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All Killing Aside, NARAL Can't Impose "Choice" On Pro-life America
By Bonnie Chernin Rogoff
January 20, 2003

"Through our name change we are underscoring that our country is pro-choice... It is the right name for this moment in history."

With those words, Kate Michelman, President of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, announced a name change to reflect (or more accurately, memorialize) what she claims is the majority viewpoint on abortion. The organization will now be called "NARAL: Pro-choice America." The new name removes any reference to abortion and blurs the lines of reality by putting the focus squarely on the decision rather than the outcome.

This is the third name change for NARAL. Along with abortion writer Lawrence Lader and radical feminist Betty Friedan, former abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson co-founded the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws in 1969. To reflect the 1973 Roe decision, NARAL's name was revised to The National Abortion Rights Action League. The name was again modified, and the words "Reproductive Rights" were added to de-emphasize abortion.

Detaching abortion from "choice" has been NARAL's protocol from the beginning. Since his early days as an abortion pioneer and Chairman of the Executive Committee of NARAL, Dr. Nathanson has had a change of heart and is now a pro-life advocate and eloquent spokesman. In a recent interview published on the Pro-life Infonet, Dr. Nathanson recalls the movement's early days, and their campaign to deceive Americans and win public approval for abortion:

"I remember laughing when we made those slogans up. We were looking for some sexy, catchy slogans to capture public opinion. They were very cynical slogans then, just as all of these slogans today are very, very cynical."

By substituting the euphemisms "choice" and "reproductive freedom" for an act of violence, the propaganda campaign took root. By its name alone, "Planned Parenthood" is delusional; most women enter the PP mills pregnant, but exit as murderers, not mothers.

Dr. Nathanson recalled a number of myths promoted in the early days that helped deconstruct the culture's long-standing pro-life attitudes:

Myth #1: Most people (60%) favor abortion. This was a fictional poll.

Myth #2: 10,000 women were dying annually from abortions during the 1960's. (The actual figure was about 250.)

Myth #3: Legalization would only impact the current illegal abortion rate; these abortions would now simply be performed legally. (With 1.5 million legal abortions performed annually, it is the primary method of birth control in America.)

There was also the population explosion myth. By promulgating disinformation about a potential dramatic increase in childbirth once baby boomers married, abortion was advanced as a solution to the pending crisis of scarce natural resources.

The myths worked. Since 1973, the promotion of "choice" and lack of judicial restraint assured continual anti-life legislation. Both Roe v. Wade and its companion decision, Doe v. Bolton were written by Justice Harry Blackmun. Most Americans are unfamiliar with Doe because the mainstream media obscured important details contained in the decision. Doe codified Roe, allowing circumstances such as a girl's age, familial factors and depression to qualify as health considerations. This loophole in the law protected abortionists - not pregnant women - and ensured that killing unborn babies would continue throughout all three trimesters. The U. S. Supreme Court used Doe's health clause to narrowly reaffirm Roe v. Wade in 1992. The High Court later declared state partial birth abortion bans unconstitutional without the "health" exception.

Ironically, two women who immortalized the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions regret their roles in legalizing abortion. These two crusaders (Norma McCorvey and Sandra Cano) were exploited by their lawyers. Like Dr. Nathanson, these women are staunchly pro-life.

From Norma McCorvey's website, Roe No More (www.roenomore.org): "Working inside the abortion industry, Norma saw how abortion degraded women; she was surprised at the exorbitant dollars that kept rolling into the doctors' pockets; she saw the blatant exploitation as abortion advocates put political rhetoric above safe medicine; and she eventually began to question the movement for which she once said she "lived and breathed." If the three people most closely involved with abortion admit that the premise was built on a lie, why should anyone believe the abortion industry is more honest today?

In this regard, Life Dynamics, a pro-life organization out of Denton Texas, conducted a surveillance operation directed against Planned Parenthood abortion mills throughout the country. Via a series of taped telephone interviews, a caller disguised herself as a 13 year old girl who was pregnant with her 22 year old boyfriend. Routinely, the clinic receptionist acted as an accomplice to the teen, coaching the girl on how to lie about the relationship, even providing instructions on how to bypass the state's mandatory parental notification laws. When asked by the "girl" if her illicit relationship would be reported, most clinic personnel indicated they would not contact the authorities. By adopting a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Planned Parenthood is aiding and abetting statutory rapists. It's not difficult to imagine how many teenagers have become Planned Parenthood clients, and victims of the men Planned Parenthood protects on behalf of abortion profits.

The abortion racketeers sense trouble. They can't force their "choice" on Americans unless it is accompanied by ignorance and deception of our citizens, and ambiguous consent on the part of pregnant women, most of whom are misled into a hasty, regrettable decision. Polls indicate most Americans harbor a growing distrust for the aggressive, extremist tactics used by pro-abortion groups and their Democrat allies in Congress. Most people support parental consent laws. Powerful ultrasound images in the womb clearly negate claims that living unborn beings are gobs of tissue. Frivolous lawsuits to stop the production of voluntary "Choose Life" license plates, the proceeds of which help pregnant women have their babies, are seen by most sensible people as ridiculous and counterproductive. Intervention at the local level against Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and laws impelling OBGYN residents in New York City hospitals to perform abortions as part of their training go against the concept of freedom of choice. Younger doctors refuse to perform abortions, which means the industry itself is in danger of dying.

What's the motivation behind the NARAL name change? In a word, fear. For the first time in thirty years, the President and both Houses of Congress are Republican, and lean pro-life. President Bush, who seems to have forfeited his pro-life commitments in recent months, renominated Judges Pickering and Owens (both pro-life) to the Circuit Courts. The only way Democrats can ouster them is via a Senate filibuster.

As related in a New York Times article, A NARAL pollster contends that "there is a sharp drop in understanding of the abortion issue among people who were children in 1973." He states: "For a lot of them, if you showed them a coat hanger, they don't know what it means."

Sure they do. They know it belongs in a locked closet, hanging alongside thirty years of abortion lies that have rotted logical discourse. Children have been taught the facts of life, without learning the facts about life.

January 22, 2003 will mark the tragic 30th anniversary of the dual Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions. Someday, those decisions will be reversed. Americans have grown wiser. As compared with a decade ago:

* 20% of Americans are more pro-life;

* Only 5% of Americans say they are more pro-abortion;

* 32% of Americans changed their opinion on abortion and more than 67% became more pro-life, and;

* The strongest opposition to abortion is now among 18 - 20 year olds.

They see past the rhetoric, and recent election results reflect a pro-life trend. Women hurt by abortion are marred by their experiences, and their views on "choice" shift. Advances in technology provide windows into the womb. With disclosure comes truth, with truth comes a shift in thinking and voting, and with changes in administrations come life-affirming legislation.

Kate Michelman, I contest your claim. Americans are strongly pro-life.

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Source: Life Dynamics, Inc. (www.lifedynamics.com), January 2003 quoting a Zogby International Poll.