The Pre-Roe Pro-Life Movement in Minnesota and New York
The Pre-Roe Pro-Life Movement in Minnesota and New York
The Pre-Roe Pro-Life Movement in Minnesota and New York
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action is now.” 107<br />
While Mecklenburg <strong>and</strong> ACCLers alike celebrated the appo<strong>in</strong>tment,<br />
she “had her work cut out for her,” accord<strong>in</strong>g to McKeegan. 108<br />
Mecklenburg soon faced attacks from more conservative pro-life activists for her<br />
support of birth control for teenagers, <strong>and</strong> also faced a Title X program staff that was “out<br />
of control.” 109<br />
<strong>The</strong> staff comprised a majority of career health professionals, who <strong>in</strong>sisted<br />
all patients be fully briefed on the abortion option <strong>in</strong> counsel<strong>in</strong>g; McKeegan argues<br />
Mecklenburg could not change the program for her cause without shift<strong>in</strong>g control away<br />
from these “public health careerists.” 110 Externally <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> l<strong>in</strong>e with the fears of the <strong>New</strong><br />
Right, Mecklenburg identified a decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> moral values that would prove difficult for the<br />
ris<strong>in</strong>g generation of teenagers. In a 1983 M<strong>in</strong>neapolis Star Tribune article, Mecklenburg<br />
expla<strong>in</strong>ed she worried because “[t]he world has changed so quickly…Teen-agers are<br />
bombarded with messages about…sex without responsibility. Parents don’t talk to their<br />
children about sex, so young people are left without the <strong>in</strong>formation they need to make<br />
decisions. It is our generation that has created the environment these teenagers live <strong>in</strong>.<br />
So our generation has to help somehow <strong>in</strong> giv<strong>in</strong>g them the tools to cope.” 111 In tune with<br />
the <strong>New</strong> Right sentiment of decl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g values <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>creased promiscuity, Mecklenburg<br />
publicly called for <strong>and</strong> implemented government action respond<strong>in</strong>g to this moral fear <strong>and</strong><br />
controversial issues of abortion <strong>and</strong> birth control. As had been the case for Mecklenburg<br />
<strong>in</strong> the past, she would take decisive <strong>and</strong> pioneer<strong>in</strong>g action, but not without resistance.<br />
107 Telegram from Joseph A. Lampe to Mrs. Emily Fahey, 9 March 1981, ACCL Records, Box 29,<br />
Folder: Telephone Scripts, Gerald R. Ford Library.<br />
108 McKeegan, 67.<br />
109 Ibid.<br />
110 Ibid.<br />
111 Jacqui Banaszynski, “Mecklenburg: Grass-roots work vital to abortion foes,” M<strong>in</strong>neapolis Star<br />
& Tribune, 26 May 1983, ACCL Records, Box 35, Folder: M. Mecklenburg Fed Positions, Gerald R. Ford<br />
Library.<br />
99