Director's Column

Doing Good

A trusted former coach is arrested and charged with sexually assaulting at least eight young boys, top administration officials are charged with a cover-up, and a head coach with a stellar reputation is fired. The scandal at Penn State, which has engulfed not only a trusted, even venerated, football program, but an entire community, has rightly dominated the news for weeks. Shock, disappointment, disgust and sadness are apparent every time the subject is addressed.

However, this thought keeps recurring to me: Why does this still surprise us? Why are we shocked? So many in our nation — our courts, our politicians, our citizens — accept that it is legal to kill an unborn child if the mother so chooses. What is so shocking about covering up the abuse of a born child? Outrageous questions indeed. The harm of a child is indeed heinous. Adults are supposed to protect children, help them, cherish them.

As I was listening to a discussion about the Penn State scandal on a Focus on the Family podcast, the host, Jim Daly, shared an incident that happened to him when he was 10 years old. He was alone on a bus trip to visit his biological father and a man on the bus attempted to lure him and another boy to abuse them. When the bus driver observed the man trying to hold the boy’s hand, he pulled the bus over and made the passenger get off the bus. The driver didn’t wait until the next stop or give the man a warning. He immediately took action to protect a child.

ORTL PAC: A Behind the Scenes Tour

My son went on a pre-school field trip to our neighborhood grocery store where our family shops. Even though he is now in second grade, we are regularly reminded when we stop by the bakery for a free cookie or grab yogurt from the refrigerated section that he’s been “back there” behind the scenes. Inspired by my son’s excitement, I decided to give you a quick “behind the scenes tour” of our political office. Presidential candidates aren’t the only ones who are already working toward November 2012.

Right now, our whole political team, including Colm Willis, Karen Minnis, and our Oregon Right to Life PAC Board, is laying the groundwork for our Pro-Life Voter’s Guide.

Before we ever contact a candidate we do quite a bit of research. It is important for us to update the statistics of each legislative and congressional district, such as voter registration information and past election results. The 2010 census also requires that we go through our list of pro-life voters and reassign each household to the correct district. I am so thankful for our database wizards because we have more than 200,000 households on our lists!

On Offense

Political discussions are peppered with sports and military metaphors and illustrations. The reasons are obvious. Politics is all about winners and losers, strategy, offense, defense, fitness, preparedness, winning graciously, and learn- ing from our losses.

Many famous quotes and heated discussions revolve around offense and defense in sports and war but it comes down to this — you are either on one side or the other. This is true in politics as well. We are either gaining yards or defending against attack.

The pro-life movement has been on defense for a long time. Oh, we have our gains here and there. We even have a win sometimes, but then quickly return to defense. I believe that there is a change happening that should encourage us in our pro-life work.

For many reasons — our culture, geography, history — Oregonians can be isolated from the positive yardage being gained across the coun- try. In some ways we are like the offensive line of a football team. We don’t always get to see the beautiful run or completed pass because we are focused on avoiding being crushed by the defensive lineman.

Oregon pro-lifers are on the offense and we are marching right into our opponent’s territory. I can make this statement with confidence.

Resolutions for 2011

When I was young, I made sure to write out a list of New Year’s resolutions. I found that it was a good time to think about the fu- ture and what needed to be done that year to move my plans forward. Sometimes it was as simple as resolv- ing to get an A in English. Sometimes it was very serious, like listing character qualities to look for in a husband. I have not continued this practice as an adult. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and busy family and each day brings a need for resolutions! However, as I pondered the year ahead as Political Direc- tor of Oregon Right to Life, it seemed appropriate to make a list of pro-life resolutions.

Last year, we witnessed a political movement that awakened many in Oregon and across the nation to the importance of engaging in our civil government. There is not a national or statewide election this year, but this does not mean it is time to rest. It is important to continue engaging in our communities and continue our efforts to educate our neighbors about the importance of protecting human life in all its stages.

The Tea Party, Politics, and Abortion

There has been a lot of chitchat in political circles following the 2010 election about the influence, or lack thereof, of social conservatives in the new political landscape carved out by the rise of the Tea Party. Of course, this chatter affects how the pro-life movement moves forward after a remarkably successful political year. There is no doubt that financial issues dominated this election. But, like a military medical unit in a battle, we have to triage the issues. Our country’s fiscal and economic crisis is the immediate injury that must be addressed now. The culture of death is an ongoing disease we have been fighting for years — even before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. The future health of our coun- try depends on the treatment of the injury and curing the disease.

While we may see more focus on the issues of government spending, taxes, and regulation, I believe we have little reason for the pro-life movement to be concerned that the Tea Party will damage our efforts to pass pro-life legislation and work toward pro-life decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court. First, there are the numbers. The Gallup organization, in a poll released April 5, found that two-thirds of tea partiers identify themselves as pro- life. Second, the candidates most identified with the Tea Party are pro-life: Mike Lee of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida, Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, and Sharon Angle (who challenged Harry Reid) in Nevada.