After 30 years of political organizing, the anti-abortion movement has won a series of victories in the legislatures and the courts and stands tantalizingly close to winning even more. But these are anxious days for the movement.
Six months before the Iowa presidential caucuses, anti-abortion activists in the Republican Party are trying to adjust to a strikingly different political landscape. For the first time in more than a generation, they face, in former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York, a front-runner for the nomination who supports abortion rights.
“Pro-life” support is divided among several other candidates, including former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, a relatively recent convert to the cause, and former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee. And some strategists and outside analysts are voicing a theory that was once unthinkable in the Republican Party: That a convergence of forces - such as the early primaries in moderate states like California - may have diminished the influence of the anti-abortion movement on the Republican nominating process.
Anti-abortion leaders are increasingly moving to defend the seminal victory they first won in 1980 - the definition of the Republican Party as the “pro-life party” in its platform and its presidential nominees. Key leaders are signing on with the anti-abortion candidates they see as best able to go the distance. And some of those leaders are warning, bluntly, that the abortion issue is fundamental - not something to be finessed.
At the Republican straw poll in Iowa next month, anti-abortion activists will circulate a petition calling on the party to reassert its pro-life values, honor its platform and choose an anti-abortion nominee.
“We have our eye on the goal,” said Kim Lehman, president of the Iowa Right to Life Committee, who estimates that the overwhelming majority of Iowa caucus-goers oppose abortion. “Our goal is to get a pro-life president so we can be confident of his position on legislation and confident of his judges.”
Mike Huckabee is the only one that can prevent the following from happening…
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