Pro-life leaders marked the 50th anniversary of a pro-abortion, pro-population control report by the Rockefeller Commission on Monday with calls to restore a culture of life in America.
The March 27, 1972 report from the Rockefeller Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, requested by President Richard Nixon and authorized by Congress, called for a future with zero population growth while warning about dire consequences of overpopulation.
To reduce the birth rate, the report called for, among other things, legalized abortions through the second trimester and taxpayer-funded abortions, which are reality today.
Now, the birth rate in America is at a historic low and approximately 63.5 million unborn babies have been killed in abortions.
A coalition of pro-life leaders responded this week by slamming the report for encouraging an “overbearing government” to adopt “cruel policies that divide and devalue people.”
In “A Declaration on a New American Future,” a direct response to the “horrors” of the Rockefeller Commission report, the pro-life leaders called on America to overturn Roe v. Wade and adopt new policies that “embrace the worth of every human life.”
“We hold that the history of humanity, though troubled by conflict, poverty, war and disease, demonstrates that progress is possible in every area of human endeavor,” the declaration states. “We likewise hold that it is essential that public policy reject extreme notions that put every group and individual in society in endless competition with each other for limited goods, and that inevitably lead to declining standards of living.”
REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.
Along with overturning Roe, the pro-life leaders urged Americans to end taxpayer funding of abortions and eugenics and recognize the devastating effects of abortion being pushed as a solution to the world’s problems.
They called on United States leaders to reinstate international aid policies that exclude abortion, eugenics and population control programs and re-embrace the historic American understanding that God is the source of rights and blessings.
Charles A. “Chuck” Donovan, president of Charlotte Lozier Institute, who signed the declaration, said the Rockefeller Commission report’s “apocalyptic predictions” about overpopulation are now clearly false.
“… but the damage to the fabric of American society has proven to be immense,” Donovan said. “When government promotes a policy of children as disposable, and when killing innocent children is promoted as a solution, we should not be surprised that the vulnerable of our society are mistreated, denied equal opportunity, and marginalized. This trend can and must be reversed, and it starts with a renewed emphasis on equal respect for every human under the law.”
About 30 pro-life leaders signed the declaration, including Dr. Ben Carson, Ambassador Sam Brownback, Princeton University Professor Robert P. George Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Jeanne Mancini of the March for Life, Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America and Catherine Glenn Foster of Americans United for Life.
