The Progressive Pro-Life Movement before Roe v. Wade           The New York Times offers a book review of Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement before Roe v. Wade. The book details the nature of the movement against abortion in the 1960s and early 1970s, back when opposition to abortion was part of liberal ideals and was tied to the civil rights advocacy of the day. See Quotation of the Week below.          Though the reviewer seems surprised at this history and unaware of our existence, we’ll point out what this book documents. Though it took a while for the exact phrase “consistent life ethic” to be coined, the basic principles of it were entrenched in the very formation of the modern pro-life movement. ^^^^^^^   Public Peace Prize – Please Vote!            Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International and a Consistent Life endorser, has been nominated for the 2016 Public Peace Prize. Those offering the prize say it’s the only one in the world based on the public’s choices.            The voting is open until January 24, 2016. To vote for Marie Dennis:   ∞  Vote on the Public Peace Prize website:          At Marie’s nomination page: Each visitor =1 vote, or leave an appreciative comment on the bottom, each comment = 3 votes.   ∞  On Public Peace Prize’s Facebook page:           Click “Like” below the posting presenting Marie. To increase the number of votes, click the “share” button.      ∞  On Public Peace Prize’s Twitter account:           "Retweet” the tweets presenting Marie.   ^^^^^^^   Reminder: March for Life / Roe v. Wade Anniversary Protests           See our web site on March for Life activities for more details on how to join us in Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Chicago. We also have resources to download and print up for your local actions.    ^^^^^^^ Latest CL Blog           Carol Crossed points out the connections and similarities of those with extreme views on gun “rights” and abortion “rights,” in Guns and Abortion: Extremists Resemble Each Other.   ^^^^^^^   Quotation of the Week Kristin Dombek, Sunday Book Review, New York Times, January 8, 2016 review of Defending the Unborn         From the perspective of our historical moment, it’s hard to imagine . . . a country where Democrats and the Black Panthers opposed abortion, and Ronald Reagan, like most conservatives, supported it. Where more men than women supported legalizing abortion, and Hugh Hefner was one of those men, leading one activist to call legalized abortion the “final victory of the Playboy philosophy.” Where opposition to abortion found common cause with opposition to the exploitation of women, to the abandonment of the poor, to big business and to the Vietnam War.         While the language of genocide seems disingenuous to progressives now, Williams’s characters remind us that in the years leading up to Roe v. Wade, the Nuremberg trials were fresh in the minds of Americans, as was the forced sterilization of poor women and women of color. Many liberals were understandably suspicious of any policy or law that seemed to promote population control funded by a government they suspected of systemic racism. As the Louisiana Right to Life Association put it in 1972: “Abortion is advocated as a way of reducing the number of illegitimate children and reducing the welfare rolls. Who do you think abortionists have in mind?” During the 1960s, the group that polled highest in the objection to abortion was African-Americans.

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