Pro-life summit: Where are we?
As I indicated yesterday, I attended a summit meeting of pro-life activists and apologists in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday and Tuesday, spearheaded by Mark Harrington of Created Equal.
The summit was to assess where the movement is in light of the reelection of Barack Obama, also bearing in mind the fact we’re nearing the 40 year mark of legalized abortion in the U.S.
Heads of various groups from around the country and Canada gave their analyses, many via Skype, and also provided a snapshot of their plans for 2013.
I was looking forward to this summit, because in my opinion the paradigm shifted with the reelection of Barack Obama, and I was fumbling with how as a pro-lifer to respond.
I think God is done doling “Get Out of Jail Free” cards. He’s giving our country the ideological leadership we deserve, and with it the consequences.
And politically speaking, how the pro-life movement has been thinking and acting may no longer work, which has been to behave as beggars and cajolers of the Republican Party to give us morsels.
Through sheer willpower and collaboration with pro-aborts, Obama and the Democrats took the politically losing pro-abortion position (according to Gallup polls 2009-2012), and made it a winner.
In large part this is because Republicans didn’t respond. They also let the other side shift the debate. Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List wrote in a post-election analysis (a great read, available here, with SBA List’s permission):
The pro-abortion lobby and their allies have made it very clear what their strategy is moving forward: Do not talk about abortion and attempt to re-center the debate around contraception, birth control, and rape….
[A] September 2012 Politico article about the Democratic strategy on women’s issues… led with:
“Democrats think they’ve figured out how to win the abortion debate: Don’t make it about abortion.”…
The abortion lobby and their allies know from hard data and polling trends that abortion is not a winning issue for them – and so instead, they are working to re-center the debate around contraception and birth control, like they successfully did during the 2012 elections.
If nothing else this election showed the GOP must take responsibility to persuade the public on the pro-life issue. They can’t leave it up to pro-lifers. They can’t make the excuse that the position is in writing (in the platform), and that’s all they need to do.
This is a tall order, because through the election cycle Republicans demonstrated they would rather lose than show strength on abortion. Neither Akin nor Mourdock’s gaffes on rape were insurmountable. (Recall: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” As I said, no gaffe is insurmountable.)
Had Republicans not panicked but instead shown a little loyalty and backbone, along with some better rape/incest talking points, the two may not have fallen.
But now Republicans are more terrified or put off than ever on the pro-life issue. There is lots of talk about shelving the pro-life issue, although it is never explained what good that would do – what voters that would attract, never mind what voters it would lose.
That’s my view. I think we are at a critical point, politically speaking. I think we’re losing the GOP. If we let the GOP suppress our issue more than it already does, we all lose. How to stop the bleeding is the question.
So back to the summit. Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life presented a more optimistic view. He said:
As I said on the webcast the day after the election, nothing is permanent. One election undoes what another election does.
One key point I’ve been asking people to avoid is the assertion by the Left that America has taken sharp left turn. That is nonsense. President Obama was elected by 9.5 million fewer votes than last time. The House is one of most conservative Houses in modern times. The presidential race could have gone differently with 330,000 votes in key areas of the country.
The states are where things are really happening. Thirty-three of the 50 states are overseen by pro-life governers.
People can be disappointed without becoming disengaged. We can’t say, “You see, politics is not the solution.” We don’t have right to walk away from a process God himself has put into our hands, as frustrating as it is. We’ve got to stay engaged.
This leads to two practical tasks this coming year:
1. Remain engaged on the state level, connecting churches
2. Look forward to the U.S. Senate elections in 2014, with a possible change of controlHistory: Usually once the White House changes hands, the incoming president gets two terms, according to the law of averages. What’s also true is that midway through his second term, the president’s party doesn’t do so well. From all human calculation and the law of averages from U.S. history we have reason to expect gains in 2014 in the Senate. Democrats are far more vulnerable. They are going to have to defend almost twice as many seats as the GOP in the Senate.
Aside from politics, convincing the American people that abortion is wrong is not up to the White House. We have got just as much power in our hands to continue momentum we are making in the minds and hearts of the American people. We have just as much strength there. Reveal abortion to them, using their words, using graphic photos. There is no need to slow down or change any strategies this movement has used for years.
My optimistic view does not necessarily mean that God hasn’t handed us over to some kind of judgment. But it’s a judgment with an escape hatch. We have been judged inasmuch as we have gotten the public officials we’ve insisted on. Yet we still have a lot of good ones, and we don’t have the bad ones forever. His judgment, in other words, is a summons to get to work harder and smarter than ever.
I think even if our country is still center right, Obama and liberals can persuade a lot of people in the next four years to their ideological viewpoint. I read of that happening a lot in the Old Testament, and it often happened quickly. And then there are those aging Supreme Court justices.
That said, I was indeed heartened by FP had to say.
Your thoughts?
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
This is not the time to listen to happy talk or be naively optimistic. Now is the time to strap it on and prepare. The world and America has had it chance. It’s too late. Prepare yourself….your family….your loved ones. Keep talking and fighting….but understand the end-game is here. Maybe another biblical generation…..but I think not. No matter. America wants her abortions. She will have it…until God aborts America. And I pray for that….if that is what it takes.
I really liked what both Marjorie Dannenflaser and Father Pavone had to say. All this “THE WORLD IS ENDING AND GOD IS GOING TO SMITE US ALL INTO OBLIVION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Michael Voris-type stuff is getting rather tiresome.
I disagree that pro-lifers are about to lose the GOP. It’s undeniable that the party elites in the smoke-filled room are less committed than they should be, that dozens of pundits (some of them Republicans) are calling for the issue to be put away, and that the election is probably a major setback for the pro-life cause (though there is always the chance that Obama won’t get to appoint more justices). But the party leaders are not stupid. They know from the polling data that the country is more pro-life than ever before, and that the numbers don’t add up for a more abortion-friendly GOP to win elections (as much as they might want them to). I really think it’s all talk, just like it was in 2008, 2000, 1996, and 1992.
So the loss of this election has nothing to do with the majority of Catholics voting for the Messiah-these same Catholics who are so pro-life? I suggest that Father Pavone talk to his Catholic flock-they are the true problem, filled with hypocrisy and rightousness. How often do the Cuomos, Pelosis, and Kennedys get absolution from these same priests? the reality is that every time Catholics get a choice between Marx and Christ, they chose marx in the name of Christ.
The loss of the election had nothing to do with 2 stupid, white men who are unable to speak about pro-life issues? No one forced them to make the ridiculous statements they did. I would not have been able to vote for either one of those 2 stupids and I am very pro-life. Talk about arrogant and out-of-touch!!!
We lost this battle-that is the reality. I REFUSE to fight this war on a legal front anymore-it is a waste of time, energy and money. We have spent 40 years trying to change the laws-it is not going to happen. Maybe God is telling us to do something else. Use prayer to convince peoples’ hearts to open-it will not be won by legal challenges.
navi said…
But the party leaders are not stupid. They know from the polling data that the country is more pro-life than ever before, and that the numbers don’t add up for a more abortion-friendly GOP to win elections (as much as they might want them to).
Uh….yeah. Right. And the poll on November 6th of this year proves that point quite well. LOL !
Abortions became legal under Nixon…a Republican. And during a time when the country was MUCH more conservative than now. And now 40 years later…..
navi….your name should be Quixote.
“the reality is that every time Catholics get a choice between Marx and Christ, they chose marx in the name of Christ”
True that. Well, to be fair, a majority of PRACTICING Catholics usually support legitimate Catholic causes. BUT in this election we had a candidate who is threatening to steal our religious liberty. 100% of practicing Catholics should have voted against Obama. That ONLY about 57% of practicing Catholics voted against Obama is insane.
A house divided cannot stand.
I agree with Fr. Pavone, we need to unite in ways we haven’t done in the past.
The more united the better.
Additionally, we need to get much smarter about where things actually stand. Though difficult, it would be worthwhile doing a comprehensive poll of the entire nation, county by county on where voters and likely voters stand on 10 key points related to life. Alternate series of questions should be asked to determine if cultural wording has an impact. The results of the poll are not for election purposes, but cultural alteration.
Obama paid a lot of money and hired Google, Facebook and twitter to data-mine communications of the tech-connected, so he had a fairly accurate picture of trends, terms etc.
One of the big things I found talking with young people is their feeling no one is authentic/genuine with them. Many a young man is finding out the hard way that promiscuous sex is a lot more expensive than they ever imagined. We should make a concerted effort to reach the guys.
Pavone and Dannenflaser already addressed many of those issues above (Todd Akin, Obama getting re-elected, the proposition that “we can’t win/have lost politically”). I’m pretty sure that praying for an end to abortion has also been tried for the last 40 years. If the political arm of the pro-life movement has been an abysmal failure, the same argument can be made about prayer. I would, however, reject both premises.
Frank Pavone is one priest. He does not personally control how all bishops and churches deal with the abortion problem. However, he strongly supports excommunicating abortion-backing politicians and encourages other priests to take a more active role in engaging their congregations (which includes discussing voting principles). It is unfair to accuse him of hypocrisy on this matter.
The GOP (Nixon included) was not pro-life before Roe v. Wade, and abortion was not a major issue at the federal level then. Nixon himself also had no role in the decision, it was made by the Supreme Court. The fact that abortion became legal during his presidency is irrelevant to the candidates on the ballot in the 21st Century.
More conservative does not necessarily mean more pro-life:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/284725/young-people-s-attitudes-toward-abortion-and-same-sex-marriage-michael-j-new
The successes of the pro-life movement have always come from the ground game. If we waited for top down leadership to point the way at every turn very little, if anything, would have been accomplished.
Fr. Pavone is right about staying connected and working on the the 2014 Senate campaign and strengthening our hand in the House. If no conservative SCOTUS openings come up in the next two years we will at least have a fighting chance to stop a far left appointment if we have the Senate when one of them does retire. The fight for the Senate and increasing the number of prolifers in the House begins now.
The national political front is just one of many battlefields in which we are active. We have made tremendous strides and are closer to the tipping point then many people think.
“We lost this battle-that is the reality. I REFUSE to fight this war on a legal front anymore-it is a waste of time, energy and money. We have spent 40 years trying to change the laws-it is not going to happen. Maybe God is telling us to do something else. Use prayer to convince peoples’ hearts to open-it will not be won by legal challenges.”
I hear ya. It’s discouraging. But, susan d, on the state level there have been record numbers of life-affirming legislation enacted in recent years, and significant court cases are being won by pro-lifers, lost by PP, etc. It is also true that the battle will ultimately not be won in the poltical arena. However, God is most certainly still blessing legal efforts:
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/11/15/despite-the-election-pro-life-movement-still-sees-victories/
Rats will rescue a fellow rat in distress, but many men and women will not rescue a child soon to be killed. This problem lies in the minds and hearts of our people.
It is an awful truth to face that our nation has committed a holocaust against 50+ million innocent children and their mothers. America, proud victor in WWII against the Nazi holocaust, has committed these terrible crimes.
We are in need of some serious, in your face truth campaigns at all levels of society. The graphic truth of abortion, the addiction to pornography, the trafficking of women and children, must be shown and told everywhere. Loudly. On billboards and other places where it cannot be avoided. We as a people have to face it before we can overcome it.
We need an army of truth-tellers, prepared with the scientific knowledge. They also must be able to teach our people how to empathize, because we have been numbed and brainwashed by the lies and violence in popular media. We have been trained to turn away, to mind our own business, to throw up our hands in failure, to blame others, to deny the truth, to fear offending some group, to laugh it off, to avoid “judging” others actions as right or wrong. We have been taught not to think about it, and in many cases we are unable to think clearly about any topic or question. We are incapable of rational thought because of the way we have been living, the way we’ve been raised. Our minds are dark.
And we need an army of priests ready to provide the sacrament of reconciliation at all hours of day and night, so we can begin to help our nation heal.
Planned Parenthood and their allies are actively working to seduce the next generation even as children. They’re savvy. They have sly PR people to create sanitary – even “caring” – images to cover their evil.
We are at the day of decision. No politician is going to save us. Do we turn away? Or do we take off our gloves and loudly teach the truth?
The reality is that a political solution, while much needed in the overall picture, is not the way abortion ends in this nation. And all political efforts must continue with a serious and steady approach that recognizes that we in the movement know as much if not more than the so-called political experts who keep losing national elections because of their fear of the issue. Fr. Pavone is totally correct in his assessment that we cannot cede the field to the enemy. at the same time we in the pro-life movement must continue to expand our efforts to assist the pregnancy centers who are the major competition to the abortion mills. We must continue to support efforts to end funding to Planned Parenthood. And it would be nice if we could get more priests and ministers to get the folks out of the pews and into the streets. Sidewalk counseling. 40 days, helping the PRCs all make a big difference to the mother and child who are saved from the abortionist’s knife.
As for the politics, the ground game has got to get better. Its funny, but with all the social media and modern technology, it still remains the old fashioned ways work when it comes ot getting out the vote and filling the streets.
We also need to be smarter in getting our message out. To that extent we need some serious efforts to market the pro-life message to five distinct audiences: 1. the abortion minded woman; 2. the misinformed mushy middle; 3 the lazy lackadaisical Christian; 4. the youth; and 5. The Latino community – who should be our natural allies in this struggle.
The bottom line: now is not the time to quit, give up or be depressed. True, things are not good. But we need to remember the words of John Paul Jones, “I have not yet begun to fight!” “So damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” – Adm. David Farragut at the battle of Mobile Bay.
What I would like to hear from these pro-life leaders who put so much faith in the political process why, 40 years later and counting, abortion is STILL decriminalized?
“The national political front is just one of many battlefields in which we are active. We have made tremendous strides and are closer to the tipping point then many people think.”
I agree with what Jerry said!
Take back the media
Thanks, Ninek. So many of us are battle weary that it is hard to keep an optimistic view going forward when dealing with the political process. That is why we must keep our eyes on the fight right in front of us and deal with outreach to those in need…BUT at the same time we cannot give up on trying to achieve political victories. The stakes are simply too high to not keep the fight going.
A pro-life leader once told me how in the early days of the movement it seemed that even bad press against the movement was better than nothing as it helped to keep the issue in the public eye. How very much removed we are from that today! We have overcome so many outrageous lies from the proaborts about us and about what abortion is. We have gained many prolife seats in legislatures and governorships throughout the country that pass legislation and sign laws that we could only dream about years ago. There is no doubt that we are nearing the climax of the fight.
This is no time to let up… we are indeed closer to victory. Like the athlete in hotly contested event the prize goes to the one that gives it his/her all until the race is finished. It is the last stretch that is the most grueling and requires the emptying of oneself and drawing on reserves they might otherwise never realized they had.