50 Years and Counting

If someone had said I’d see my 50^th anniversary of pro-life advocacy I probably would have laughed. And then uttered a sigh realizing the battle would linger so long.

But here we are and the occasion brings back a flood of memories as I reflect on the absolute honor it has been to work in the pro-life movement.

My initiation to the abortion issue was a persuasive speech my senior year of high school. Roe v Wade was two years old, so I chose the topic of abortion.  My class was 50-50 on abortion before the speech and unanimously opposed it afterward. This was a not-so-subtle revelation that pro-life education is the foundation on which we build crucial political and legislative victories. God used it to light a fierce passion in my heart to seek justice for America’s unborn babies.

In the 70’s the general notion was that if we demonstrated the beauty of the developing baby in the womb and contrasted that with what abortion does to its tiny victims we would prevail in gaining the hearts and minds of Americans.

If only it was that easy.

We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Catholic church and Knights of Columbus. They laid the foundation for what our movement is today.

My first 11 years as a grassroots volunteer included stints as Billings Montana Right to Life chapter president, Wyoming and Montana state presidents and representing Montana on the National Right to Life Committee’s (NRLC) board of directors.

When there was a debate with the local Planned Parenthood person, the group insisted I do it. The pro-abortion debate format was predictable. They would rant and rave that abortion was solely a Catholic issue and say, “Keep your rosaries off our ovaries,” throw in a couple of “my body my choice” and call it a day.

I would calmly respond I wasn’t Catholic and that if I did have a rosary, they could rest assured I would keep it far from their ovaries. I would add that religion doesn’t dictate when life begins, science does. I was there, I said, to oppose the worst civil rights injustice of our time and described how the beginning of life starts at fertilization. They saw beautiful images of life in the womb and heard how abortion harms women.

I guess it was my drop mic moment.  

During my first DC March for Life in 1977 I was in a distinct minority as a young person. Now, as a “mature marcher” I am again in a minority. Yes! Easily two thirds of the marchers are 25 and younger. They have turned the atmosphere of the March from a somber tone to a celebration of life with their drums, trumpets, balloons, matching scarves and other outwardly uplifting contributions to the frigid annual event.

In the late 80’s their losing mantra in debates hadn’t changed. After an event with a Planned Parenthood operative at UC Davis California, she conceded defeat saying, “You’ve done this before.” 

During that debate we dealt with the issue of rape pregnancy and I defended the life of a child even in the event of sexual assault. Afterward a young man with deep brown eyes and a backpack over his   shoulder came up to me and earnestly said, “I was the product of rape and I have a right to live.” I will never forget his face because it put a real person behind our effort to save all the babies.

It takes more than pro-life education to save innocent human life. Lobbying is an essential tool. I remember driving particularly treacherous winter roads from Billings to our Capital in Helena to lobby for pro-life legislation with mixed results.

It impressed on me then that in order to pass life-saving bills we needed to elect more pro-life candidates. This was a time when abortion was a bipartisan issue. We advocated single issue voting because without the right to life there were no other rights. I recall voting for a US Senator who was pro-life but didn’t reflect my other political views.

During the 80’s, God answered our prayers. We witnessed a significant flow of evangelical Christians into the pro-life movement thanks to the leadership of Dr. D James Kennedy.

In 1986 I began fulltime work in the movement, starting with NRLC’s Political Action Committee under PAC Director Sandy Faucher (now Mason). She was hands-down one of my favorite bosses because we had loads of fun while electing pro-life candidates. Sandy assigned me the 13 western states which generated tons of travel while my sons were little. During one memorable 24-hour period while still based in Montana there was a breakfast meeting in Sacramento, California, lunch meeting in San Diego, and a dinner meeting in El Paso, Texas.

I was in Salt Lake City speaking at a pro-life event and afterward spent down time with Jim Bopp, NRLC’s general counsel, and Dr. Willke. I mentioned that we didn’t want to raise our sons in California where I worked out of NRLC’s Western Regional Office in Sacramento.

Jack took note of that comment and not long after, I received a phone call from him. He was concerned about the diminishing time spent on pro-life education in favor of political and legislative efforts. After dedicating many years as president of NRLC he wanted to start Life Issues Institute, the only pro-life organization dedicated solely to education. He asked if I would help him get the Institute off the ground in his hometown of Cincinnati.

My only hesitation was that while working side by side he would fall off that pedestal where I had placed him. It was Jack’s and Barbara’s educational materials that I used in my first speech and had incorporated into my pro-life work ever since. This husband and wife team did more than anyone to advance the cause for life worldwide.

As much as I loved politics, there was something tranquil about concentrating on education. Jack and I worked side by side for 24 years until his death and not once did he fall from that pedestal. They were my most cherished professional years in the movement.

One of the first efforts we undertook after launching Life Issues Institute was to conduct focus group polling of conflicted Americans to see how they felt about abortion and viewed the pro-life movement. It wasn’t pretty. We were seen to be violent extremists who cared only about the baby and not the mother.

We took our findings to Washington, DC where we invited every pro-life, pro-family state and national leader to the first of three consecutive monthly meetings. These interactions turned out to be a watershed moment for the movement.

We presented our findings at the first meeting. During the second we formulated effective messaging that all would use in the wake of the US Supreme Court Planned Parenthood v Casey decision. For the first time in our movement’s history, we would speak with one unified voice. Further focus groups were held to determine the effectiveness of our new message. “Love Them Both” was accompanied by brief text combining the rights of both mother and child. We discussed these latest findings at the third meeting. 

The implementation of the Love Them Both message put the abortion industry and its advocates on the defensive for decades. And it went worldwide.

I was speaking at a national pro-life conference in Durban, South Africa, and as we drove closer to the venue, I saw our heart shaped “Love Them Both” placards posted at intersections and elsewhere.  

Another momentous development for the movement came with a steady influx of young people, partly in the form of youth-led groups like Students for Life of America and Live Action. These eager warriors brought their youthful exuberance, boldness, tech savvy, upbeat qualities with them. And it frightened the wits out of our opposition!

Our movement has welcomed with outstretched arms and hearts former abortionists, abortion staff, and women and men who have chosen abortion. Those who once took an active role in supporting abortion or taking the lives of preborn children are now often our best ambassadors for the babies and their parents.

Jack and Barbara taught me to change with the times to remain relevant as we educate others to the reality of abortion. This led to a weekly half-hour television program, Facing Life Head-On. As the host and executive producer my job was to stay out of the way of our guests as they shared both uplifting and heartbreaking stories, defining the title of our program. For eight seasons we reached audiences throughout the US and Canada, plus other international locations.

The film crew and I traveled across America and as far away as Ethiopia to share the stories of people Facing Life Head-On. The program earned three Regional Emmy Awards for pro-life programming!

New technology has enabled our daily radio commentary, Life Issues to reach millions with breaking stories within hours, making the program highly relevant to the lives of our listeners. It has grown to nearly 1,200 radio outlets throughout the nation and beyond. The program touches people over 18 million times a week. We’ve recently added a half-hour weekly radio program, Straight Talk on Life Issues and a weekly podcast under the same name.  

Jack predicted he and Barbara would not see the demise of Roe v Wade, but that their children would. He was right…once again. 

This monumental accomplishment opened the door to amazing opportunities protecting life. However, the same door is open to our opposition and the challenges before us are significant.

Tragically, the purveyors of death are using deceitful state referenda to establish abortion until birth. Chemical abortion pills are used with no medical supervision resulting in tragedies. And they are easily accessed by sexual predators who use them to cover up criminal activity.  

I would be remiss not to acknowledge the power of prayer and its role in our efforts to protect the nation’s unborn babies. It is a tool worth more than gold to advance the cause for life and I have personally seen it move mountains.

With every position I’ve held – volunteer or paid – each was extended without my offering. During the early years, the Lord both opened doors and pushed this reluctant pro-lifer through them. Reluctant in feeling unqualified to fill the positions. I am living proof that God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.

Lord willing, I plan to continue serving in defense of innocent human life. While the role may change, the passion continues to burn brightly.