In 1973 my husband and I were working full time, building a house, and hoping for a child. Sadly, I have no recollection of the Supreme Court landmark decision allowing abortion in our country. In fact it wasn’t until our first child was born that I became involved in the pro-life cause at my church in the pro-life ministry. Friendships formed with like minded people and I expressed my views when the subject came up in conversation with people of opposing views and often those who seemed neutral. Back then partial birth abortion or infanticide were not even possibilities.
Although the first March for Life occurred in 1973 when the law was passed, I first attended during President H. W. Bush’s term in the late 1980’s. He was pro-life and as I remember sent messages to the marchers supporting the cause. Barbara Bush on the other hand had decided some years before that life begins with the first breath and ends with the last breath. This fact was revealed in a New York Times article easily accessed through a google search. (Worth reading if you are interested in her reasoning; written by Susan Page taken from her book: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty.) I have a different view on abortion; however, I respect her struggle in arriving at that conclusion.
Our next President Bill Clinton although once campaigning for governor acknowledged the evils of abortion, declared in 1992 he wanted to make abortion safe legal and rare. He became president in January and shortly after I attended the March for Life in DC and it was announced that the new president rescinded the pro-life executive orders in favor of the pro-life cause. It was indeed a sad day for at least some of us. Remember that goal of President Clinton: safe, legal, and rare.
In the light of day in 2020 would anyone truthfully say this has a grain of truth in it? Except of course, the legal.
DJ Pasternak, Author 