U.S. PRO-LIFE LEADERS ADOPTING INCREMENTALIST APPROACH?

WASHINGTON, June 1 (LSN) – At the recent “Values Summit” with Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich, several staunch   pro-life leaders appeared to take an “incrementalist” approach to the abortion issue, says an article in today’s U.S. News and World Report. Apparently, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum,  and Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition focused on plans to ban partial-birth abortion, rather than   their ultimate goal of full legal protection of the right to life from conception onward. While such an approach may   be pragmatic, it is controversial within the pro-life movement, especially if it appears to compromise basic pro-life   beliefs.  “Everyone knows the votes [for a constitutional amendment] aren’t there…To stop all abortions will require   significant change in the culture,” explained Schlafly. Dobson reasoned that Congress could not pass a total ban on abortions without an “uproar,” and said, “There won’t be a ban until the American people are ready to accept it.”