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

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organization, and climate both publicly and privately; her husband Fred was the Chairman of the Board of Directors by November of 1972 and continued in the post into 1973. 12 Whether he felt as strongly about the organization as his wife did is unclear, although he would leave his position only a year later. The memo deemed the NRLC “an organization, not a coalition (a group of organizations). [There is t]oo much state loyalty operative & not enuf [sic] NRLC loyalty.” 13 These NRLC separatists drafted a new national organization based on everything they saw the NRLC lacked: a “strong, effective president, participatory decision making, and [a]…structure…that…involves more people and makes them more dedicated & loyal.” 14 The new organization (and its drafters) wished to recruit the most effective talent and the most visible leaders of the movement, as the ranks to lead the pro-life movement nationwide would be filled by those with ample experience in the statewide arena. Indeed, as this paper will later explore, the very Minnesotans who drafted this new and improved national group would be the ones to found and lead it themselves (M. Mecklenburg and Lampe), or to strengthen the group by writing the leading arguments and scholarship that would underpin its actions (F. Mecklenburg and Andreini). In the weeks before the Roe decision, the movement was clearly divided on the development of a nationwide anti-abortion movement. Indeed, the statewide leaders most successful in achieving their goals toward preventing liberalized abortion laws were 12 “National Right to Life Committee Letter to the Board of Directors: Meeting on National Organization, Washington, D.D., Saturday, December 9, 1972, 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.,” 1 November 1972, ACCL Records, Box 4, Folder: National Right to Life Convention June 16-18, 1972, Gerald R. Ford Library and National Right to Life Committee: Statement of Purpose of the National Right to Life Committee and History, ACCL Records, Box 4, Folder: National Right to Life Committee 1973 (1), Gerald R. Ford Library. 13 Untitled Memo, ACCL Box 4, National Right to Life Convention June 16-18, 1972, Gerald R. Ford Library. Underline in the original. 14 Ibid. 71
in drastic (at the extreme, irreconcilable) disagreement with the leading authority on the national level (the NRLC) despite the group’s efforts to hold annual meetings and conventions to unify and improve the nationwide cause. Additionally, these NRLC conventions on organizing a national movement were strongly introverted. The agenda at a 1972 National Organization Meeting did not center on “legislative strategy, court strategy, educational programs, etc.,” but instead NRLC leaders advised against discussing these topics entirely. 15 Monsignor James McHugh, the Catholic Church’s chief on anti-abortion matters, wanted to maintain the NRLC’s centralized leadership, seen by Protestants and others as controlled by the Catholic Church and its doctrine. To compound the issue, non-Catholic activists like the Mecklenburgs and Judith Fink, a Pennsylvania woman who had also helped found the most prominent Pennsylvania statewide group, were angered by the NRLC’s and its Catholic leaders’ portrayal of the issue as a specifically Catholic one. While it somewhat bothered Protestants that much of the NRLC ranks were filled by Catholics (70% of NRLC leadership was Catholic, representing 2.5 times the proportion of the American population), the public persona the NRLC put forth with regard to the abortion issue was the primary frustration. Throughout the 1970s, the prevalence of Catholic clerical voices on the abortion issue upset many Protestant leaders. After the Roe decision, a delegation of four cardinals spoke before a Senate committee on abortion legislation, immediately casting the pro-life movement as one represented and directed by Catholic clergy members. 16 15 “National Right to Life Committee Letter to the Board of Directors: Meeting on National Organization, Washington, D.D., Saturday, December 9, 1972, 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.,” 1 November 1972, ACCL Records, Box 4, Folder: National Right to Life Convention June 16-18, 1972, Gerald R. Ford Library. 16 Carlton Sherwood, “Conflicts Lead to Forming Of New Right-to-Life Unit,” Catholic Star Herald, Vol. 24 No. 18, 30 August 1974, page 1, ACCL Records, Box 7, Folder: NRLC – 1974 (5), ACCL Records, Gerald R. Ford Library. 72
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: nationwide effort organized by the
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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