Thursday, January 24, 2008
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer
A Generation At Stake
What does Planned Parenthood do when it’s not destroying unborn babies? It raises money to help elect politicians who will pass laws that will make it easier for Planned Parenthood to kill babies. Planned Parenthood is already raking in record amounts of taxpayer-funded subsidies (over $305 million in 2006) and record-high revenues (close to $900 million in 2006). Now America’s largest abortion seller is planning to get directly involved in politics. As reported by Brody Mullins in the Wall Street Journal this week, Planned Parenthood has unveiled the “One Million Strong” campaign, during which it will spend $10 million in trying to persuade one million people to vote for pro-abortion candidates in 2008. When combined with Emily’s List, America’s largest political action committee, which hopes to exceed the $46 million it raised in 2006, and NARAL, which plans to spend another $10 million, it’s clear that the abortion industry is desperate for its political agenda to prevail.
This desperation is not surprising. There’s been good news recently for the pro-life cause. Polls show America’s youth are increasingly pro-life compared with their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. And In 2007, some 400 bills related to abortion were considered by state legislatures, a more than 50 percent increase from 2006. Many of these new laws require that women be given the opportunity to view an ultrasound of their child or be given information about fetal pain and the development of their child in the womb. These types of “window to the womb” laws have revealed the unborn child as a living, breathing, feeling human being, and at earlier stages than previously imagined possible. And these laws are making a real difference. Last week, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood’s research wing, released data showing a 25 percent decline in the number of abortions since 1990, to the lowest point in 30 years.
All this is good news for the country but not for Planned Parenthood, most of whose revenues are generated from abortion. The pro-abortion lobby understands that as long as Roe vs. Wade stands, most abortions will continue to take place. And to make sure Roe, responsible for as many as 50 million abortions in the U.S. (more than the combined populations of 25 states), stands, the right president will have to be in place. The next president will get to appoint as many as three justices to the Supreme Court. It is widely believed that the court is just one vote away from being able to overturn Roe v. Wade.
But Roe is not the only political front in the abortion wars. Another agenda item for the pro-abortion lobby is to pass the Freedom Of Choice Act (FOCA), which would codify Roe and overturn many of pro-life laws that have been passed by state legislatures over the last three decades. According to the American Center for Law and Justice, “The Freedom of Choice Act would create an absolute right to abortion that would override any federal, state or local law that simply ‘interfered with’ that right, no matter how compelling the justification for the law.” The House version of FOCA already has over 100 sponsors, and Hillary Clinton has also said she’d sign it.
All this underscores once again the importance of the upcoming election. I have discussed the importance of having leaders who understand the existential battle America faces in the war against Islamo-fascism. But America faces a battle for our existence here at home, too. A president is elected for four or eight years, but Supreme Court justices are appointed for life. 2008 represents a crossroads for the pro-life movement, and, like in the battle against radical Islam, an ideology that embraces death, our battle against a culture of death here at home will have implications that will last a generation.
* * * * *
If you are interested in receiving Mr. Bauer's daily report by e-mail, please call 703-671-9700, visit SIGN UP FOR GARY BAUER'S "END OF DAY REPORT" or simply send a reply e-mail titled "Subscribe" and include your name and address. To be removed from Gary Bauer's End of Day distribution list, please reply to this message with "Remove" in the subject line.
Please feel free to share this report with family and friends. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, donations to American Values are tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.
American Values
2800 Shirlington Road
Suite 950
Arlington, VA 22206
Phone: 703-671-9700
Fax: 703-671-1680
EMAIL GARY BAUER
VISIT AMERICAN VALUES