As part of its annual “Who Decides?” report on the state of abortion legislation in the United States, NARAL President Nancy Keenan penned a letter which attempted to reassure readers that the 2010 elections were more a reflection of American economic concerns that any other factor such as pro-life values and that young people are with them.
But Ms. Keenan’s opinion seems starkly at odds with the evidence. For example there is national post-election polling which found that 30% of voters said that abortion affected their vote. Of that 30%, 22% said they voted for candidates who opposed abortion as opposed to 8% who vote for voted for pro-abortion candidates. This yielded a 14% advantage for pro-life candidates, more than enough to swing many close races. and that they voted for candidates who opposed abortion.
This doesn’t even mention the impact of tremendous amount of attention focused on abortion in the debate over ObamaCare. In that same poll, 27% of voters said abortion funding in the health care law affected their vote and they voted for candidates who opposed the health care law. Only 4% said abortion funding in the health care law affected their vote and they voted for candidates who favored the law.
Ms. Keenan also attempted to allay pro-abortion concerns that they are losing ground on the cultural front. She claimed that the Millennial generation is highly active in defending abortion as a right through political activism.
She wrote of the Millennials (those born after 1980): “the largest and most diverse generation in our country’s history…many young women and men already are acting on their pro-choice values in their communities.”
Well, as any pro-lifer can tell you this is simply not the case. Consider what Gallup found in recent research. Gallup showed not only that more Americans self-identified as pro-life than pro-abortion, but also that the most dramatic shift was in the Millennial generation Since 2003, this group has exhibited a seven-point increase in pro-life identification.
Or, just take a look at any youth-related pro-life activity. You will see the numbers and the enthusiasm simply overwhelming.
I can tell you from seeing several years of very bright and energetic young people graduating from the NRLC Academy and from the ever-increasing numbers of registrants for the National Teens for Life events around the country and at the annual Convention that the numbers are firmly in our favor.
The fact is that as a generation of people born knowing only a country with legalized abortion reaches adulthood, it’s painfully obvious that tired, old pro-abortion argument are losing credibility and ground. Whatever pro-aborts choose to believe is their own business. They should just stop pretending the American public agrees with them.
