Political Director Carol Tobias Retires,
Lauded for Her Contributions to Pro-Life Movement
Dave Andrusko

National Right to Life is losing an invaluable employee and a dear colleague. Political Director Carol Tobias and her husband, Damon, are retiring and will move to New Mexico. Mrs. Tobias has been Political Director since 1991.

That’s the sad news. The good news is that NRL is blessed that a superbly competent woman has agree to move to the Washington, DC area to become the new Political Director.

Karen Cross is the executive director of West Virginians for Life. She also serves on the board of National Right to Life and on the board of American Victims of Abortion. (Also see “From the President,” for more about Karen.)

The following are excerpts from the remarks of NRLC Executive Director Dr. David N. O’Steen and Mrs. Tobias’s full statement at a press conference held August 24 at the National Press Club. (For more about Carol Tobias, click here.)

David N. O’Steen, Ph.D.
As NRL Political Director, Carol compiled a truly remarkable record. From 1992 through 2004 Carol led NRL PAC’s involvement in approximately 915 races. Although vastly outspent by pro-abortion political forces, NRL PAC under Carol’s direction won almost two-thirds of those races (65+%.) The pro-life landscape you see in Washington today is largely due to the pro-life victories Carol helped achieve over the past 14 years.

Reporters will recall that after every election Carol was able to report that post-election polling showed that the majority of those who voted on the basis of the abortion issue voted for pro-life candidates. During her years of service both key congressional and Presidential races were won by margins closer than the pro-life advantage Carol and NRL PAC delivered.

Pro-life electoral victories translate into pro-life legislation and pro-life legislation translates into lives saved. There are now approximately 300,000 fewer abortions annually than there were when Carol first came to NRLC’s Washington office. I know there are many children alive today because of Carol’s work. National Right to Life, the pro-life movement and many mothers, fathers, and children owe Carol a deep debt of gratitude for her service.

A major strength of the pro-life movement and of National Right to Life is our grassroots network of state affiliates and 3,000 local chapters. Carol was a product of that network having worked for North Dakota Right to Life between 1983 and 1991 and serving as both a very successful President and Executive Director of that organization. ....

Carol Tobias
It has been my great pleasure to work as the PAC Director, then Political Director, of the National Right to Life Committee, for almost 14 years. National Right to Life is the largest pro-life organization in the country devoted exclusively to the protection of innocent human life and, I would add, most likely the largest such pro-life organization in the world.

Under the leadership of its President, Wanda Franz, Ph.D.; the Executive Director, David N. O’Steen, Ph.D.; and the Associate Executive Director, Darla St. Martin, along with the entire staff, National Right to Life and the pro-life movement have grown stronger. NRLC has informed and educated millions of Americans, has kept abortion alive as the major social issue in America, and is forging a pro-life majority.
My co-workers at NRLC are unequaled anywhere for their dedication and hard work. There is no competition or pettiness in this office. The staff works as a team doing anything and everything possible to promote the ideal that every human life has dignity and value.

From partial-birth abortion, to stem cell research and cloning, to efforts to ensure that vulnerable persons receive basic care–including food and water—National Right to Life has continued to promote a culture where, in the words of pro-life President Bush, everyone, including unborn children, is “welcomed in life and protected in law.”

To all the wonderful state affiliates, chapters, and volunteers, I cannot tell you how much I value your dedication and your sacrifice. There is no other movement in which so many people will give so much of themselves, to help those they will never meet.

I am moving to New Mexico with my husband. Even as I look forward to a new and different life in the Southwest, I will miss my colleagues and friends.

However, I leave knowing that Karen Cross will do a wonderful job, working with the grassroots to continue our successful efforts in electing pro-life men and women to office.