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“Is your state next?”
— NARAL email after passage of the
South Dakota abortion ban
by Rod D. Martin
April 20, 2006
They lost the Congress in 1994.
They lost the presidency in 2000 and failed to recapture it in 2004.
They watched helplessly as President George W. Bush reinstituted Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City policy defunding international abortion providers; ended federal abortion counseling funding; signed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act; opposed the destruction of embryos for stem cell research; challenged Oregon’s doctor-assisted suicide act; backed abstinence education, crisis pregnancy programs and parental notification laws; extended state health care coverage to “unborn children” (yes, that’s the wording of the law); and signed a federal ban on partial-birth abortion.
They railed hysterically against the President’s overwhelmingly qualified choices of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court — the latter a replacement for retiring pro-choice Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. They stood despondent at the probability that these would not be the President’s last nominees.
And with South Dakota’s recent enactment of the most pro-life law in America — one that’s certain to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court and invite a revisiting of 1973’s Roe vs. Wade — pro-abortion activists find themselves shell-shocked. From their perspective, it’s been a nightmarish decade, and George W. Bush is the absolute worst President they could have possibly imagined.
Yes, by every conceivable measure, America is rejecting the pro-abortion movement’s absolutist regime of abortion on demand.
The proof is in the pudding. For more than a decade, the number of abortions performed each year has been declining. Vast numbers who were “pro-choice” before the partial-birth abortion debate have come to see the pro-life light, and — for the first time since Roe — a clear majority of America’s women reject the idea of a legal “right” to kill one’s own child.
And now comes a USA Today article demonstrating that pro-abortion extremism is in even more trouble still. Based largely on data from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, it calculates what’s likely to happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned and abortion becomes a state-by-state issue again.
The results are stunning, and stunningly better than most pro-lifers think.
Only 16 states are likely to continue abortion on demand — any time, any place, for any reason — after Roe. As you might expect, they include every state on the West Coast and almost every state in the Northeast, but only a third of the U.S. population.
By contrast, 22 states containing half of all Americans either already have enacted or are overwhelmingly likely to enact either complete or near-complete abortion bans, recognizing that the unborn child is a person, deserving of basic human rights like any other. Another 12 states are toss-ups. Once Roe is overturned, all of them could be “in play” for pro-life forces. And this two-thirds of America’s population is just four states shy of the 38 necessary to change the United States Constitution, recognizing babies as fully human just as the 13th Amendment recognized blacks.
Come to think of it, the Republican Party — founded one hundred and fifty years ago this June — enacted the 13th Amendment too.
The USA Today map suggests an immediate state-by-state strategy, pushing the envelope relentlessly, protecting preborn life “to the maximum extent consistent with federal law” in the words of several states’ pro-life constitutional amendments, designed to trigger upon Roe’s demise.
Pro-lifers should fight right now for these “Unborn Child Amendments” everywhere they can, and for laws like South Dakota’s as well. Win or lose, just fighting the fight will rally the troops, force pro-abortion groups onto defense — spending precious time and treasure just to stay even — and raise the public awareness necessary for future, ultimate victory.
Now — with Roe on the ropes — is the time to pursue this strategy in earnest. We must: not just to ensure real post-Roe change, but also to lay the groundwork for what once seemed utterly impossible — a federal constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to life.
An uphill battle? Of course. An impossible one? Not any more.
And that’s just the point. Why, precisely, are we on defense, on this or any other issue? Election after election, Americans have spoken. They want conservative government. They want meaningful change. And if they’re angry at their Congressional leadership, it’s because they no longer see a willingness to take on the big issues of principle and fight.
This fight is far from over; but pro-lifers have come a lot farther than most anyone thinks. The left is on the ropes; and we know what to do. It’s time to go finish the job.
*******
UPDATE: Pro-abortion USA Today founder Al Neuharth makes a wonderful point — and stretches far across the gulf dividing us all — in a short piece here.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
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