The Pre-Roe Pro-Life Movement in Minnesota and New York

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Mecklenburg’s promotion allowed her to instigate her own actions on the government level, rather than appeal to others to push necessary legislation. This proved a huge immediate victory for the pro-life movement; it had now progressed farther than it had in the two decades before. When Reagan took office, the debates surrounding abortion and family planning were as political and controversial as ever. Right-wing pro-life activists, especially the Catholic Church and other religious interests, regarded both issues as “expressions of the same anti-life, anti-family, anti-God mentality” they saw seeping into the American culture of the 1980s. 99 Title X, passed by Congress in 1970 to provide birth control to poor women, was deemed ineffective by the left and anti-life by the right and therefore faced especially intense scrutiny under Reagan. Painting the issue as one that could decrease government spending and increase the program’s efficiency and organization, Reagan’s administration decided power over these programs should be given to individual states. Yet by the summer of 1981, it was clear Congress would not support this proposal. 100 Instead, the Senate passed the Adolescent Family Life Act, which would support and develop programs to promote chastity among minors and provide social services and education to expecting adolescents. 101 At the time, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) counted many pro-life actors among its ranks. Richard Schweiker served as Health Secretary and had proposed and sponsored a Human Life Amendment when he served on the U.S. Senate. After his appointment in 1981, Schweiker soon cut the family planning program budget from $162 million to $100 99 New York Times, 21 January 1980, A18, Quoted in McKeegan, 64. 100 McKeegan, 66. 101 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Population Affairs, “Adolescent Family Life,” updated 2011, accessed 1 March 2012, . 97
million; Schweiker’s stance and agenda on family planning quickly became clear to all. 102 Schweiker’s plan also involved appointing pro-life activists to DHHS posts. Given this need, few activists seemed better-suited to a position than Marjory Mecklenburg, who was named and sworn in as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs at the DHHS and director of the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs (the Title X family planning program, OAPP) on March 2, 1981. 103 Mecklenburg would lead government action in areas concerning family planning, teen pregnancy, abortion, and birth control. She was presented, in her words, “a chance to effect real social change.” 104 Mecklenburg had recently served on the federal level on the Population Advisory Board of the Office of Technology Assessment of the Congress and on the boards of the National Committee for Adoption and Human Options, Inc., and resigned those positions with her directorship of OAPP. 105 ACCLers saw this appointment as a huge turning point and “a validation of the approach ACCL has taken toward the abortion issue during the past six years.” 106 Joseph Lampe further proclaimed, “the tide has turned, Reagan administration is publicly committed to Human Life Amendment and pro-life legislative program of alternatives to abortion. The time for 102 Public Affairs Action Letter, 23 November 1981, quoted in McKeegan, 66. Funding was restored somewhat, to $125 million in 1982 103 Warren M. Hern, “The Antiabortion Vigilantes,” New York Times Op-Ed Page, 21 December 1984, ; and Letter from Joseph Lampe to ACCL Board of Directors, 2 March 1981, ACCL Records, Box 35, Folder: M. Mecklenburg Fed Positions, Gerald R. Ford Library. 104 Jacqui Banaszynski, “Mecklenburg: Grass-roots work vital to abortion foes,” Minneapolis Star & Tribune, 26 May 1983, ACCL Records, Box 35, Folder: M. Mecklenburg Fed Positions, Gerald R. Ford Library; and Sue Mullin, “The lady behind the ‘squeal rule,’” The Washington Times, 1B, 28 December 1982, ACCL Records, Box 35, Folder: M. Mecklenburg Fed Positions, Gerald R. Ford Library. 105 “Minneapolis Woman Appointed To Head Office Of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs,” 2 March 1981, ACCL Press Release, ACCL Records, Box 35, Folder: M. Mecklenburg Fed Positions, Gerald R. Ford Library. 106 Letter from Joseph Lampe to ACCL Board of Directors, 2 March 1981, ACCL Records, Box 35, Folder: M. Mecklenburg Fed Positions, Gerald R. Ford Library. 98
Page 1 and 2:
Abortion as a “Medical Problem Br
Page 3 and 4:
Table of Contents Acknowledgements
Page 5 and 6:
Abbreviations ACCL - American Citiz
Page 7 and 8:
this first neighborhood grassroots
Page 9 and 10:
in New York, California, and Colora
Page 11 and 12:
is a unique and important one to te
Page 13 and 14:
major factors led to MCCL’s victo
Page 15 and 16:
Well before Blackmun’s 1972 Mayo
Page 17 and 18:
Chapter 1: The Pre-History of the C
Page 19 and 20:
practice. The law as it stands is t
Page 21 and 22:
would have functioned independently
Page 23 and 24:
instances also increased awareness
Page 25 and 26:
threat of abortion criminalization
Page 27 and 28:
the actions of new twentieth-centur
Page 29 and 30:
of the MCLTP. 3 In the early 1970s,
Page 31 and 32:
from the Great Depression in its se
Page 33 and 34:
underestimated his opponents, as MC
Page 35 and 36:
who shared a “communitarian ethic
Page 37 and 38:
However, the Council did not offer
Page 39 and 40:
issue-based and activist politics f
Page 41 and 42:
Blake and Fred Mecklenburg and lobb
Page 43 and 44:
yet united front against abortion l
Page 45 and 46:
anti-abortion movement, but also be
Page 47 and 48:
emerging organizations across the c
Page 49 and 50:
the 1970s, and an additional thirte
Page 51 and 52: When news of Roe and Doe broke, MCC
Page 53 and 54: their efforts prior to the decision
Page 55 and 56: the part of state groups and create
Page 57 and 58: physical space in Minneapolis and r
Page 59 and 60: 58 of them were enacted. 37 Even fo
Page 61 and 62: looms as a menace to all mankind an
Page 63 and 64: War.” 56 President Gerald Ford di
Page 65 and 66: the 1976 Republican Party Platform,
Page 67 and 68: should be noted that pro-life activ
Page 69 and 70: with us.” 81 Needless to say, by
Page 71 and 72: ecord of being vindictive.” 90 Ca
Page 73 and 74: decades of involvement. Yet before
Page 75 and 76: nationwide effort organized by the
Page 77 and 78: in drastic (at the extreme, irrecon
Page 79 and 80: and increase political effectivenes
Page 81 and 82: willing to be window dressing - no
Page 83 and 84: Warren Schaller, and others to form
Page 85 and 86: women, which would become the speci
Page 87 and 88: On multiple levels, ACCL became a p
Page 89 and 90: multi-issue approach was a tactic a
Page 91 and 92: asserted, “often a few key people
Page 93 and 94: Lampe, and others) split to form AC
Page 95 and 96: nomination. Jefferson’s tactics w
Page 97 and 98: administration. 82 Lampe took over
Page 99 and 100: and was also a member of Planned Pa
Page 101: As previously explored, Mecklenburg
Page 105 and 106: Almost immediately after her appoin
Page 107 and 108: The last straw came when Mecklenbur
Page 109 and 110: on the national scene cautiously, m
Page 111 and 112: abortion debate she encountered as
Page 113 and 114: Conclusion Supreme Court Justice Ha
Page 115 and 116: legislatures, and celebrated occasi
Page 117 and 118: ecognized nationwide as “one of t
Page 119 and 120: Bibliography Archives and Interview
Page 121 and 122: Gorney, Cynthia. Articles of Faith.
Page 123: Press, Eyal. Absolute Convictions:
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The Pre-Roe Pro-Life Movement in Minnesota and New York

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