PRESS ON 

Editor’s note. The following appeared in the NRL Chapter Newsletter. You can read current and back editions at www.nrlchapters.org.

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
     Calvin Coolidge
     30th President of US

Have you ever wondered if all the time and effort you put into your local right to life chapter is worth it?  You plan some community event and only a couple of new people show up.  You plan a chapter meeting and the same five or six people attend.   You circulate a petition and only collect a few names.  You send letters to your schools and only two teachers respond.  Sometimes we get discouraged and wonder, “Are we making a difference?” 

The unquestionable answer is YES!

Think about everything a chapter does.  Chapters educate people in their communities; chapters lobby members of the state legislature and Congress to pass pro-life legislation or defeat anti-life legislation; chapters reach out to schools, churches, and civic organizations with information that will persuade minds and hearts; chapters educate their communities about where candidates stand on pro-life issues; chapters encourage citizens to vote; chapters help to collect names of new (or previously unknown) pro-lifers; chapters raise funds for necessary pro-life activities.

You may not convert 100 people at a time, but every activity you do will influence two or three people, and you will slowly but surely reach 100 people, then 200, then 300...  In short, chapters are the backbone of the pro-life movement.     

It would be much easier to raise money and put a few ads on the TV, but that doesn’t give your community the person-to-person contact that is so valuable in changing attitudes, getting people active, and bringing new people into the movement.

After Roe v. Wade, many thought the abortion issue was “settled.”  35 years later, you have succeeded in making abortion the most relevant social issue in the country.  Every candidate for President, Senate, Congress, Governor, state legislature, and so on is expected to have a position on this issue. 

As NRLC Executive Director David N. O’Steen, Ph.D., says, “Every woman that considers an abortion knows that someone--family member, friend, neighbor, co-worker--thinks that would be the wrong decision.” 

Your work has helped to reduce the annual number of abortions by 8% since 2000! 

Young people are growing up with a presumption toward life. 

The country is starting to awaken to the fact that older Americans and people with disabilities are not automatically given the care and treatment they need.

The pro-life movement is alive and strong because of everything your chapter does.   Your dedication and persistence is changing the way Americans think about life–from the standpoint of abortion and the unborn child, to those with disabilities facing the denial of life-saving medical care.

Is what your chapter doing making a difference?  YES!

Do you need to keep working to save those innocent lives?  YES!

As President Coolidge said, “Press on.”  You are solving the problems of the human race.

Part One