Unlike Platforms adopted at the quadrennial Republican National Conventions, which are drafted ahead of time by either the current administration, or by Party leadership if there is not an incumbent Republican president and then edited by the Platform Committee under the watchful eyes of those in power, the Platform of the Republican Party of Texas bubbles up from the grassroots. Resolutions are introduced at precinct and senatorial district/county conventions, ultimately making their way to the State Convention Platform Committee. In addition, Delegates are invited to introduce resolutions and give testimony during temporary and permanent Committee deliberations. All are considered and discussed. The result is truly an expression of the hearts of the thousands of people who make up Republican Party of Texas, and who give of their time and talent to serve as voting Delegates at every level of the process.

Pro-life conservatives who are struggling against liberal, establishment control of their Party processes, especially those on the East and West Coasts, should take heart. There was a time in the ‘70s when the few Republican Members of Congress from Texas didn’t want to think about abortion, let alone do anything about it. In 1975 or thereabouts, my Congressman from the 3rd District of Texas, Jim Collins, who was a strong fiscal conservative, told me, “Abortion isn’t an issue in my district.” My reply to him was, “Well, Mr. Collins, I guess we’re going to have to make it an issue.” And we did.

Pro-life leaders organized precinct-by-precinct, all across the state, identifying pro-life voters and encouraging them to attend their precinct conventions so they could vote for pro-life platform resolutions and become Delegates to their district and state convention. We learned that it was a numbers game – if there are more of us at the meeting, we win. If more pro-abortion folks show up, we lose. We lost a lot in the beginning, but every time we lost we gained new supporters and came back again until we started to win. On many occasions we had knock-down, drag-out battles at state conventions over pro-life platform language and we trained our people to stay until the bitter end, even if it was after midnight, because if we went home the other side could undo everything we had accomplished.

The pro-abortion crowd has financial resources, but it doesn’t have staying power. It’s hard to be a cheerleader for abortion. But pro-lifers know that our cause is a noble one. We are striving for something much greater than ourselves. We stay the course — we never go away or give up.

So, those of you who live in states controlled by liberals of either Party, be encouraged! You can do it too. You can do it through systematic organization precinct-by-precinct, year after year. In the meantime, I hope the Platform of the Republican Party of Texas proves to be a useful tool in the development of your own grassroots Republican organization.

PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM PLANNED PARENTHOOD 
Jim Sedlak, the vice-president of American Life League, has written “Parent Power,” a book which outlines the various ways that Planned Parenthood is threatening our children. He gives valuable counsel on how to fight back. To order “Parent Power” call 1-866-538-5483 or visit the pro-life store at http://www.ALL.org. Parents should know what a menace Planned Parenthood is to the health and well-being of their precious children.

TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPREME COURT CASE 
Ted Cruz, Solicitor General of Texas, on behalf of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, has announced that Texas and 12 other States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia) have filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act. Mr. Cruz states that in the brief they make a “direct and straightforward argument that the Court should overrule Stenberg v. Carhart, the 2000 decision that struck down Nebraska’s partial-birth abortion law.”

NEW TREASURY SECRETARY SUPPORTS EMILY’s LIST 
President George Bush has nominated Henry Paulson to the Cabinet position of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. There aren’t too many government jobs more important than that. Unfortunately, Mr. Paulson appears to be a liberal who contributed to the Senate campaign of New York’s Chuck Schumer, and to Sen. Bill Bradley’s (D-NJ) presidential campaign when he ran against Al Gore in the primaries, attacking Gore for having formerly supported the idea that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for abortions, according to Family Research Council (FRC).

FRC points out that EMILY’s List, which has received financial support from Mr. Paulson, describes itself this way: “EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest grassroots political network, is dedicated to taking back our country from the radical right wing by electing pro-choice Democratic women to federal, state, and local office.”

Obviously, if Mr. Paulson is confirmed, the Department of the Treasury won’t be engaged in helping President Bush to achieve his stated goal of building a “culture of life” in America.

LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE PASSED ABORTION BAN – W. 
“Al” Krotoski, M.D., co-founder of The Hippocratic Resource, sent us this report on May 31, 2006: “After a 2 1/2 hour debate, during which a deadly serious opposition tried to muddy the waters with frequently irrelevant amendments (all defeated), Sen. Ben Nevers’ SB-33 passed its final hurdle in the House by a vote of 85 to 17, a veto-proof margin!

The Associated Press (6/5/06) reported that Governor Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill, which would take effect only under two circumstances: if the U.S. Constitution is amended to allow states to ban abortion, or if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.

Doctors found guilty of performing abortions would face as much as 10 years in prison and fines as high as $100,000.

Originally, the bill would have allowed abortions only to save the life of the mother, with no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. The House added a provision to allow abortions when the mother’s health faces permanent harm. [This is a very disappointing development.] The Senate voted 27-0 to approve the change and send the bill to Gov. Blanco.

SOUTH DAKOTA MEANS BUSINESS! 
USA Today (6/13/06) in a story by Judy Keene, reports that four Republican state senators who voted against South Dakota’s abortion ban lost their primary elections, raising questions about support for an effort to repeal the controversial state law.

“There’s certainly no good news in the outcome for pro-choice advocates,” Bob Burns, a political science professor at South Dakota State University, said.

The defeat of half of the eight Senate Republicans who opposed the nation’s most restrictive abortion law might mean trouble for a planned referendum in November to rescind the ban, Burns said. The other four had no primary challengers. The results “mean that the state of South Dakota is very pro-life,” says state Sen. Bill Napoli, who voted for the ban and won his primary.

In March, Republican Governor Mike Rounds signed legislation banning all abortions in the state unless the mother’s life is endangered. The ban will take effect July 1 unless the referendum qualifies for the ballot.

South Dakota pro-lifers at the grassroots level organized against significant opposition, some even coming from other pro-lifers, to achieve passage of the abortion ban legislation. Now, they are fervently working to defeat the referendum. If you live in South Dakota and are not involved, please get involved now. If you have pro-life relatives and friends in South Dakota, please alert them to the importance of defeating the abortion industry’s efforts to overturn the ban.