Abortion, Life Camps Step Up Election Efforts

Many interest groups are stepping up their efforts to bring Americans to the polls by bringing the issue of abortion to the forefront in the presidential election.

On Tuesday, the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood announced a campaign that plans to spend $10 million toward an effort to persuade one million people to vote for candidates who support abortion.

Cecile Richards, the organization's president, said the campaign is looking to rally particularly young, unmarried independent and Democratic women, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Chuck Donovan, executive vice president of the pro-life nonprofit Family Research Council (FRC) in Washington, D.C., however, disagreed that young voters would necessarily be the type to vote for pro-abortion candidates.

"There's some data suggesting that young people are actually more open to the life message," he told The Bulletin, noting that younger voters often tend to embrace the social "underdog."

"I think anybody trying to exploit [youthful liberalism] would have to be more careful with that dynamic because I think we have a more pro-life generation coming up," he added.

A study released Wednesday by FRC Action, the legislative arm for FRC, showed that a clear majority of voters would be less likely to support a candidate who proposes a national health care plan that includes universal abortion coverage. A majority of women aged 18-54 (51 percent) are less likely to support such candidates and women aged 55 or older (59 percent) are also less likely to vote for a candidate endorsing it.

Many pro-family and pro-life groups have also in recent weeks been rallying supporters to vote for candidates who support overturning Roe v. Wade. A majority have released voter guides that indicate a candidate's position on abortion and other issues. These groups have also encouraged churches and pastors to preach moral issues like abortion to their congregations.

American Family Association (AFA), a pro-family group with over 3 million supporters, released a voter guide and launched a new website, RepairingtheFoundations.com, to serve as a news resource for Christian leaders who want to address politics within the boundaries of the law.

Abortion could become the next big issue in the 2008 election because the next president is expected to have the opportunity to appoint two Supreme Court justices. Two of the oldest justices on the current Supreme Court are in favor of Roe. When President Bush took office, he appointed two anti-abortion justices to the high court.

However, the fate of Roe v. Wade may lie in the hands of the next president.

"If we get a pro-life Republican in the White House in 2008, the reality is it's very likely that you're going to get one vote and maybe two, given the actuarial tables," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, according to the Baptist Press.

If Roe were overturned, Land predicts that when the issue returns to the states, "surely about 40 states will pass significant and restrictive" laws on abortion.