In The Beginning

By Carolyn Gerster, M.D.
NRLC Vice President of Medical Ethics

Two hundred and twenty-seven years ago, at the birth of our nation, a founding father declared, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It was appropriate that Thomas Jefferson placed "life" first. Without life, there is no liberty or pursuit of happiness.

One hundred and ninety-seven years later, seven men in black robes ruled the unborn child to be a non-person and, thus, denied the child any meaningful legal protection until the day of his birth. This landmark Roe v. Wade decision necessitated the creation of a national movement dedicated to the restoration of the right to life for the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, and the chronically ill.

Since the mid-19th century all state abortion laws were based on the 1827 discovery of fertilization (the union of sperm and ovum), and the realization that life began at conception. For over 100 years, protective statutes remained in place. Then the erosion began. From 1967 to 1970, 17 states weakened their abortion laws, but in only 4 of these states was abortion allowed virtually without restraint.

With the awakening of the grassroots pro-life movement, the tide turned. The 1970 Washington state abortion referendum (passed by less than 1% of the vote) marked the end of the abortion juggernaut.

During the next two years pro-abortion legislation was introduced and defeated in 33 states. In 1972 the New York state legislature overturned its two-year-old abortion law in both houses, only to have it vetoed by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

The same year, the only two states to hold referenda on abortion, North Dakota and Michigan, rejected the proposals by 78% and 61%, respectively.

There was an air of jubilation. Immediate plans were made to reverse permissive abortion laws in the remaining states.

Then, scarcely eight weeks later, on "Black Monday," January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the laws of all 50 states. Seven men decided for 215 million Americans. But legalized elective abortion up to term was not the will of the people.

Once or twice a decade, a catastrophe of such magnitude occurs (the assassination of a President, a declaration of war, a natural disaster) that every person recalls precisely where they were when the news broke. So it was with Roe v. Wade.

I was listening to the radio while parking the car at the office when the program was interrupted. Most of us in Arizona were frozen by despair and disbelief.

The calls came in from other states, reminding me of another 7-2 Supreme Court decision, defining the slave as a non-person. Our struggle was not lost. We must regroup, as the abolitionists had over a century before. A national organization was required.

One pro-life leader proposed a nine-person panel be appointed for the purpose of adopting the articles of incorporation and proposed by-laws for a National Right to Life Committee. When I was asked to participate I was the mother of five boys, ranging in age from eleven to three. With my husband, I was engaged in the full-time practice of internal medicine and cardiology.

From February to May 1973, a group of us met every three to four weeks at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. People of different backgrounds, united for one purpose: the establishment of a national organization to engage in educational, charitable, scientific, and political activity to promote respect for the worth and dignity of all human life, including the life of the unborn child from the moment of conception, and to promote, encourage, and sponsor such amendatory and statutory measures which would provide protection of human life before and after birth, particularly for the defenseless, the incompetent, the impaired, and the incapacitated.

Disagreements were resolved. We were all committed to the formation of a one-issue, non-sectarian, non-partisan organization representing the grassroots in all 50 states.

The Articles of Incorporation were approved at the first official Board of Directors meeting held in Chicago on March 11, 1973. I joined eight others from New York, Maine, New Jersey, Minnesota, Washington, Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania in constituting the initial Board of Directors and we filed the Articles of Incorporation on May 14, 1973. The rest is history.

The first NRL Convention was held in Detroit June 8, 1973-June 10, 1973. From this beginning evolved today's National Right to Life Committee.

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Il.) has called National Right to Life the "flagship" of the pro-life movement. With affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide, the founders' original vision of a true grassroots movement has been realized.

NRLC has been recognized as one of the most influential lobbying organizations on Capitol Hill because of our broad-based grassroots philosophy. Our educational efforts have helped to change the hearts and minds of countless numbers of Americans. And the efforts of National Right to Life PAC have ensured that unborn children have a strong voice in the White House and in both houses of Congress.

It has been said that the members of the pro-life movement can not be categorized. On that first January 1974 commemoration in Washington, D.C., some arrived in wheel chairs - - some in baby strollers - - people of all ages, ethnic origins, lifestyles, and religious faiths. They were brought together by their shared belief that all human life has infinite intrinsic value and must be protected by law.

Now, 30 years later, we are joined by a new generation, secure in the knowledge that people working together can and will change the course of history.