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Unconventional Women: Documenting the Diversity of the Pro-Life Movement

A new book showcases the diversity of the pro-life movement by documenting the unconventional pro-life activism of five women.
By carefully documenting his unique contribution to street level pro-life activism, Joseph Scheidler has done an exceptionally fine service both for his readers and for the pro-life movement.
Daniel K. Williams’s Defenders of the Unborn offers an in-depth history of the pro-life movement in the years before and after abortion’s legalization. Williams does his readers a great service by highlighting the ideological diversity of pro-life activists throughout the movement’s history.
The future of marriage in the United States may look grim, but so did the pro-life cause look forty years ago. Embattled social conservatives should find hope in the demographic shifts that trailed the legalization of abortion.
A new book offers the first truly comprehensive history of the pro-life movement.
Forty years after Roe v. Wade, the promise that legal abortion would guarantee fewer out-of-wedlock births, less child abuse, and lower crime rates remains unfulfilled.
Ellen McCormack’s 1976 presidential campaign offers today’s pro-lifers a valuable example of incrementalist strategy.
Since Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the pro-life movement’s incremental strategies—strengthening parental consent laws, advancing legal protection on the basis of fetal pain, and defunding Planned Parenthood—give us reason to be optimistic about the future of the pro-life movement.
Repealing health care is the next fight in the battle for life.
A Review of Clark Forsythe’s Politics for the Greatest Good
More on the red-state blue-state abortion debate: a response to Koppelman, Carbone, and Cahn
Andrew Koppelman’s claim that red states and the religious right increase abortions doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
William Saletan’s proposals for abortion compromise would do little to relieve the plight of women or save the unborn.
Professor Michael New writes that, contrary to claims by the Guttmacher Institute, parental involvement laws do have a significant effect in reducing abortions.
Michael New's criticism of a recent study has come in for criticism itself. He responds that the study suffers from methodological mistakes and faulty presentation.
Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) has the reputation of being America's best and most effective fiscal limit. However, it is under attack once again. On Election Day, Colorado residents will vote on Amendment 59 which would permanently nullify TABOR's revenue limit by requiring that all surplus revenues be spent on schools. This is an important election for fiscal conservatives. If Amendment 59 wins, TABOR will likely be reduced to a historical footnote. A defeat of Amendment 59, however, would have implications that will be felt well beyond Colorado. Indeed, a revitalized TABOR could give fiscal conservatives something that they have lacked--an effective model that can be used in other states.
Catholics in Alliance recently released a study questioning the effectiveness of pro-life legislation and arguing that greater spending on welfare programs was a better strategy for reducing abortion. Unfortunately, their study is seriously flawed. Rigorous analysis of their own data indicates that increased welfare spending only has little to no impact on abortion. Public funding restrictions and informed-consent laws, however, are effective at reducing abortion rates.
During the past 35 years, the pro-life movement has made real progress. The number of abortions has fallen in 12 out of the past 14 years and the total number of abortions has declined by 21 percent since 1990. These gains are largely due to pro-life political victories at the federal level in the 1980s and at the state level in the 1990s which have made it easier to pass pro-life legislation.