Mission
The Failed Social Experiment
The social experiment in abortion on demand, imposed by the judiciary in 1973, has disastrously failed by ending the lives of more than 30 million children while damaging the physical and emotional health of millions of women. There is no “silver bullet” that will end the experiment or reverse its damage. A broadly based legal, social and political strategy is necessary.
An important part of that strategy is AUL model legislation. In addition to providing the maximum legal protection to unborn children, the legislative process itself and the accompanying media coverage serves the goal of educating citizens to the reality that abortion hurts women.
Roe v. Wade will not be reversed, nor will a human life amendment be passed, until the cultural consciousness is awakened to the reality that abortion is not an easy, quick-fix solution. Rather, abortion is a violent deception that results in two victims: the child whose life is destroyed, and the woman who suffers devastating physical and psychological harm.
Indeed, this failed experiment has aggravated the problems it promised to solve, with dramatic increases in illegitimacy, teen pregnancy, and child abuse since Roe. Instead of increased personal freedom and privacy for American women, there has been a significant deterioration in their committed relationships, physical health, and moral integrity.
Is Destruction of Life a Humane Solution?
Unfortunately, the Roe v. Wade decision and its progeny have created a cultural ethic that views destruction of innocent human life as an acceptable solution to personal, economic, or social problems. Rather than respecting the dignity of each individual human life and seeking humane and creative solutions to our personal and social problems, Roe has deceived our society into believing that the quick-fix solution of death is an acceptable solution.
And now this cultural ethic of death has spilled over to foster abortion of children in the process of being born (partial-birth abortion), infanticide of children who survive abortion, euthanasia, destructive human embryo experimentation, and eugenic cloning of human beings.
The Role of Law and Public Education in Restoring a Culture of Life
The role of Americans United for Life is crucial to the goal of restoring a culture that respects human life, both young and old, born and unborn.
Our mission is to shape American law and culture through strategic legal initiatives and public education.
AUL model legislation is drafted by our legal department to provide reasonable common-ground solutions to an issue that has divided our nation for over three decades. Whether by exposing the risk of abortion-induced breast cancer, or protecting parental rights from being disregarded by an abortion industry that misleads minors, AUL model legislation results in saved lives and increased public opinion in favor of the dignity of human life and the tragic consequences of abortion.
AUL attorneys consult with legislators and grassroots lobbyists in all 50 states on a pro bono basis. We conduct television, radio, and print interviews, and we speak before college and law school students who are just beginning to form their worldviews.
When abortion industry lawyers go to court attempting to block life-protective legislation, AUL attorneys provide strategic consultation to the offices of the state attorneys general who defend the laws. From providing a moot court to preparing state attorneys for hearings, to handling cases themselves by appointment, AUL attorneys use their litigation skills at all levels of the state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, where they’ve filed briefs in every major abortion case (including Roe v. Wade).
Finally, AUL lawyers shape public opinion and policy by talking with media and authoring articles and opinion pieces in major newspapers, magazines, and law review journals. We are currently working on legislation aimed at increasing airtime of savvy pro-life television commercials, which result in dramatic shifts in public opinion toward respect for human life.
In our democratic republic a critical element of creating a broad public consensus that recognizes the sanctity of human life is to appeal to Middle America through law and education. If we are to prevail in our secular culture, we must reach out to address the practical concerns of ambivalent Americans. We must address our culture as it is and not as we would like it to be. With a steady eye toward the mark and the support of the “people of life and for life ” we are confident that a renewed culture of life is within our reach.
