro-life Democrats to demand an end to the type of extremism that we’re seeing in the Democratic Party.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n