A new generation of pro-life activists are emerging that take a more “evangelical” approach, seeking to convert teens and young adults to the cause through personal contact and Internet use, according to an in-depth article in the Washington Post Magazine (April 18).
While the confrontational activism of anti-abortion “rescue” efforts have been marginalized by tough laws and restraining orders, the fight against abortion and other life issues is being finding a younger generation of leaders and followers. “While many of [the new movement’s] leaders are in their twenties and early thirties, most of those they are seeking to reach are in high school. Their medium is not bullhorns outside clinics but the Internet, underground rock music and trained teen missionaries,” writes Tamara Jones.
At the heart of the new crusade is the personal message that, as one leader tells teens, “One-third of your generation has been murdered in the womb” They consider abortion their own Holocuast, “and anyone born after 1973 a survivor.” The young pro-lifers are found in such organizations as Why Life and, especially, Rock for Life, a group that specializes in producing pro-life CDs, concerts, and other forms of youth outreach.
Although, the new generation appear less focused on legal and political efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade and more interested in winning hearts and minds, they are planning a “Pro-Life Youth Pledge to Congress” in the year 2,000. The goal is to deliver 100,000 signatures to the White House and Congress — twice the 50,000 names collected by Rock for Choice.
