By Jonathan Rogers
NRLC Field Coordinator

(March 26) It’s been a hard week for pro-lifers, as a long and hard fought debate over abortion in health care ended in heartbreak.

But this week ends on a much happier note than it began. Pro-lifers are wasting no time rebounding and preparing for the future. I’ve been on a little tour of North Carolina this week visiting with local chapters and can tell you that there’s plenty afoot in the Tar Heel state.

On Tuesday I drove down from Washington to meet some excellent folks in Taylorsville, North Carolina. Northwest of Winston-Salem, Taylorsville is pleasantly located near the foothills of the Appalachians, and a wonderful group of local leaders are banding together to form a new chapter. This was their second official meeting, and I was privileged to talk to them about chapter activities, getting the word out in their community to educate individuals, share a few tips on fundraising to support larger pro-life projects, and hear some of their excellent ideas.

The Taylorsville folks are eagerly preparing to set up a booth at the local Spring Festival, and are hoping to launch a big banquet this fall with some big name pro-life speakers. I would like to publically thank Pastor Allen Fox for his warm hospitality.

On Wednesday it was over to Madison, North of Greensboro, to meet with Rockingham County Right to Life. The Rockingham group has been active for a year now, and in the words of North Carolina Right to Life President, Barbara Holt, are “on fire.” Renee Poudrier and her group of home-schooling mothers easily put to lie the pro-abortion “pro-life leaders are all male” myth, and are working to build relationships with local pro-life churches and grow their list of pro-life individuals in the county.

The Rockingham Chapter also has a dynamite Teens for Life group. As one of the teenage girls put it, “we don’t talk about boys, we try to figure out how to get them involved in the group.” At the moment they’re brushing up on their “When They Say…You Say…” tips for debating the life issues.

It’s off to Raleigh tomorrow and the monthly meeting of Triangle Right to Life, which covers the entire Raleigh-Durham-Carey tri-county area. Triangle RTL was instrumental at the eleventh hour during the health care debate, helping spread vital action alerts through the state to encourage pro-lifers to contact their Congressmen. I’m sure they will be even more impressive in person. If you’re part of a local Right to Life chapter and are signed up on our Chapter Website, you can go there and see a local news clip of Triangle Right to Life President Dorothy Yeung speaking before Wake County officials opposing elective abortion coverage for county employees.

Everyone I’ve talked to here this week has channeled their disappointment in the outcome of last Sunday’s Health-Care vote into renewed vigor to work all the harder at the local level. Take that dedication and multiply it three-thousand times for every chapter in the country, and we’re really onto something.

Please sure to send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.