NRL News
Page 2
July/August 2009
Volume 36
Issue 7-8

Abortion, Health Care “Reform,” and Obama’s Falling Popularity
By Dave Andrusko

“With all his gifts and charisma, it is tragic beyond words that Mr. Obama has chosen to promote the culture of death and in record time has made the White House the wholly owned subsidiary of the abortion lobby. For a man who has been given so much to then deny the right to live—to exist—to those who have so little is, well, unfair and tragic. He has done much harm—and is capable of inflicting much more. Thus through prayer, fasting and smart work we must absolutely resolve to stop his misguided abortion agenda. This can and must be our finest hour.”
     Pro-life Congressman Chris Smith, speaking at the NRLC 2009 closing Banquet

Over the years I’ve been known to attempt to provide a motivational message or two. But when I listen to Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, I realize he operates in a different universe from the rest of us. He brims with such keen intelligence, fiery passion, and unswerveable commitment that after listening to him, you can’t help but wonder what you are doing sleeping at night.

His full speech at the convention can be found at http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/June09/nv062609.html. Next time you need an instant picker-upper, read it.

I begin with Chris’s speech, because he reminded us that this can—and must be—our finest hour. We are up against a formidable coalition of veteran pro-abortionists, led by the President, who, though very inexperienced, should never be underestimated. Not since John F. Kennedy have large segments of the American people so desperately wanted to believe in a President.

At the same time, the higher (and unthinking) the admiration, the harder the eventual reaction will be when reality firmly sets in. Pro-abortion Presidsent Barack Obama won because he tapped into both our fears and hopes, which allowed him to bamboozle the electorate into thinking he was a moderate who would put away old things in Washington. His all-out radicalism on abortion is a symbol of a man who has planted his flag on the far left side of the political spectrum.

My point is simply that after the binge, a sobering up is inevitable. And there is evidence it has not only begun but is picking up speed. One recent headline put it bluntly: “Will Obama Continue to Defy Gravity?” If he doesn’t, if politically Obama falls to earth, it will likely be in no small measure because his signature initiative—health care reform—crashed and burned.

Another headline (from the Associated Press) helps us understand why that this “reform” could be in grave danger: “Gov’t insurance would allow coverage for abortion.”

Richard Alonso-Zaldivar began his story with a very telling observation. Thanks in large part to NRLC, the truth is ever-so-gradually making its way through rock-hard media resistance, like a dandelion breaking through a concrete sidewalk.

Alonso-Zaldivar wrote, “Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue.” A few paragraphs later he adds, “Advocates on both sides are preparing for a renewed battle over abortion, which could jeopardize political support for President Barack Obama’s health care initiative aimed at covering nearly 50 million uninsured and restraining medical costs.”

The July/August issue of National Right to Life News is chock-full of articles you need to read, both about the abortion-enhancing propensities of the proposed bills and the threat of rationing as well. If you have friends who are not subscribers, encourage them to call us at (202) 626-8828 and we’ll get the issue out to them post-haste.

People on the Hill who are much savvier than I am always remind us to “follow the money.” Pro-abortionists may hem and haw, may (or may not) temporarily put part of their agenda on hold, and will for sure look to the heavens and vow that they are working diligently to find a “compromise.” (If you are looking for their truth quotient, take those assurances, divide by 10, and then multiply by zero.)

But access to hundreds of millions of dollars, parceled out to the likes of Planned Parenthood to grease the gears of the killing machine—this is not negotiable. Please remember that over the next month when you go to listen to your congressman and senators talk about their position on health care “reform.”

On a related note, you read the same stories I do, so you know Obama’s popularity, if not in free fall, is clearly heading south. There are many ways of measuring that besides polls gauging the public’s opinion of him. Let me offer what’s going on in Virginia, the state my family lives in, as an object lesson.

Virginia and New Jersey are the only states with gubernatorial elections this year. We have a solid pro-life Republican and a pro-abortion Democrat. The headline from the Washington Post speaks volumes: “Is Race for Governor More about Obama?” The Democrat, R. Creigh Deeds, finds himself in the unenviable position of trying to keep the increasingly less popular Obama at arm’s length at the same time maintaining the loyalty of those Virginians who remain in the President’s camp.

“There is no empirical evidence at this point in Virginia’s race for governor showing that huge numbers of voters think like [a particular voter profiled in the story] and will respond by sending a message to Washington,” writes the Post. “But Obama’s policies are nonetheless having immediate consequences in the campaign as the candidates adjust their strategies to account for the president’s controversial domestic agenda, which has overshadowed many state issues. “

In fact I’m sure both Deeds and his Republican counterpart, Bob McDonnell, have done extensive polling. They know exactly whether Obama is increasingly a life preserver, which will buoy Deeds, or an anchor, which will help drag Deeds down to defeat in November.

Another article in that same Post issue was headlined, “Obama Returns to Grass Roots for Reform; White House Using Internet Campaigns to Try to Influence Health-Care Debate.” It details how Obama is going back to the future, to try to gear up the “online world of grass-roots activism” that was so important in his successful campaign “in an attempt to reclaim control of the [health care] debate.”

The difference is, of course, that his opponents, including pro-lifers, learned from Obama’s brilliant presidential campaign. NRLC is exponentially more effective in quickly countering the Obama message machine and, thanks to your help via social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in getting that information distributed to an ever-growing network.

Keep reading NRL News, my daily blog Today’s News & Views (www.nrlc.org), and be sure to visit www.nrlactioncenter.com daily. We need to be able to act just as quickly and as universally as the pro-abortionists.

And if, by chance, you should feel weary and wonder if you have the energy for another pro-life effort, remember Chris’s words: “I’m here to tell you that the prejudice and bias against unborn children by this Administration is stunning. I’ve been in the Right to Life movement for 37 years, and I’ve never seen an Administration so biased against little kids.”

Please send your thoughts on this or any other article in NRL News to daveandrusko@gmail.com.