Anti-Abortion Activists Try to Energize Voters

A wide array of anti-abortion activists, including officials of many religious groups, gathered in Washington on Thursday (Sept. 23) to call on Americans to vote for candidates who oppose abortion in the upcoming election.

The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, announced that his Staten Island, N.Y.-based group would spend $1 million to involve Catholic priests and lay people in political strategizing against abortion prior to the Nov. 2 election.

"What America will decide on Nov. 2 is what type of government it wants to be -- the type that claims authority over innocent human life, or the type that recognizes that there are rights no government can tamper with, and truths no court can change," said Pavone, who hosted the news conference at the National Press Club.

Asked if he was specifically campaigning for President Bush's re-election, Pavone said: "That's the conclusion that many people can draw and certainly we want people to draw conclusions. ... The message is more about abortion than about any particular candidate."

He said the $1 million that will be spent on the Priests for Life campaign -- including media programs and ads, sermon samples and voter guides -- has already been raised through grass-roots fund-raising efforts.

Pavone and others said their efforts are aimed at local and regional elections as well as the national one.

Dozens of other speakers representing a range of religious, racial, ethnic and political persuasions took turns at the microphone to state their agreement that abortion should be a decisive issue as people go to the polls.

Several women spoke briefly of their personal experience with abortion. Carrie Gordon Earll addressed the issue on behalf of Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"As a public service, society should sacrifice and change for women, not force women to sacrifice their children and their dignity in order to succeed," said Earll.

Other participants included representatives of politically affiliated groups such as the Libertarians for Life and Democrats for Life and speakers of Protestant, Orthodox and Muslim faiths.

Adelle M. Banks