DOING WHAT'S RIGHT, DOING WHAT WORKS

Some pro-lifers would have you believe that the struggle for public policies promoting the right to life is hopeless. They point to the Clinton presidency, the vetoes of pro-life legislation, the still prevalent pro-abortion bias in the media, etc. But they are wrong. You, the hard-working supporters of the National Right to Life Committee, know better. What we do is right, and it works. It works because

* we have advanced the pro-life agenda;

* we have hindered, frustrated, or stopped the pro-abortionists' agenda;

* our credibility and influence are higher than ever; and

* our strategy is based on a sound rationale.

We can approach the new millennium with confidence; we are on the right track. What we have been doing for over 25 years has substantially undermined the pro-abortionists' "culture of death" and will come to full fruition in the next century.

ADVANCING THE PRO-LIFE AGENDA

While we have not yet overturned Roe v. Wade, we have enacted federal and state legislation that has reduced the use of tax dollars for the financing of abortions here and abroad, protected the rights of parents, protected teenagers, provided waiting periods and better information about fetal development for women considering abortions, protected the medically dependent and disabled, protected people at the end of life, etc. In some states we have enacted practically all of this legislation. And even in instances where we have not yet succeeded in enacting our full legislative agenda, we have, in the process, raised public understanding of the issue and gradually shifted public sympathies in our direction.

STOPPING THE PRO-ABORTIONISTS

Equally important, at this point, is that we stopped the enactment of the agenda of the pro-abortion lobby and reduced its effectiveness. (Another thing we have stopped-so far-is phony "campaign finance reform" that would effectively remove pro-life organizations such as NRLC from the process of setting public policy).

Right after the 1992 election, NARAL presented Bill Clinton with a detailed plan for the expansion of abortion rights. NARAL especially wanted the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA) and the "mainstreaming" of abortion-on-demand as routine medical care. Clinton and the pro-abortion Democratic leadership in Congress were ready to oblige their friends at NARAL. What happened?

We defeated FOCA. We helped defeat Hillary Clinton's Health Care Plan that would have made abortion-on-demand routine medical care and a federal entitlement and established a national policy of rationing lifesaving treatment based on "quality of life." The pro-abortionists lost control of Congress and many state legislatures in the 1994 elections. And then they lost their credibility when they opposed our partial-birth abortion ban with their campaign of lies and dishonest propaganda. We have beaten the pro-abortionists back and back again-even though they had the power of the presidency and a powerful media apparatus on their side. Who says our strategy hasn't worked?

The plain fact is that far from fighting the battle while on retreat we have actually advanced considerably. Today we are stronger and more influential than ever, and our opponents-with all their resources -are weaker than ever. Others have noted that, too. The latest Fortune magazine ratings of lobbying effectiveness in the capital put NRLC at No. 9, up from No. 10 a year earlier. In contrast, NARAL slid from No. 43 to No. 61.

IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC POLICIES

Changing public policy is one of the essential components of any strategy to change and subvert the "culture of death." While the conversion of the heart of each citizen to the culture of life is our hope, waiting for that hope to be realized can be even more frustrating than participating in the sometimes very slow process of changing public policy. In fact, to be successful, pro-life public policies need only the consent of a substantial majority; they do not require the approval of each and every last individual.

The reasons for pursuing a strategy of enacting pro-life laws and public policies are threefold:

* such laws and polices restrain or obstruct those seeking and providing abortions, thus they protect lives;

* once in place, such laws and policies teach and promote pro-life values; and

* even the process of promoting them through legislative and public debate teaches and "raises the consciousness" of those indifferent to the right to life or ignorant of the facts.

The last point is clearly demonstrated by the success of our campaign to ban partial-birth abortions. Although the legislation passed by Congress was twice vetoed by Bill Clinton, the very process of pursuing the legislation has already produced a significant shift in public attitudes in the pro-life direction. This shift has two aspects to it: Support for abortion has dropped, and the pro-abortion lobby has been unmasked as a group of shameless liars.

It is useful for us to look at what worked for the civil rights movement. Those who doubt the wisdom of pursuing changes in law and policy should remember what Martin Luther King once said during his struggle for the civil rights of all black persons: "Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless." Thus, even if hearts are not changed, it is still essential to change the law to restrain the heartless and protect the intended victims of heartless actions.

In retrospect, it is of course evident that both the pursuit and the actual passage of civil rights laws have diminished racial prejudice and softened hearts. Even before civil rights laws were passed, the highly publicized process of seeking their enactment changed hearts and minds. So there is good precedent for our strategy to "regulate behavior and restrain the heartless" and protect the innocent by changing public policy.

Stay the course!