Baby Steps - pro-life movement in Michigan

National Review, May 17, 1999 by John J. Miller

The most important Right to Life television campaign targets women considering an abortion. The ads don't deliver a preachy message or include photos of fetal development. They focus on the woman, not the unborn child, and subtly suggest that motherhood is an empowering choice. These ads are generally run during afternoon talk shows, Beverly Hills 90210 reruns, and the like-programming that unwed pregnant women are likely to see. They also provide a toll-free phone number that quickly connects callers to a nearby crisis-pregnancy center. Currently, the ads air for two or three months each year. By 2000, however, Right to Life of Michigan hopes to have them playing all the time.

This focus on women complements the latest trend in crisis-pregnancy counseling. "We try to minister to women rather than manipulate them," says Romy Crawford, development director for Pregnancy Services of Greater Lansing, whose storefront is directly across the street from Michigan State University. "The message is: Respect the mother, don't abort the woman in her time of trouble." Rather than intimidate unsuspecting pregnant women with provocative photos or fire-and- brimstone lectures, counselors try not to appear "judgmental." "We cry with them when their pregnancy tests come out positive," says staffer Sheryl Patry.

Michigan pro-lifers see plenty of reason for even more progress in the years ahead. The latest set of state abortion numbers, published by the Department of Community Health, reveals that repeat abortions now outnumber first-time abortions in Michigan. To many pro-lifers, this suggests that a generation of pro-abortion women is growing older, while a younger generation less comfortable with the practice is now entering its childbearing years. Indeed, the most recent national survey of college freshmen by UCLA found that only 51 percent supported keeping abortion legal-a record low since the first such survey was taken more than 25 years ago.

On the political front, Michigan pro-lifers plan to continue searching for a way to make a late-term-abortion ban acceptable to the courts. They will also probably try to pass new safety regulations. Most abortions don't take place in hospitals, and few clinics are equipped to handle emergencies. The goal is to frustrate abortion doctors with red tape, encouraging them to stop performing abortions-or not to start in the first place.

In Michigan, at least, abortion is no longer a growth industry.