WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2010/Christian Newswire --
Today, the Susan B. Anthony List announced the launch of its "Life Speaking Out Campaign" aimed at encouraging House GOP leadership to make protecting women and the unborn a priority in its legislative blueprint expected after Labor Day. The campaign includes a website for pro-life activists to lobby House GOP leadership and an encouraging letter to leadership signed by SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
"The Republican Party must show what it is made of this time around. They can do so by acting on their convictions and those of their party, and by making a commitment to passage of common-sense, life-saving legislation," said Dannenfelser. "Missing from the GOP's original Contract in 1994 was any emphasis on policies protecting the unborn. Pro-life legislation was not made a priority in the following Congress. With the support of a vibrant pro-life movement that understands the urgency of addressing the tragedy of nearly 4k abortions per day coupled with the vast majority of Americans who support a commonsense pro-life agenda, enacting that agenda would not require a heavy lift."
Since the format for the blueprint was originally floated, it has been widely reported that the agenda consists of five basic planks which were outlined in a recess document: jobs, national security, spending restraint, government reform and health care. The SBA List praised its reported inclusion of anti-funding of abortion language, but the "Life Speaking Out Campaign" asks that GOP leaders include a separate "Family Values" plank under which pro-life priorities would be included.
"It would be an electorally costly mistake for the future for the GOP to write off one leg of the three-legged stool of Ronald Reagan conservatism. Real leaders multi-task. The strongly pro-life GOP leadership should be able to respond to the economic crisis and enact pro-life legislation," Dannenfelser said.
"With the majority of Americans labeling themselves pro-life, and with an even stronger majority agreeing that tax dollars should not fund abortion, the consensus for passage of serious pro-life legislation could not be stronger. Today's SBA List initiative will communicate the message loud and clear that Americans are ready to support such leadership and that the pro-life movement is ready to help make pro-woman, life-saving proposals law."
