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

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in May to Terence Cardinal Cooke, stating, “I would personally like to associate myself with the convictions you deeply feel and eloquently express.” 53 Nixon’s strategy proved effective; he won 66% of the popular vote and captured 60% of the Catholic vote to successfully defeat his opponent, George McGovern, whom he painted as an out-of-touch liberal who stood for “abortion, acid, and amnesty.” It was one of the largest presidential victories in American history. However, Nixon’s letter to Cardinal Cooke indicated nothing more than just words; Nixon failed to make a public comment about abortion after his reelection, even after Roe. Away from the executive branch, however, pro-life forces were certain “We’re going to win [the] battle.” 54 This Kentucky Post article reported the actions and opinions of Robert Greene, an attorney who founded and served as the executive director of the Northern Kentucky Right-to-Life Committee and joined Marjory Mecklenburg in the NRLC and ACCL. Greene identified “a counter culture which says quality of life is more important than life itself,” and cited the many Human Life bills that had already been drafted and discussed in Congress. 55 A Wall Street Journal article from the same year identified a new “army of unknown size – but certainly numbering many thousands – that is forming around the country,” whose aim was to reverse the Roe decision and whose cause was “an issue…that’s probably going to be bigger than anything since the Vietnam 53 Richard M. Nixon, “Statement by the President on the Report of the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future,” 5 May 1972, in Public Papers of the Presidents: Richard M. Nixon, 576-577, quoted in Critchlow, 171; and Letter from Richard M. Nixon to Terence Cardinal Cooke, qtd. in Theodore Herald White, The Making of a President (New York: Bantam Books, 1973), 244, quoted in Critchlow, 171. 54 Carl West, “’We’re going to win battle,’” The Kentucky Post, 5 November 1973, ACCL Records, Box 5, Folder: NRLC – 1973 Board and Executive Committee (6), Gerald R. Ford Library. 55 Ibid. 57
War.” 56 President Gerald Ford did not make strong statements on the abortion decision either until rumblings in Congress in 1976, although he assumed the presidency from Nixon long after the Roe v. Wade decision on August 9, 1974. In the same year, both the Republican and Democratic Farmer Labor parties in Minnesota had Pro-Life Committees and coordinators for every legislative district, which would organize the pro-life political party efforts for caucuses, conventions, and elections. 57 People were moving toward electing candidates based on a single issue, and urged others to do the same. The Minneapolis Tribune argued that, by 1974, “[i]n some of the nation’s districts…this issue could elect or defeat candidates, including incumbents.” 58 By the early 1970s, abortion was certainly a very political issue, although it was not yet a partisan one. Through the lobbying and voting power of pro-life activists in 1972 and 1974, in 1976 national pro-life actors celebrated one of their greatest victories yet. The Hyde Amendment, although vetoed by President Ford “based purely and simply on the issue of fiscal integrity,” had been passed by Congress. 59 In an effort led by Representative Henry J. Hyde, a Republican from Illinois, the bill greatly restricted federally funded abortions, although stricter language was originally included in the version passed in the House of Representatives. Even though Ford’s wife, Betty, supported legalized abortion, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller was also pro-choice (as he served as the governor of New York when the state passed its liberalized abortion law in the 1960s), Ford 56 “A New Cause: Many Americans Join Move to Ban Abortion: Legislators Take Note,” The Wall Street Journal. 57 “For Your Information” handout on Republican and DFL Committee contacts, ACCL Records, Box 9, Folder: NRLC – Bylaws Revision 1974 (1), Gerald R. Ford Library. 58 David Kuhn, “Antiabortion lobby seeks new image,” Minneapolis Tribune, 5B, 22 February 1974, ACCL Records, Box 35, Folder: ACCL Admin File: M. Mecklenburg 1973-76 (1), Gerald R. Ford Library. 59 Joyce Gelb and Marian Lief Palley, “Women and Interest Group Politics: A Comparative Analysis of Federal Decision Making,” Journal of Politics 41 (May 1979): 362-392, 375-377, quoted in Critchlow, 202. 58
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: looms as a menace to all mankind an
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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