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

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a Democratic Party whose platform claimed reproductive freedom was “a fundamental human right” by 1984. 44 More generally, pro-life activists increased their political work after Roe v. Wade and tracked voting records, wrote letters to federal Congressmen, and began voting for candidates based on the single abortion issue. The California ProLife Council Action News proclaimed that, for these activists, abortion was “not the only issue…[but] is simply the most important issue” in 1976. 45 To be specific, MCCL was founded when the issue remained entirely bipartisan, yet by Richard Nixon’s reelection, the issue was officially part of the Republican’s presidential campaign. President Lyndon B. Johnson led the nation throughout MCCL’s earliest founding years, and as such, supported family planning activity but did not address the abortion issue explicitly. At the time, public opinion on the abortion issue was quite ambivalent; presidential action was neither necessary nor lobbied for. 46 Under LBJ, “great strides had been made” in family planning and general social issues were included in his Great Society; yet with the announcement of Humane Vitae, many believed Nixon would discontinue Johnson’s activist policies. 47 At the same time, the Republican Party supported the population movement, which supported birth control and family planning to limit startling population growth. During the Nixon years, the Party plank stated, “[t]he worldwide population explosion in particular with its attendant grave problems 44 Democratic Party platform in 1984 Congressional Quarterly Alamanac, 93-B, quoted in McGreevy, 280. 45 California ProLife Council Action News, October/November 1976, page 2, ACCL Records, Box 46, Folder: ACCL Political File: 76 Pres. Campaign – States (1), Gerald R. Ford Library. 46 A 1965 Gallup poll showed 77% of Americans believed abortion should be legal when a woman’s life was in danger (16% opposed), and 18% supported abortion when the family could not support additional children (72% opposed). George Gallup, The Gallup Poll (New York, 1985), qtd. in Elizabeth Adell Cook, Ted G. Jelen, and Clyde Wilcox, Between Two Absolutes: Public Opinion and the Politics of Abortion (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1992). 47 Critchlow, 88. 55
looms as a menace to all mankind and will have our priority attention.” 48 The president pushed Congress for new family planning legislation for much of his presidency and created the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future. Yet as stated previously, the abortion debate radically changed before and with Roe v. Wade. Even prior to the decision, increasing presidential attention to abortion and family planning indicated these issues would soon become national ones. In 1971, Nixon proclaimed his “firm personal and religious beliefs” made him “consider abortion an unacceptable form of population control,” but had never acted publicly on his private beliefs. 49 Soon, the “clearest evidence that the issue had become politicized” arose when in May 1972 Nixon rejected the report of his Commission on Population Growth that recommended liberalized abortion laws. 50 According to Critchlow, Nixon rejected the proposal not because of his personal beliefs, but rather for more purely political reasons to capture the Catholic vote in his upcoming reelection in the fall of 1972. Nixon knew the Catholic vote could prove critical to his reelection; according to historian Neil Young, Catholics made up 25% of all voters. 51 The number and force of this group surrounding the abortion issue proved further evident when over 500 letters and telegrams denouncing the recommendations flooded its offices in the first month after the report was released. 52 Nixon took action; he made a public statement on the report, proclaiming, “[i]n my judgment, unrestricted abortion policies would demean human life,” and released a letter 48 US Congress, National Party Platforms, vol. 2 (1960-1976) (Washington, D.C., 1976, 759, quoted in Critchlow, 88. 49 Richard M. Nixon, “Statement by the President on the Report of the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future,” 5 May 1971, Public Papers of the Presidents: Richard M. Nixon, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C., 1971), 576-577, quoted in Critchlow, 149. 50 Critchlow, 149. 51 Young, 200. 52 “Pro-Abortion Policy on the Population Panel Opposed 5-1,” New York Times, May 11, 1972, quoted in Critchlow, 168. 56
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: 58 of them were enacted. 37 Even fo
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 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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