Fighting Irish Fight Back

May 15—As the President takes the stage at Notre Dame this weekend, he will be doing so against the wishes of hundreds of thousands of alums who see him
as the global ambassador for abortion of our time. FRC’s Chuck Donovan, a graduate of Notre Dame and his sister, Teresa Donovan, MPH (also an alum),
wrote a compelling piece on the harm that this President is doing to the very students he will address at commencement. Please log on to CNN’s
website and read their op-ed, “Obama and Notre Dame: To Speak and Not to Listen.”

Despite being firmly in control of Congress and the White House, President Obama is now officially in the minority where it matters the
most—public opinion on abortion. Just days after a Pew Research poll showed an incredible boost in the percentage of pro-life Americans, folks at
the Gallup Company decided to conduct a study of their own. The result? For the first time in the history of asking this question, a majority of
adults (51%) in the U.S. said they consider themselves “pro-life.” What a remarkable victory for a life movement that has been so battered at the
hands of this President’s agenda. In the face of the most aggressive, pro-abortion administration in America, the country is rallying to the defense
of its tiniest members.

Through the slow burn of exporting abortion, funding experiments on human embryos, and confirmation of men and
women aligned with the darkest corners of the abortion industry, President Obama’s in-your-face decisions are driving uneasy Americans away–and
quickly. Just last year, 50% of adults said they were “pro-choice,” much higher than the 42% who define themselves that way today. And the gains for
life are everywhere—in its application to public policy, political parties, and religion. When asked to what extent abortion should be legal, Gallup
found that roughly the same amount of people say it should be illegal in all circumstances (23%) as legal (22%), a big change from the years before
when more Americans were in favor of unrestricted abortion.

And here’s one that should energize social conservatives. While some
Republicans are trying to push values voters to the edge of the tent and trend moderate, the Republican grassroots are racing to embrace the right on
life. Those in the party who describe themselves as “pro-life” are up a whopping 10% (from 60% to 70%) since 2008. If the GOP insists on alienating
pro-lifers, it does so at its own peril! Democrats, who are nominating more pro-life House members, know this well.

One place where
congressional Republicans could show some real teeth on the life issue is by drawing a line on abortion coverage in the health care debate which
awaits everyone after the Memorial Day recess. Just this week, a handful of pro-life stalwarts in the House flexed some muscle on the issue by
sending a letter to President Obama asking him to keep restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortion in place during the overhaul on health care. FRC will
insist that if abortion coverage is not specifically excluded from health care, then it is included—and we will oppose it.

Going back
to his campaign days, President Obama has claimed to converse with both sides of the abortion debate. But in this battle he can rest assured that we
will look at his deeds, not his words. The President may seduce the media with talk of “abortion reduction,” but he cannot speak in soothing words to
the public while taking a bulldozer to the culture of life. What he fails to understand is that the courts gave this country legalized abortion–but
the people never wanted it. So we have enacted firewalls to ban taxpayer funding of abortion and passed legislation to prevent the worst abuses of
informed consent, conscience, and other vital principles. Decades later, this administration wants to tear apart that fragile social contract. But
make no mistake. If President Obama opens the nation’s deep wounds over abortion, he will be working against the majority of Americans.

Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article was excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.

Tony Perkins
Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.