The Texas GOP State Convention, held in Fort Worth on June 12/13, culminated in a "Celebration of Life" that included a gigantic baby shower benefiting over 100 crisis pregnancy centers throughout Texas, testimony from two mothers who chose life for their babies, an excellent short video depicting a young girl's imaginary argument with her unborn baby leading to her decision to leave an abortion clinic allowing her baby to live, and a re-statement of the Republican Party's commitment to the protection of innocent human life from State Party Chairman Susan Weddington and Vice Chairman David Barton.

Pro-life Republican activists in every state can take heart from what happened at the convention. It has been 24 years since pro-life Texans first began their efforts to establish a pro-life plank in the Texas Republican Platform. In 1974, Delegates to Republican Party conventions were either pro-abortion-choice or unaware of the problem and ambivalent about solving it. It took years of introducing and reintroducing pro-life resolutions at every precinct, county and state convention to achieve the strong pro-life plank Texas Republicans have today. On Saturday, Texas delegates elected Susan Weddington and David Barton chairman and vice chairman of the Republican Party of Texas (Susan has been acting chairman since Tom Pauken resigned to run for Attorney General and David has been serving out Susan's unexpired term as vice chairman), both pro-life, pro-family Christian leaders who together organized a convention that, in Susan's words, "showed the world who we are as pro-life Republicans."

Cathy Caten and Theresa Jardin display signed Pro-Life 2000 Family Voter Pledges at Texas Convention

Susan and David were elected to their high positions in the Party through the efforts of countless pro-life volunteers who, over many years, conducted pro-life voter identification projects and good government seminars, leading to the participation of thousands of pro-life Texans in the Republican Party process. They became the majority in precinct and county conventions every two years, constantly increasing their participation until last weekend over 13,000 Delegates and Alternates attended the State Convention and 80% of them were pro-life grassroots whose dedication derives from their Christian heritage.

Governor George W. Bush, who is seeking reelection in November, addressed the convention on Friday, telling the huge crowd that, if he is elected, they will be "getting a Governor who has reverence for life ... reverence for those lives yet unborn." Although Governor Bush has not publicly stated whether he supports the restoration of legal protection of the right to life to all innocent human beings, but instead focuses his remarks on abstinence education and adoption, his words brought the pro-life Delegates to their feet. After the convention passed the Lambert Resolution to deny Party funds to candidates who do not support a ban on partial-birth abortions, a move that has been criticized by Governor Bush, he told reporters he had no problem disagreeing with certain aspects of the Party's platform. "Platforms are statements of principles," he said. "If I disagree with certain parts of the platform, I just move on and campaign." (Ft. Worth Star Telegram, 6/13/98)

RNC/Life Introduces
2000 Family Voter Pledge

The RNC/Life Booth at the Texas State Convention was among the busiest, with hundreds of delegates and alternates stopping by to fill out our new Pro-Life 2000 Family Voter Pledge. The names will be used to demonstrate support for readoption of the pro-life platform plank at the Republican National Convention in 2000. Pledge signers commit to vote for Republican candidates at every level of public and Party office who have promised to work to achieve through public policies and laws, the pro-life principles in the Republican Party Platform. Those principles are: The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed • Support for a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution • Extension of Fourteenth Amendment protection to unborn children • Denial of taxpayer funding of abortions and organizations which advocate it • Opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide • Opposition to the non-consensual withholding of health care or treatment because of handicap, age, or infirmity • Appointment of judges who respect the sanctity of innocent human life.

The pledge further urges Delegates to the 2000 Republican National Convention to vote for the above-stated principles in the Republican National Platform. It also urges Republican candidates to recognize the inherent rights of the human embryo as a human being, and to support legislation banning experiments in human cloning.

Please help us prepare for the 2000 Convention by ordering and circulating the Pro-Life 2000 Family Voter Pledge. They are $5 per 100. Order now - 618/462-5414.

Texas Delegates
Demand Accountability
Rule Adopted Requiring Candidates To Support Platform

Delegates to the Texas Republican Convention adopted a Party rule that requires candidates who wish to file for election as Republicans to fill out a questionnaire based on the principles enunciated in the Texas Republican Platform before they can expect support from the Republican Party of Texas. The measure has already been used by the State Republican Executive Committee, but now it will be implemented statewide. It is required for those seeking public office at any level. The 13,000 Delegates expressed nearly unanimous support for the rule, which should help dispel the notion that candidates need only give lip service to the platform and still receive Party support.

If you would like to present a similar rule in your state convention, we'll be happy to fax or mail a copy to you. Please contact our Alton office at 618/462-5415 for a copy.

Politics '98

"Pro-Life" Label
Increasingly Misused
If Candidate X who thinks a mother should have the right to choose an abortion if her baby was conceived through rape or incest, can get the endorsement of pro-life groups and support from pro-life activists, why should Candidate Y be expected to take a stronger, 100% pro-life-without-discrimination position? That's a question that should be addressed by politically active pro-lifers. How does a politician who thinks a mother should have a legal right to kill her unborn baby deserve to be called pro-life? After all, the "rape and incest exception" position really means the candidate will support most efforts to regulate or restrict the practice of abortion, but will not support efforts to make it illegal! If the goal of the pro-life movement is to restore legal protection of the right to life for all innocent human beings, why are some pro-life groups helping candidates who do not share that goal? Too many candidates "with exceptions" have enjoyed pro-life support, and our ability to achieve our ultimate goal is being weakened as a result. Remember, the Republican National Coalition for Life PAC contributes only to candidates who are pro-life without discrimination. (RNC/Life PAC-5009 Harvest Hill Road - Dallas, Texas 75244) View the RNC/Life Candidate Questionnaire and PAC Report.

Dornan Wins Primary
Despite Gingrich/Bono Efforts
Former Congressman Bob Dornan, a long-time congressional champion of the pro-life cause, won the June 2 Republican primary in CA-46, defeating his nearest opponent by a 12% margin. This despite reports that "Newt Gingrich ... sent Mary Bono into the 46th District [of California] to campaign for Lisa Hughes, a millionaire divorce lawyer who is [Bob] Dornan's major contender in the June 2nd primary." (The Wanderer, 6/21/98)

Mr. Dornan is fighting to regain the seat wrested from him in 1996 because 2,516 non-citizens voted illegally for liberal, pro-abortion Democrat Loretta Sanchez. Mr. Dornan told The Wanderer in an interview that his request for a special election failed because Speaker Gingrich imposed impossible standards for the Oversight Committee to reach by insisting that every address of a suspected illegal voter match the address on his INS immigration form -- no matter how long ago it was filed. As a result, the Oversight Committee came up with only 970 illegal voters, far fewer than the number reported by the California Secretary of State. Now, reportedly at the behest of the Speaker, recently elected Congresswoman Bono became involved in a contested primary, working against a fellow Republican, Bob Dornan.

It wasn't so long ago, 1996 in fact, that Congressmen Dornan and Chris Smith (NJ) campaigned for a fellow pro-lifer in the New York Republican primary against the pro-abortion incumbent, also a Republican, Rep. Sue Kelly. Then, the shoe was on the other foot, and Speaker Gingrich and the House leadership imposed penalties on both men, accusing them of breaking Party discipline because they got involved in a contested primary and stood up for life. There is something very wrong with this picture!

Our great friend Bob Dornan will face pro-abortion incumbent Democrat Loretta Sanchez in November RNC/Life PAC will be supporting him all the way. [Bob Dornan for Congress - P.0. Box 3260 - Garden Grove, CA 92840 Phone: 714/741-2022]

Michigan - A June 3 press release announced that Republican Governor John Engler signed a bill to prevent human cloning from ever occurring in Michigan, saying "While cloning people has made for interesting science fiction novels and movies, in reality, the concept is unthinkable ... It is morally and ethically wrong to experiment with human life." The legislative package signed by Engler contains four bills:

Senate Bill 864, sponsored by Senator Loren Bennett (R-Canton), prohibits an individual licensed or registered under the Public Health Code from engaging in or attempting to engage in human cloning and creates an administrative fine of $5 million for a health facility or agency that allows an individual to engage in human cloning in a facility owned or operated by the health facility or agency;
House Bill 4846, sponsored by Rep. Kirk Profit (D-Ypsilanti), amends the Public Health Code to prohibit all individuals from engaging in or attempting to engage in human cloning and provides for revocation of licensure for at least five years and a civil penalty of $10 million for licensees;
House Bill 4962, sponsored by Rep. Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau) [currently a candidate for Congress in the 1st District] amends the Michigan Penal Code to create a felony for an individual who intentionally engages or attempts to engage in human cloning and establishes penalties for this felony as imprisonment for not more than 10 years and/or a fine of not more than $10 million;

House Bill 5430, sponsored by Representative George Mans (D-Trenton), creates the Human Cloning Funding Prohibition Act, which prohibits a person from using state funds to engage in or attempt to engage in human cloning and establishes a civil fine for violation of the Act of $10 million.

Speaking at a press conference in Lansing, the Governor said the four bills he signed do not prohibit scientific research or cell-based therapies. Also, the cloning of animals, regarded as a promising development for medical research and agriculture, will not be affected by the ban.

"This legislation boils down to one thing: prohibiting the creation of human life for scientific research," said Senator Bennett. "Human cloning is wrong now; it will be wrong five years from now: and wrong 100 years from now!"

Indiana - Killing a viable fetus can now carry murder charges in Indiana (except during an abortion). The state Legislature recently overrode the governor's veto of a bill that allows for murder charges when a viable unborn baby is intentionally killed during a crime. (Citizen Issues Alert, 1/28/98)

Kansas -Law Stymies "Tiller the Killer" - The Kansas Legislature recently passed a law prohibiting abortions of viable unborn children after 22 weeks gestation, allowing abortion only if two physicians agree the abortion is needed to save a woman's life or that continuing the pregnancy would cause "a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." George Tiller, the infamous late-term abortionist, has filed suit with the Supreme Court and asked for an injunction to stop the law from taking effect until the Court can hear the case. (The Pro-Life Infonet, 7/2/98)

Support for Abortion Declining In the first major shift in public opinion since the Roe v. Wade decision 25 years ago, eight USA Today/CNN/Gallup polls taken since 1994 show a drop of 8 percentage points among people who say they support legal abortion under any circumstances. From 1975 through 1995, Gallup polls showed a steady increase in support for legal abortion under any circumstances. By Sept. 1995 31% were in that category. But in July 1996, the number dropped to 25% and has remained in the mid-20's since. (USA Today, 1/21/98)