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Mooney believes state constitutional amendments defining marriage as only between one man and one woman, and steps to prevent the awarding of marriage-like benefits to those not in a traditional marriage, are the best response to the homosexual political agenda.

Matthew Spalding, who directs the Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation, said the momentum to enact a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution exists at the grassroots level, but not necessarily in Congress.

"We must remember that Congress is not the sole power in beginning the amendment process," Spalding said. "The possibility of a recalcitrant national legislature not acting to address a question of this magnitude is the exact reason why the founders allowed for, indeed insisted on, a second method of amending the U.S. Constitution. It allows for state legislatures to jumpstart the process when the efforts become blocked by Congress."

Spalding noted that only six U.S. states lack some type of constitutional or statutory protection for traditional marriage. He believes an initiative by state legislatures to force a constitutional convention would trigger action by Congress.

Abortion: a 'battle for people's hearts and people's minds'

Dr. John Barrasso, a physician and Republican Wyoming state senator, said conservatives are "in a battle for people's hearts and people's minds," on the abortion issue, "and it's a battle that we are winning.

"Some of these things make perfect sense to folks," Barrasso said. "I'm an orthopedic surgeon. If a 15-year-old twists her ankle in gym class and she wants to come to my office and have me see her for her ankle, parental notification isn't good enough. She needs parental permission. So, if the same 15-year-old is pregnant and is out seeking an abortion, shouldn't the family be involved? The answer is, 'Of course!'"

Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women for America, told the CPAC audience that judicial activism, not public support, has allowed abortion on demand to continue almost unabated for more than 30 years. As an example, she pointed to a May 2003 ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court that "a fetus constitutes a part of a woman's body ... akin to her ear, skin or tongue.

"The doctors told us in 1969 that modern obstetrics had discarded the unscientific concept that the child in the womb is but the tissue of the mother," LaRue said. "Even so, all the lawyers on Connecticut's highest court said that a fetus is part of a woman's body.

"The court ignored medical facts available to a high school biology student," she continued.

Rammesh Ponnuru, senior editor of National Review, said the so-called "mainstream" media is mostly to blame for the misinformation, upon which many abortion supporters base their opinions.

"Abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy is, according to the Supreme Court, the fundamental law of the land. There's been no retreat by the court from that position but most people don't know it. Highly educated people don't know it," Ponnuru said. "One of the reasons that they don't know it is because the press consistently misreports on this issue."

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