FROM THE PRESIDENT

Wanda Franz, Ph.D.

PRO-LIFERS WON ROUND ONE, BUT...

Let's remember how things stood before the 2004 election. Activists on both sides of the abortion issue knew that the election would be pivotal to their cause.

If John Kerry won, his new appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court would solidify a pro-Roe v. Wade majority on the Court for decades to come, and any substantive pro-life legislation would continue to be in danger of being declared unconstitutional. With a pro-Roe Court continuing its role as the pro-abortionists' bastion of strength, they would be able to frustrate the efforts of pro-lifers even if they themselves lacked the legislative support for advancing their agenda beyond the current status.

In contrast, the reelection of President George Bush would offer the possibility of shifting the balance on the Court to the anti-Roe, pro-Constitution side. Of course, overturning Roe v. Wade would only be the first step, but an essential step. For pro-lifers this would be the beginning of the beginning. For pro-abortionists, it would be the beginning of the end.

If an anti-Roe, pro-Constitution Court would find that there is no constitutional basis for Roe v. Wade, then the regulation of abortion is up to the legislative branches of government.

The pro-abortionists had the easier task going into the election. All they had to do was help John Kerry win the presidency, and Roe v. Wade would be safe for another 30 years. They had every reason to believe that they would succeed: Their financial resources vastly exceeded those of the pro-life side. The news media, opinion makers, and prominent entertainment personalities were, for the most part, on their side. And "progressive" 527 groups and labor unions supporting the Kerry/Edwards campaign were running get-out-the-vote campaigns of unprecedented intensity. On top of that, the country was in a difficult war and still recovering from the economic downturn caused by the economic fallout from the 9/11 attack and the bursting of the Wall Street bubble that had developed under Clinton--a situation favoring the challenger.

In contrast, pro-lifers faced an uphill battle. They were outspent on a massive scale. Their message was ignored or actively suppressed by the media. And they were met with a well-organized opposition from "progressive" members of normally pro-life congregations. (My hometown newspaper had full-page advertisements from "People of Faith for Kerry" and "Pax Christi.") There was no end to phony "seamless garment" arguments.

It was tough. And on Election Day, when the early (fortunately erroneous) exit polls showed Kerry winning handily, it was also scary--very scary.

Then the glorious news came over the TV screens, expelled through gritted teeth and carried by strained voices from faces showing deep disappointment: President George W. Bush had been reelected with a solid margin. In fact, pro-life candidates for office had fared well throughout the country.

One must admire the courage pro-lifers showed during this past campaign, while the editorial pages and the letters to the editor held them up to vilification and ridicule.

One must be grateful for the persistence with which pro-lifers proclaimed the truth of the right-to-life message, while the media "spun" the news and whitewashed Kerry's anti-life record.

One must marvel at the capacity for hard work that pro-lifers brought to the task of the election; they outworked the pro-abortionists.

And one must be in awe of the sacrificial commitment with which pro-lifers fought on behalf of others, for the sake of the most vulnerable in our society: the embryo stalked by the biotech industry in search of stem cells, the defenseless and innocent child in the womb threatened by abortion, the "imperfect" infant facing infanticide, and the disabled and elderly in danger of the "solution" of their "problem" at the hands of an "angel of death."

You, the laborers in the pro-life vineyard, deserve to enjoy the just fruits of your hard work as you praise and thank God for the mercy He has showered upon us. But in your joy and celebration you must maintain a clear mind: The reelection of our pro-life president and the strengthening of the pro-life contingent in Congress were but a first step in the country's move towards a culture of life.

We must fervently hope that the second step, the remaking of the Supreme Court into a Constitution-respecting tribunal that admits that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, is accomplished during the next four years. The battle over this will be hard fought. And the amount of "disinformation" about Roe v. Wade (as for example in the recent IPSOS/AP opinion poll on Roe v. Wade; see page 8 in this issue) will be staggering. Have no illusions about what lies ahead, but don't lose faith. Have courage.

Once the roadblock of an abortion rights-obsessed Supreme Court is removed, we are still not at the end of our task. There must be a third step: enacting the legal protection of the right to life in Congress and the state legislatures. This third step requires a pro-life president and pro-life governors, clear pro-life majorities in the federal and state legislatures, and a public that has fully swung to the pro-life side. Because of the rising numbers of pro-life politicians and the successes of our educational/legislative campaigns, especially the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, we have made a start in preparing the ground for this third step, but there is still so much hard work ahead. Again, don't despair at the enormity of the task. But it does require a sound strategy; hence, stick with NRLC.

Now, I have to ask you for help. NRLC's treasury is empty, spent in the battle for the right to life. Please, make a sacrificial contribution to us now.

For your financial help, your hard work, and your supportive prayers I thank you most humbly on behalf of the National Right to Life Committee.

May God bless you and your families as you celebrate this Holy Season.