FROM THE PRESIDENT
Wanda Franz, Ph.D.

IT'S GOING TO TAKE EVERYBODY'S HELP

I want all of you, our members and friends, to have a clear view of what we are facing.

What is ahead is a much tougher struggle than the elections of 2004. In the past, some pro-lifers made the faulty assumption that election victories would almost automatically transform themselves into new pro-life laws and policy changes. By now, it should be clear to everyone that it is not so.

To change law is always difficult.

First, a law that gives "rights"--no matter how questionable--is hard to repeal because people are reluctant to take "rights" away. It's hard, but it can be done.

Second, and more importantly, our Founding Fathers didn't want government to be able just to wave a wand and change the lives of millions of people. They wanted deliberation. And deliberation is what they--and we--got. Look at how pro-abortionists in Congress exploited the process of legislative deliberation to stall passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The Senate couldn't muster the votes to override two vetoes by Bill Clinton.

The third, and most difficult, obstacle to legislative change arises in the case of Supreme Court-imposed law--law that was never subject to legislative deliberation. What our Founding fathers did not anticipate was an arrogant Supreme Court "waving the wand" and "legislating" massive social change "from the bench"--as it did in Roe v. Wade--inventing the "right" to abortion-on-demand through the entire nine months of pregnancy. Overriding Court-imposed law requires us either to persuade the Court to reverse itself or to pass a Constitutional amendment correcting the Court's arrogance.

The men and women making up the current pro-abortion majority on the Court are not stupid. They know that there is no Constitutional "right" to abortion on demand. They know that this "right" is an invention of the Court. They know that a law as radical as Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton would never pass Congress--not in 1973, not in 2005. But they want to impose their will on us--as they made perfectly clear in the Casey decision, where they demanded that we stop questioning the Court's decision. Thus, they don't want to be swayed by any argument, old or new, that Roe and Doe must be reversed.

For pro-lifers with a clear understanding of what we face, this is obvious: The membership of the Supreme Court must change before Roe v. Wade/Doe v. Bolton can be reversed. Only jurists with respect for the Constitution and the separation of powers could admit to the Court's shameful error in Roe and Doe and reverse these decisions. Aside from justices opposed to legislating from the bench, it will also take pressure from a public convinced that the horror of abortion-on-demand must end. Ultimately, the Supreme Court does take note of the election returns.

The task of persuading the public that abortion-on-demand must end brings us back to legislative deliberation. It is one of our most important educational tools. It is one thing for pro-lifers in a sidewalk demonstration holding up the drawings depicting the process of a partial-birth abortion, it is quite another when congressmen and senators show that same poster during a legislative debate. Then it is on national TV. Then it is serious--part of an important national debate. In fact, the legislative debates on banning partial-birth abortions in Congress and the state legislatures, starting in 1996, were the most important reasons why the public has swung from a permissive and largely uninformed "pro-choice" stance to the pro-life side.

The reason an abortion-on-demand law in the style of Roe v. Wade would never pass Congress is because it would never survive the scrutiny of "deliberation," of vigorous debate. Remember, when Bill Clinton was first elected in 1992, the "Freedom of Choice Act" was considered "a done deal." Well, we squelched it with a vigorous informational campaign. The pro-abortion Democratic leadership in the Senate never brought it to a vote. "Deliberation" killed it.

Pro-abortion groups, and their supporters in Congress, absolutely do not want an open and honest debate over abortion. And they don't want judges who would correctly read the Constitution as giving the people, through the state legislatures, the right to protect innocent children. They don't want to be bound by the truth. They will dishonestly "bork" judicial nominees and will, as always, lie through their teeth. They will do anything to stop us, and the pro-abortion media will help them at every step. And they will outspend us--vastly.

I trust that you understand what we--you and I and all pro-lifers--face.

NRLC needs your help, your prayers, and your committed financial support in the months and years ahead. Together, you and I can force and continue that vigorous and educational debate over abortion, we can make history, and we can ensure the gift of life for millions and millions of deserving children. We can change the world for the better.

Please, if you have ever considered joining your local or state chapter of Right to Life, now is the time. If you have contributed to National Right to Life, please consider making a special generous donation now to help us with the colossal battles to come. Please resolve to make National Right to Life a leading beneficiary of your monthly giving.

I'm not exaggerating when I say we may not win without your support. Hundreds of millions of dollars are available to the pro-abortion cause from the abortion business, from tax dollars to groups such as Planned Parenthood, and from gifts of very rich and very misguided donors--not to mention the free propaganda they receive from our rabidly pro-abortion media.

Look into your heart, prayerfully consider what together we face, and then fill out and mail the coupon on page 13 along with a generous check.

And please. Pray that we all have the wisdom and vision and generosity of heart to work for the life of every little unborn child.

May God bless you for your sacrifice on behalf of the defenseless child in the womb.