By Karen Cross, Political Director

Editor's note. My family is on vacation the next two weeks. This week's editions of TN&V will be written by others. Next week TN&V will consist of previous columns that were particularly well received. Please send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

I read once that when one child dies, the whole world mourns. When a million children die, it becomes a statistic. It is our job never to allow real flesh-and-blood children to become abstractions.

For after all each abortion results in the death of a child. His or her death changes a family forever.

Now that I'm a grandma, I realize that when I aborted my babies, I didn't abort two children, I aborted generations of children.

Abortion has changed our culture. One way to begin to reverse this cultural damage is to use our right to vote to bring into office women and men who respect the unique humanity of each unborn child.

Some might say, abortion is still legal 36 years after Roe v. Wade was handed down. But suffragettes persevered for about 70 years before women won the right to vote in 1920.

Unfortunately, today some aren't registered to vote, others just don't care to vote, even others stay home to "make a statement"-- and somehow " teach a lesson"-- and others simply forget to vote.

You and I can never consider that possibility. When we don't vote, babies die and their mothers and families are harmed.

Sadly, more than four million Christians who voted in 2004 did not vote in 2008. While this means we have lots of work to do, it also means there is real potential to make a difference.

Let me briefly explain the backdrop and then turn to how you can help the unborn.

Groups such NARAL, Planned Parenthood, NOW and EMILY's List love it when
we stay home. If we stay home, they can win.

They can read the polls just as well as we can. They know how opinion is changing in a pro-life direction. A May 2009 Gallup survey, which asked probing questions, revealed that 60% said abortion should either be illegal in all circumstances (23%), or legal in only a few circumstances (37%) According to a November 2008 poll conducted by the polling companyTM inc., pro-life candidates enjoyed a definite advantage in the November 2008 elections. Five percent of voters said that abortion was the most important issue affecting their vote.

Of those voters 90% (4.5% of the entire population) voted for McCain while only 10% (0.5% of the entire population) voted for Obama. In other words " single-issue" abortion voters provided McCain a net gain of 4%.

I looked at how the National Right to Life PAC fared against the pro-abortion PAC EMILY's List which raised and spent about $35 million dollars in 2008.

EMILY's List is a political action committee that supports women candidates who support abortion on demand, support partial birth abortion, and support taxpayer funding of abortion.

In 2008, National Right to Life PAC actively supported about ninety pro-life candidates.

Of those, twelve candidates were in highly competitive races against candidates actively supported by EMILY's List.

In eight of those twelve House races, the pro-life candidate supported by National Right to Life PAC won – even in that difficult political environment.

So we continue our pro-life work changing our culture. One day at a time – one action at a time. It's actually simple.

My husband, Jack, coached basketball for my boys. The boys wanted to get fancy doing alley oops and slam dunks, but Jack stressed the fundamentals. They had to be able to dribble, shoot, run with the ball, and pass. And, in order to win, he needed a deep bench.

What are the pro-life fundamentals for winning in 2010?

*First, educate yourself on the issue. Subscribe to NRL News and receive Today's News and Views – a daily blog that discusses current pro-life events. You can do both by going to www.nrlc.org.

* Educate your friends and family and those in your social network. Amazingly, some people still don't know that Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion president in the history of the United States!

* Network with your local chapter and state RTL affiliate. Use social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, and email.

*Encourage voter registration.

*Remember to vote and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

* Finally, build the pro-life "bench" by teaching and recruiting others, participating in the elections, and supporting pro-life candidates.

In a close race, having an educated, registered electorate who remembers to vote and the money to reach them is critical.

In Minnesota's 2008 U.S. Senate race, pro-abortion Al Franken appears to have defeated pro-life Senator Norm Coleman by about 300 votes out of 2.8 million cast.

When I first became involved in the pro-life movement, I said I would do anything to help women and their babies. My caveat was just don't ask me to get involved in politics.

But once I realized how many lives could be saved passing pro-life legislation I became hooked on politics.

In South Carolina, there are nearly 95,000 babies alive today because they passed pro-life legislation. That's 95,000 families blessed with a baby instead of cursed with despair and regret.

Pro-lifers are amazing in action. You have passion for those who cannot help themselves. You open your hearts even to those of us who have tragically ended the lives of our own children.

What a difference you can make in a race!

In 2005, pro-life candidate Bob McDonnell ran against pro-abortion Creigh Deeds in the race for attorney general in Virginia. Bob McDonnell won by 323 votes out of 1.9 million cast. They are meeting in a rematch this November in the contest for governor.

Since 1973, more than 50 million defenseless babies have been aborted.

They're depending on us to win. Their very lives stand in the balance.

For all the babies out there, and their mamas, we must prevail.

Together we'll set our nation back on the right course.