It was inevitable that Americans would accept legalized abortion imposed by the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. That’s what I constantly heard during my three years at the University of Minnesota Law School in the late 1970′s.  The few pro-life law students and I felt great apprehension to raise our hands in class and express even a hint of doubt about the constitutional reasoning of Roe v. Wade, or question whether the decision was morally good.  Abortion supporters stood vigilant and pounced on any ”anti-women” dissent challenging the supposedly great and enlightened advance wrought by Roe v. Wade.   We were told that pro-lifers were on the wrong side of history.  Public acceptance of abortion was inevitable, inexorable, we heard at law school in the 1970′s,  as they say today about redefining marriage.  Give up.  Resistance is futile. Opposition to abortion, they confidently predicted back then, would soon die out because, it is obvious that young people, and everyone else, would grow increasingly pro-abortion.

Except, that’s not what has happened.  They have been woefully (Roefully?) wrong.  The pro-abortion culture today is crumbling and teetering, not solidifying.  Tens of  thousands march for life each January in Washington D.C.  Polls show young people, raised from day one under the reign of Roe v. Wade, are increasingly pro-life on abortion. Students for Life of America has over 2000 college students coming to its annual conventions, and they turn away young people each year because they need a bigger place to meet.  Prolife initiatives at state legislatures have the momentum as they introduce new laws restricting abortion.  Business owners are willing to go to court to protect their rights not to fund abortions under Obamacare.   Those who support abortion now defend it, no longer as a moral triumph advancing women and human progress generally as they did in the 1970′s, but as a necessary evil.

So how did that change happen?  From the beginning, persistent pro-life Catholics spoke against the moral evil of abortion, even in the face of opposition and politicians defecting to the abortion side.   These early pro-life leaders convinced evangelical leaders like Francis Schaeffer, Dr. C. Everett Koop, James Dobson and others to teach Protestants about the truth about abortion.  In the 1980′s and 90′s, the ultra sound machines allowed us to see the unborn children in the wombs, and no one could honestly deny their humanity.  And other leaders with a broad vision, like Pope John Paul II, worked to build a culture of life, changing peoples’ attitudes about abortion.  And that change is happening.

I see it when I visit law school campuses to speak. I am free to say, “Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and its shoddy reasoning is embarrassing,’ with hardly anyone speaking against me.  Law students today can now openly question the morality of abortion without being shouted down as a bigot.  I could not have done that in a law school 30 years ago.  The courageous advocacy by the early pro-lifers has paid off, and people are changing their minds on abortion.  And when culture changes, altering the law is not too far behind. So, do not lose heart.   Like running water flowing over stones in a stream bed, perseverance for moral truth triumphs over “inevitable” destructive moral wrongs.

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Watch the 2013 SFLA National Pro-life Conference LIVE online on Saturday, 1/26/2013 at www.SFLAlive.org

The 2013 Students for Life of America National Conference is a one-day event that provides education, training, and opportunities to network with fellow students and national pro-life leaders who know how vital campuses are to the pro-life movement.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is forcing virtually all employers to include contraceptives – including some that cause abortion – in their group health insurance plans.  The HHS “Preventive Services Mandate” applies to many religious employers who believe that the use of some or all of these drugs and devices is immoral.  As a result, the federal government is violating rights of conscience on a massive scale.

In 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare.”  The Act requires group health plans to include certain preventive health services.  The law gave HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) the power to determine what “preventive services” had to be covered.  HRSA decided that plans would have to include “[a]ll Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.”  The FDA has approved the sale and marketing of Plan B and ella as contraceptives, even though both can function as abortifacients.

Many religious organizations believe that abortion is morally wrong.  Some also object to contraception and sterilization.  The religious exemption in HHS’s contraceptive mandate, however, is shockingly narrow.  To avoid being forced to pay for morally problematic drugs, devices, procedures, and counseling, a religious organization must convince the federal government (1) that its purpose is the inculcation of religious values; (2) that it “primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the organization”; (3) that it “serves primarily persons who share the religious tenets of the organization”; and (4) that it has a particular tax status with the IRS — one that most non-church religious organizations do not have.  Given the narrowness of the objection, most religious schools, colleges, universities, and social service ministries are covered by the mandate.  Moreover, individuals who pay premiums into group health plans (or who will utilize the “exchanges” envisioned by Obamacare) will be forced to financially contribute to the purchase of abortion-causing drugs.

A host of religious organizations and religious freedom advocates have urged the Administration to abandon the mandate or, barring that, substantially broaden the religious exemption.  To date, those efforts have not borne any fruit.  Legislators in both houses of Congress have introduced bills designed to remedy the Administration’s unprecedented violation of the right of conscience.  So far, those bills have not advanced.  Two lawsuits have been filed, and more are expected.

The 2012 Students for Life National Pro-Life Conference is little more than a week away, and ADF is excited to once again partner with Students for Life to hold the biggest pro-life student conference anywhere.  I went for the first time last year, and I was blown away by the quality of the speakers and their presentations.  Those attending will learn from many experienced experts about many aspects of the pro-life movement.  Dr. John Bruchalski is one I am looking forward to hearing from.   Former Governor Mike Huckabee will speak and introduce a new movie, called ”The Gift of Life.”

Also, I found the mere fact that so many pro-life young people are gathered in one place to be one of the most encouraging things I saw last year at the conference.  We are not alone, and everyone draws energy and encouragement from the fact that there are so many of us working together for life.

And they served great pizza, too.  Pizza and pro-lifers – who could ask for anything more!  See you Sunday!

Don’t forget to RSVP to watch the nation’s largest pro-life conference LIVE online on 1/22/2012 at http://adf.am/SFLArsvp. Stay informed! Envision… a World Without Abortion!

The Alliance Defense Fund family extends its heartfelt condolences to the staff and friends of  Students for Life of America (SFLA), who lost a dear friend and co-laborer for life, Kortney Blythe Gordon.  Kortney, the  northeast field director for SFLA, perished in a car accident along with her preborn daughter Sophy on Saturday night.  ADF has worked hand-in-hand with SFLA and Kortney over the last several years to end the taking of innocent human life through abortion.

In 2005 ADF and Students for Life joined forces with the common vision to change the landscape of public university campuses across America.  At the time SFLA was a small but growing student organization working to educate pro-life college students about the issues of abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide and equipping them with the training, skills, and resources to be effective and successful advocates for life on campuses across America.  As they stirred students into action, they  increasingly found themselves shut down by campus officials, and, this is where ADF stepped in.  Working together over the past several years with SFLA and many other whole-hearted pro-life allies, we have seen lives saved, policies changed and in 2009, Gallup recorded a “pro-life” majority for the first time in the then-fourteen year history of their poll. The rate of abortion, after skyrocketing in the late 1970s, has decreased significantly, and abortion restrictions are far more likely to pass Congress and state legislatures than are expansions in access. Even pop culture now offers notable examples of the “choose life” mindset.

But there’s something else, something beyond the numbers that tell us that we are quite possibly on the cusp of historic change. Within the Christian community, young people are proving to be far more actively pro-life than their parents.  Kortney was an inspiring example of the new “youth movement” committed to living and proclaiming the “Gospel of Life.”  Recently, Kortney joined ADF staff and other national leaders to help train and facilitate key pro-life organizations and activists in various states to bring a more coordinated approach to ending abortion.   Her contributions to this effort will be greatly missed.

No one, not even a beautiful soul like Kortney, is promised a long life.  For that reason, the Scripture reminds us to pray that our Heavenly Father would “Teach us to number our days, and apply our hearts to wisdom.”  Kortney took those words to heart, so much so that one of her favorite sayings was, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”  With her hand in her daughter’s, no longer bound by space and time, Kortney has already heard the words of her blessed Savior, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.  Enter into your rest.”  May it be said of us as well when our course is run.

Please pray with us for the families of Kortney and her husband Benjamin, for recovery of others, including a second SFLA staffer, who were injured in the accident, and for comfort and healing for all who loved and were loved by Kortney.

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Kortney leaves behind her husband Ben, who will bury his bride (just married this year) and their first child. Donations are being accepted to help with burial costs and support for Ben, and may be made by clicking here.

According to Steve Jobs, the reason he was able to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people was because he pursued his creative dreams. My home, like millions of other homes, has an Apple computer, iPods, and an iPad. We enjoy watching the excellent movies he helped create, like The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. and Cars, all made by Pixar, one of the company that Steve Jobs started.

How did he do it?  Steve Jobs answered that question in the commencement speech he gave at Stanford University in 2005.  His speech, which is only about 15 minutes long, is one of the best commencement speeches I have ever heard.   In it, we learn that:

Steve Jobs was born out of wedlock and given up for adoption;   I do not know what Steve Jobs’ views were on abortion, but the world is much better off because Steve Jobs’ mom chose not to aborted him, but gave him up for adoption, allowing him the opportunity to improve the lives of many during  his 56 1/2 years on this planet. Thank God that abortion on demand had not permeated America yet when Steve Jobs’ mom was pregnant in 1955.

Steve Jobs was a college drop out and never graduated.  Now, this may not be the path to success for everyone.  However, in the Stanford speech, Steve Jobs urged each of us to discover what we each love to do and pursue it.  That’s what he did.  And for a guy that turned out to be a combination of Thomas Edison and Walt Disney, we should pay attention to what he has to say.  Because Steve Jobs pursued what he loved, many people are no longer poor. For example,  Rush Limbaugh asked today how many people in China are no longer poor because they build parts and products for Apple’s supply chains?  How many businesses in the U.S. and elsewhere have started or expanded because they use Apple products?   When we unleash entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs to function in their giftings and to do what they love, they create wealth and opportunity for other people.

Steve Jobs says one of the best things that ever happened to him was getting fired from Apple, the company he started.  In the Stanford speech, Jobs explains how he lost a power struggle at Apple in 1985 and was fired, and how it was the best think that happened to him.  He understood how suffering can be redemptive and can open new doors of opportunity to people.  Think of how worse off we all would be if Steve Jobs had become bitter and disillusioned when the Apple board of directors fired him.  I found his words to persevere most encouraging and envisioning.

Steve Jobs talks about his battle with cancer and his inevitable death.  This is eerily prophetic, as Steve Jobs talks about his own death that will occur six years after this speech.  He also wisely points out that everyone will die, and that we should live each day as if it is our last day on Earth.

You can read the written text of Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement speech at Stanford here.   You can view the video of his speech below: