NRLC '98: A Festival of Riches

By Dave Andrusko

Anchored by what many attendees agreed was the finest set of general sessions ever, NRLC '98 more than lived up to the reputation National Right to Life's annual convention has established as the pro-life educational event of the year.

Held at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, the convention drew a uniformly positive response, according to NRLC '98 director Jacki Ragan.

"People loved the four general sessions, the Prayer Breakfast, and the closing Banquet," she told NRL News, "but they were no less enthusiastic about the 54 workshops which covered everything from how to use computers to your advantage to the threat so-called campaign 'reform' poses to your right to free speech."

Rarely has a convention gotten off to a better start. Those who were able to check in the night before the June 18-20 convention began were able to attend the always stimulating meeting of the Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change.

People lucky enough to take part in this year's meeting were treated to a wide-ranging discussion that included how historians have treated the pro-life movement; how science is often misused to promote abortion; the differing psychological reactions of adolescent girls and adult women to abortion; and an overview of how to use the Internet to do research on the abortion issue.

As NRLC President Wanda Franz, Ph.D., put it admiringly, "Every time Jean Garton speaks she tops her last magnificent performance." Indeed, in presenting the keynote address opening the convention, Garton, author of the pro-life classic,

Who Broke the Baby? offered one of her typically seamless speeches that in equal parts blended humor, inspiration, and motivation.

Providing the perfect bookend for Thursday's opening day were the "dueling cartoonists," Chuck Asay and Steve Benson. Hugely popular over the years, Asay and Benson skewered the pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia mind set in a hilarious display of playful one-upsmanship.

No one complained about getting up early Friday morning,not when the Prayer Breakfast speaker was evangelist and author Peter Marshall. Rev. Marshall's reminder of the need to "remember who we are" set the tone for a day filled with invaluable information and tips for making your own and your organizations' voice more persuasive in advancing the pro-life cause.

The afternoon general session tackled one of the thorniest issues the Movement faces today: the push to legalize assisted suicide. But one would be hard pressed to come up with a roster of speakers better suited to analyzing and critiquing the pro- euthanasia movement than authors Wesley Smith and Brian Johnston, NRLC Executive Director David N. O'Steen. Ph.D., Medical Ethics Department Director Burke Balch, J.D., NRLC General Counsel James Bopp, J.D., and Dr. Carolyn Gerster.

Smith, author of Forced Exit, ardently encouraged his audience to fight euthanasia with the same passion and intensity with which they combat abortion. Many took notes as Smith brilliantly debunked the myths offered to justify assisted suicide. Other speakers at the general session detailed Oregon's experience with the legalization of assisted suicide, the all-out anti-euthanasia efforts in Congress (see story, page one), and the almost unbelievable shenanigans of Jack Kevorkian.

The title of Saturday afternoon's general session, "Vote Smart: How Best to Serve Life," said it all. Pro-life champion Rep. Charles Canady (R-Fl.) graciously thanked NRLC for all its work on behalf of the unborn and the medically vulnerable. In turn, NRLC lavishly praised Rep. Canady for his invaluable contributions in stopping the radically pro-abortion Freedom of Choice Act and in advancing the ban on partial-birth abortions and the Child Custody Protection Act.

Author, writer, law professor, and humorist Ben Stein is fast becoming one of the pro-life movement's most respected speakers. Often a lonely pro-life voice in the Hollywood wilderness, Mr. Stein is not at all shy about advancing the cause of life, as he did not only at the closing Banquet but recently in a wonderful appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes.

Jacki Ragan said that as good as the convention undoubtedly was this year, all signs are that it will be even better next year in Milwaukee.

"I want to thank everyone who came - - I know they had a good time and learned a lot - - and I want them to know that NRLC greatly appreciated having them," she said. "Don't forget to keep an eye on NRL News. Information about NRLC '99 will be in there sooner than you think!"