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

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sophistication to be taken seriously.” 79 Prior to her presidency and the ACCL founders’ split, former chairman of the board Mecklenburg attempted to cut NRLC ties with the Catholic bishops, while former president Jefferson increased the efficiency, organization, and reach of the NRLC. Gerster “got the apparatus finally oiled and ready for the most difficult challenge, entering the political process.” 80 She had a three-year plan for the organization to support and help elect enough pro-life Congressmen to pass an HLA by the spring of 1983. Yet before her three-year plan was realized, or barely even started, Dr. John “Jack” Willke took over her position in 1980. Prior to his NRLC involvement, Willke originated Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati, Ohio and wrote and published his wildly popular Handbook on Abortion, released in 1971. Gerster’s three-year plan soon became entangled in the New Right’s political plan, and the NRLC largely lost control of determining an independent course of action in national politics. Joseph “Joe” Lampe, unlike others who helped found ACCL, was a Catholic man; although he was perhaps expected to agree with the direction of the NRLC, he did not. Well-versed in the successful tactics of his decades of MCCL activism, Lampe became the coordinator of states’ services with the ACCL headquarters in Minneapolis upon its founding. Prior to ACCL, Lampe served as an NRLC coordinator and incorporated NRLC and ACCL on the same day. He kept ACCL “in cold storage” between its 1973 incorporation and 1974 action, convinced it would serve in some future function. 81 On the state level, Lampe served as the executive director of MCCL until he decided to focus on ACCL full-time in 1980 when Mecklenburg left for her appointment in the Reagan 79 Paige, 88. 80 Ibid. 81 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. 91
administration. 82 Lampe took over for Mecklenburg as ACCL executive director in 1980. He was a long-time friend of Mecklenburg as a co-founder of both MCCL and ACCL. Wherever Mecklenburg tended to go, so also did Lampe. He was regarded as “one of the most knowledgeable pro-life leaders in the U.S.” and was known as “Marj’s right-hand man” by fellow MCCL founders. 83 ACCL leaders identified him as an activist who was particularly interested in tracing the history and learned lessons of the pro-life movement, from its earliest days to the present. One ACCL leader said Lampe “has a keen insight on the current pro-life picture as well as the history.” 84 Indeed, Joseph Lampe kept track of documents ranging from internal memos, to MCCL and NRLC newsletters, and from newspaper articles to MCCL, NRLC, and ACCL meeting minutes. As such, he has played a vital role in the continuing analysis and history of the early anti-abortion/pro-life movement; Lampe donated the ACCL records upon which this thesis relies immensely. In 1983, historian Connie Paige believed the golden age of the right-to-lifers was fading. She predicted, “[t]he bleak outlook leaves the right-to-lifers nowhere to run to except back where they started.” 85 However bleak Paige’s predictions, the movement in fact would go forward to some degree using tactics and actors with whom the whole contemporary movement started. NRLC did not achieve its HLA, and ACCL did not obtain all of its goals, either. However, Marjory Mecklenburg was promoted to the highest and most inside position of any contemporary pro-life activist by the 1980s. The 82 “Leadership Positions Filled as MCCL Moves Forward,” MCCL Newsletter, May-June 1975, page 1, MCCL Archives. 83 Letter from Jan Wilkins to “Keith,” undated [assumed 1983], ACCL Records, Box 14, Folder: ACCL – Admin File: General correspondence: 1983 (1), Gerald R. Ford Library; and Mary and Robert Joyce interview. 84 Letter from Jan Wilkins to “Keith,” Gerald R. Ford Library. 85 Paige, 239. 92
Page 1 and 2:
Abortion as a “Medical Problem Br
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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
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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: nomination. Jefferson’s tactics w
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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