President's Message: Saving Lives, Protecting Women

Last month I received one of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities. On Wednesday, November 5, I was able to witness President Bush signing into federal law the partial birth abortion ban. It was my honor to represent Right to Life of Michigan at this historic event.

Our journey trying to ban this horrific abortion method began in 1996 with our own state legislative attempts. Despite judicial setbacks with our state legislation, we continued pursuing a variety of approaches to prevent partial birth abortions. After one judge struck down our first partial birth abortion law in 1997, our next approach was the Infant Protection Act of 1999. When this law was ruled unconstitutional by one judge, and Attorney General Jennifer Granholm refused to appeal the decision, we launched a new approach: the Legal Birth Definition bill of 2003. This is the bill that Governor Granholm vetoed in October.

Both at the state and federal levels the proabortion forces have not been able to stop lawmakers from trying to ban partial birth abortions and protect the unborn child. They have only been successful by searching for a judge to declare the laws unconstitutional.

Some people may question whether all of the effort is worthwhile. Why should we work so hard to pass laws to have proabortion governors or judges stymie the will of the people?

President Bush's remarks at the signing of the federal ban give us an answer. He said, " The facts about partial birth abortion are troubling and tragic, and no lawyer's brief can make them otherwise. By acting to prevent this practice, the elected branches of our government have affirmed a basic standard of humanity, the duty of the strong to protect the weak.

America stands for liberty, for the pursuit of happiness and for the inalienable right of life. And the most basic duty of government is to defend the life of the innocent. Every person has a special dignity. This right to life cannot be granted or denied by government, because it does not come from government; it comes from the Creator of life."

Whether it is Governor Granholm, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU or a judge who wishes to defend the right of an abortionist to suction out the brains of an unborn baby, Right to Life of Michigan and its thousands of members will stand strong in saying NO to this barbaric method of killing. While we had hoped and prayed that our Governor would listen to the people and protect partially born children from being killed, in October through her veto, she made the deadly choice instead. So we have begun a new campaign, The People's Override.

Recently I came across the following saying, "What we call a detour may be the Lord's scenic turnpike. When our plans are delayed by grid-lock or interrupted by unanticipated re-routing, God knows the best way home." The scenic turnpike, called The People's Override, will be our next route on the way home to increased protection for those threatened by the abortionists' instruments of death. Join our life-saving campaign at www.rtl.org.

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