Because of the Democratic Party effort to win a greater majority in the House of Representatives in 2008, it put forward a number of candidates who would be competitive in more conservative districts. These candidates were, invariably, pro-life.If the life issues were off the table, then the Democrats figured that they could ride the wave of "change." The decision makers were correct in their assessment and a majority of these new, conservative, pro-life Dems were elected mostly from states like Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The idea was, of course, to have such an overwhelming majority in Congress that Democrat and the Obama administration could run the table with their agenda.

In an interesting and ironic twist, this has not been the case. The pro-life dems in the House demanded that restrictions on using federal dollars for health care stay in place, and against the wishes of their leadership and a strong pro-abortion caucus, they prevailed. Hopefully, they will continue their opposition to any use of federal dollars for abortion in the final bill that comes out of the Conference Committee trying to reconcile the House and Senate versions.

And so, seemingly out of the blue, there is a new and very unexpected power base within the heart of the Democrat Party that can influence legislation. This new dynamic is good news in the short term for healthcare legislation and it might be good news in the future for a shift in the Party as a whole. It is not clear that these new Dems will be able to keep their seats in this year's election, but if a significant number of them do, they begin to change the face of the Democrat Party. Potentially, it could change the dynamics of politics in the United States.

One of the greatest ways to advance the cause of life, is to change the Democrat Party from within, by making it more and more pro-life.