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

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was ineffective so they could say, ‘It’s not working; let’s defund it.’” 121 Eventually, Mecklenburg increasingly travelled around the country, often spending only a few hours in the office at a time. All this proved enough for her superiors to recommend her resignation in 1985. Staff members leaked Mecklenburg’s travel vouchers and telephone logs from 1983 and 1984 to the press, amounting to $13,000 in taxpayer money. The inspector general deemed these trips as “poor judgment,” and requested Mecklenburg step down. 122 Her letter of resignation regarded the claims against her as “unfounded and unfair…[,] nothing more than philosophical differences with this administration…[brought up] by those in the bureaucracy who are too inflexible to adapt to pursuing the goals of this administration.” 123 Regardless of the specific accusations made against her, Mecklenburg admitted and believed she could no longer be effective in the job she was asked to complete. 124 Perhaps exhausted by years of activism with little change that chipped away at the Roe decision, or discouraged by her inability to champion the pro-life cause she once helped successfully found and lead with others, Mecklenburg’s final months in office were certainly not her strongest ones. Combining trips for pleasure with a personal disillusionment that grew as years passed, her resignation likely represented the end of the ascension of pro-life leaders in the contemporary movement. While the ACCL remained hopeful for their founder in her new post, a sense of worry lay even in her initial 1981 moments in office; a 1982 Washington Times article described, “Advancing 121 Interviews with four DHHS staff members with Michele McKeegan, summer 1989, quoted in McKeegan, 74. 122 Washington Post, 27 February 1985, A4, quoted in McKeegan, 75. 123 Ibid. 124 “Mecklenburg of HHS quits after trip probe,” Minneapolis Star and Tribune, 15A, 27 February 1985, ACCL Records, Box 24, Folder: ACCL Admin File: People – General: M. Mecklenburg, Gerald R. Ford Library. 103
on the national scene cautiously, meekly, virtually unnoticed, the 48-year-old mother of four sits atop an explosive keg of federal family policy.” 125 As one of the founders of the anti-abortion/pro-life movement itself, she was thought as one who could champion that cause from the inside when she was first appointed through to the end of the pro-life struggle. 126 Yet given the ever-changing rhetoric and tactics the abortion debate required and her lack of government administrative experience, Mecklenburg could not effectively push certain programs and retain her insider position. Additionally, the contemporary pro-life movement saw fewer major victories since the more conservative era of the 1980s. Mecklenburg’s resignation signaled an increasing decline within the movement, and clearly among the actors themselves, as strongly demonstrated by Mecklenburg’s increasing disillusionment in her government post. While she first convinced the public, “[e]xperience has taught me the complexity and difficulty of these issues, but working together with the Administration, Congress, social service agencies and the volunteer sector – including young people and their families – I am confident we can make progress,” she eventually could not achieve all she wished to in her time as Director of OAPP. 127 Despite her unheroic resignation, she did represent the rise and fall of an overall enthusiastic contemporary pro-life movement. This movement, and Mecklenburg herself, was traced from early and small grassroots beginnings in a neighbor’s living room to organized and major statewide efforts that survived well beyond the Roe decision. The movement maintained enthusiasm, 125 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. 126 Paige, 223. 127 “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. 104
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
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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
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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 and 102: As previously explored, Mecklenburg
Page 103 and 104: million; Schweiker’s stance and a
Page 105 and 106: Almost immediately after her appoin
Page 107: The last straw came when Mecklenbur
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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