NRLC '2001 Huge Success

By Dave Andrusko

Well over 1,000 dedicated pro-lifers came away from NRLC 2001 universally praising the three-day gathering as one of the finest conventions ever.

"Measure it anyway you want," said convention director Jacki Ragan, "and the answer is the same: people couldn't have been happier with this year's time together."

Even before the June 28 opening session, the atmosphere was electric. Clearly, attendees came to Charlotte, North Carolina, primed to learn, to share, and to fellowship.

That special chemistry that makes a good convention great was evident the night before the convention formally convened.

Each year pro-life academics come together at the meeting of the Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change, which is held about 12 hours before the convention formally convenes. This year's presenters addressed a host of important topics, from abortion and eugenics, the false report that abortion lowered crime in the 1990s, through perinatal hospices for babies whose mothers had been told that their children would die in utero or momentarily after birth.

As a sign of things to come, the room was filled. Presenters Prof. John Hunt; Mary Nicholas, M.D.; Thomas Strahan, J.D.; and Marianne Linane, R.N., each gave fine presentations which sparked a lively discussion.

At 10:00 Thursday morning, the main ballroom was already packed. The energy that surged the night before was again on display even before Dr. Joel Brind opened the convention with the keynote address. You could not miss the sense of clear purpose, renewed dedication, and high vigor that permeated the hallways as the crowd filed in.

Rising to the occasion, Dr. Brind provided the attendees with a superb overview of the linkage between induced abortion and heightened risk of breast cancer in language that respected the science but which was also accessible to a lay audience. His audience was attentive and responsive, and gave Dr. Brind's fine address loud applause. Off to a great start, the convention never looked back.

From that moment on, attendees were blessed with a huge assortment of educational fare to choose from. Imagine, 72 workshops, four general sessions, one magnificent Prayer Breakfast, topped off with a marvelous closing Banquet. What a three days!

One night the guest speaker would be the legendary Pat Boone. Another time it would be a disability rights activist, such as Mark Pickup.

Still another general session found attorney, author, and activist Wesley Smith brilliantly outlining the case against the Bioethical Establishment, which poses a great danger to the medically vulnerable. Fox News's Sean Hannity brought the house down with a speech that mixed counsel, film clips, and humor.

The convention culminated with a tremendous Banquet in which Fr. Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, delivered yet another astonishingly motivational speech. Emma and David G. O 'Steen were honored for their decades of service to not only North Carolina Right to Life but to National Right to Life.

Former NRLC President Carolyn Gerster, M.D., was presented with a special reward in gratitude for her role as "convention doctor," an assignment she has graciously assumed without fanfare or accolades.

The convention-goers shared the joy of pro-lifers having replaced a pro-abortion President with pro-life President George W. Bush. That great victory served as a reminder that the battle is unrelenting - - that pro-lifers must be preparing even now for the 2002 midterm elections.
In 2001 Mark Earley in Virginia and Brett Schundler in New Jersey will be pro-life gubernatorial candidates.

As always, the workshops covered every pro-life subject under the moon. And, as always, there were new, innovative topics to investigate, such as a fascinating look at abortion in the movies. (Hint: while the predominant theme of the past 40 years is sympathy for abortion, there are more quality pro-life moments than most of us realize. Check out Today's News & Views for an upcoming series on the subject: www.nrlc.org.)

But best of all was the fellowship. Whether breaking bread together or just sitting down on the couch to trade stories, attendees at NRLC 2001 were blessed by the presence of other champions of life.

"We are lucky," said Ragan, "that in a battle that requires so much of us we have genuinely nice people working with us shoulder to shoulder."

Ragan had two other thoughts. First, be sure to buy the tapes from the convention. (See ad, pages 30-31.)

And "Don't forget to attend NRLC 2002 next summer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."