NRL News
Page 8
April 2009
Volume 36
Issue 5

Jack Kemp: Rest In Peace
By Dave Andrusko

When I learned that former pro-life congressman Jack Kemp had died of cancer, in addition to the sorrow I felt for his family, three thoughts flashed through my mind.

First, I remembered that I had thought of the nine-term congressman from western New York almost the instant Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was added to the Republican ticket. Like the choice of Palin, Sen. Bob Dole’s selection of Kemp in 1996 energized and fired up pro-lifers across the land. Kemp was not only solidly pro-life, he was also handsome, charismatic, and deeply committed to making America equally hospitable to all its citizens. He was an inspired choice.

Second, on his worst days Kemp was ebullient and enthusiastic. He seemed to be able to generate an almost endless stream of policy proposals. It is no exaggeration to say that he believed ideas were like Archimedes’ lever, able to move the world.

One of those ideas was that the America taxpayer should not be forced to underwrite horrific human rights violations abroad. That is why Kemp was the author on the house side of the “Kemp-Kasten” law.

First enacted in 1985, Kemp-Kasten prohibited U.S. funding of organizations that participated in programs of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. Republican Presidents looked at the facts on the ground (as opposed to the briefing books compiled by pro-abortion organizations), and concluded that the UNFPA was up to its institutional eyeballs in both practices.

“The UNFPA is a cheerleader and facilitator for China’s birth-quota program, which relies heavily on coerced abortion,” NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson said several years ago. “Top UNFPA officials have been completely cozy with China’s birth-quota bosses. For 20 years, top UNFPA leaders have consistently praised China’s program and attacked its critics.” Kemp-Kasten was part of that attempt to quarantine taxpayer dollars away from such brutal anti-life policies.

Third, Kemp had an enormous impact on younger pro-lifers. I remember like it was yesterday a private meeting he had with a number of pro-life teens. He inspired them with wit, wisdom, and force of personality.

We will miss him. Our prayers go out to Mr. Kemp’s family.