Incrementalism

Last year before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Barack Obama told pro-abortion activists:

“The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.”

With a single stroke of the pen, Barack Obama would wipe away virtually every state law on abortion nationwide. Instantly, it will undo thirty-seven years of legal work, research, and educational successes that AUL has accomplished in the 50 states. Put another way: Barack Obama will undermine the very reason we exist — to protect human life state by state.

Sen. Barack Obama has co-sponsored this “Freedom of Choice Act” legislation with 18 other Senators. The bill has the support of 110 Members of Congress, too. The stated aim of this legislation is to “end the abortion wars.”

Let me be clear: to these legislators, “ending the abortion wars” means allowing abortion-on-demand in all nine months of pregnancy for any reason and without any restrictions nationwide. This would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support — such as requirements that licensed physicians perform abortions, fully-informed consent, and parental involvement — and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.

AUL Vice President & Legal Director Denise Burke has prepared an analysis of the “Freedom of Choice Act,” which we’ve just posted on our website. Please click here to read Denise’s analysis of this horrendous legislation.

On June 30, AUL’s fiscal year comes to a close. In order to end the year with the funds necessary to fight this looming threat, we must raise $269,000 by June 30. AUL, like many organizations, experiences a dip in donations in the summer time. Please, if you are in a position to give a substantial gift, even a sacrificial one, don’t delay.

In the May issue of Christianity Today, Stan Guthrie addresses those who wish to “move on” from abortion, telling them, “We’re Not Finished.”

In other words, these [Jim Wallis, Ron Sider] and other voices seem to be saying that fighting legalized abortion—the deliberate, state-sanctioned taking of 50 million unborn human lives from their mothers’ wombs since 1973 (and the accompanying national guilt)—should simply be one item among many on an ever-expanding evangelical to-do list. I agree that we have multiple responsibilities as Christians, and different callings. But if everything is a priority, then nothing is. While no one is saying that defending unborn human life is optional, the way we sometimes talk about our broader agenda appears to minimize the importance of abortion.

Pressing the case, Guthrie adds:

And faltering now would be doubly tragic, because the tide is turning. According to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, the abortion rate has dropped to its lowest level since 1974. The number has also fallen, from 1.6 million abortions in 1990 to 1.2 million in 2005. While that’s still far too many, and the prospect of actually overturning Roe seems distant, it’s real progress nevertheless.

And he concludes:

No, we will not all be called to picket or pray in front of an abortion clinic or pass legislation or support an unwed mother or adopt a child or write letters to the editor. But we all can do something.

Opposing abortion is not simply another agenda item for evangelicals. It is our sacred duty. Whatever other good deeds we are called to do—and there are many—we cannot say abortion is someone else’s business. It’s our business.

Gonzales v. Carhart: One Year Later
Letting the People Decide

By Denise M. Burke
Vice President & Legal Director, Americans United for Life

One year ago, the public debate over abortion was irrevocably altered. In the landmark Gonzales v. Carhart decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortion and, more importantly, abdicated, at least in part, its role as the “National Abortion Control Board.”

In its decision, the Court signaled an increasing willingness to blunt attempts by abortion extremists to use the courts to unilaterally impose their radical agenda on the American public, and an increasing willingness to let the people decide abortion policy. The immediate reaction of activists, state legislators, and the public confirmed this critical shift.

While abortion extremists hastily recycled the hyperbolic rhetoric of the 1970s, legislators and the public increasingly considered prudent responses to the mounting evidence of the negative impact of abortion on women. [more]