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

quits.” 29
Rev. Schaller, an Episcopalian minister, was in fact fired from his post in July
of 1974 and publicly introduced ACCL when he appeared at an August abortion
subcommittee hearing as the president and representative of a new national pro-life
group. 30 Mecklenburg was defeated in her run for NRLC president in May of 1974,
perhaps a last push to obtain greater leadership to change the direction of the
organization. 31
She soon cut all NRLC ties when she resigned her chairmanship and her
position as Minnesota’s NRLC board representative on August 21, 1974. 32 The same
day, Fink and Mecklenburg assumed co-directorships of the newly-formed American
Citizens Concerned for Life. Free from the confines of religious affiliation and defined
religious leadership, and organized based on the proposals Mecklenburg and Lampe had
been drafting for years, ACCL believed it was the most well-organized and well-prepared
group to carry on the national pro-life struggle. However, “delighted with the outcome”
of the split and well-funded and ever-powerful, the National Right to Life Committee
continued to press the pro-life cause through Catholic avenues using Catholic rhetoric,
which further portrayed the abortion issue and pro-life stance as religious ones. 33 This
was a stigma and association ACCL pushed back against throughout its time as a
prominent pro-life force on the national stage. After all, these frustrations comprised the
primary motivation for activists like Marjory Mecklenburg, Judy Fink, Carolyn Gerster,
29 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.
30 Susan Fogg, “Abortion opponents part ways,” Newark Star Ledger, 29 September 1974, ACCL
Records, Box 7, Folder: NRLC (5), Gerald R. Ford Library.
31 Ibid.
32 Correspondence (telegram) from Ken Vanderhoef, president of NRLC, to Kathy Sackett, of
Minneapolis, MN, ACCL Records, Box 7, Folder: NRLC – 1974 (5), Gerald R. Ford Library.
33 Ray White, NRLC director, quoted in 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.
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