Rule or Ruin: Some Groups' Tactics Could Lose the Battle for Life

By Mary Beliveau

We are on the brink of victory. Yet a few vocal pro-life activists- with a "rule or ruin" attitude- are saying to legislators, candidates for public office, and pro-life citizens: "If you are not with us all the way now, you are against us."

Dr. Thomas Sowell, a fellow of the Hoover Institution, warns that this tactic is guaranteed to set back the pro-life cause in the legislative and political arenas. He says that "if they persist unchanged, the war will indeed be lost. But we are not there yet."

Thankfully, we are not there yet. Human lives are at stake. But we can learn from history. In an earlier column, Sowell pointed out that the coalition-building, piecemeal approach was precisely the strategy of the anti-slavery movement in England, which in later years spread to the United States. Yet, at no time did they compromise in any way their belief that slavery was wrong and should be eliminated.

Hopefully, for the sake of the babies, we will learn to pick our battles and build coalitions to change the minds and hearts of the American people - a strategy that will ultimately win the war.

TACTICS THAT ENSURE DEFEAT

It is time that we grow up as a movement. The babies cannot afford another pro-abortion presidency.

Unfortunately there are some within the pro-life movement that persist with their "rule or ruin" strategy. In recent weeks, a pro-life presidential candidate issued statements that bashed other pro-life candidates, and a pro-life group issued a press release that attacked National Right to Life because NRLC urged pro-life groups to focus on Al Gore's pro-abortion stand. Yet the attackers did not utter a word on the future of the pro-life cause. There is something wrong with this picture!

The all-or-nothing strategy, done under the guise of "principle and pro-life," is deceptive. It sounds great to pro-life people, but, as Sowell states, "It may turn out to be a way to lose the whole cultural war."

The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) is delighted. That strategy helps it attain its goal-elect Al Gore and advance the pro-abortion agenda. The question we must ask ourselves is: "Are my actions and vote advancing the pro-life cause or setting it back?"

Carol Long Tobias, NRL PAC director, urged pro-life groups to discourage "cannibalistic activity among the candidates." She advised, "As presidential candidates seek your support, encourage them to attack the true pro-abortion candidates in the race-Al Gore and Bill Bradley." (See Carol Long Tobias's "Six Ways to Defeat Pro-Life Candidates," NRL News, 3/15/99, page 1.)

Mary Beliveau is legislative director for Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. Reprinted with permission.