The current release of the movie “Reagan” is a must see for every American. Starring as “The Gipper” actor Dennis Quaid does a remarkable job in portraying our 40th president and highlighting all that he gave to our nation. He was truly a visionary leader who undoubtedly saved the world from nuclear confrontation with the Soviets.
The Reagan presidency was indeed a unique time in American history when the spirit and confidence of the nation was revived. Reagan's sunny optimism and belief that America's best days were ahead along with his steadfast leadership based upon unshakable core values pulled our nation out of the dark spiritual malaise that had engulfed it during the 1970s.
One area of Reagan’s presidency not discussed in the movie and always ignored by the media was his principled and inspirational leadership standing for the lives of unborn children and for an end to abortion. Being pro-life was not always his view. As governor of California in the mid-sixties, he signed into law a measure that liberalized the abortion laws of his state and opened the way for California to be a major abortion sanctuary, even before Roe v. Wade. However, through the influence of prominent pediatric surgeon Mildred Jefferson, Reagan changed his view on abortion and his presidency showed his staunch and unwavering support for life and the demise of abortion on demand.
For the pro-life movement, President Reagan's leadership was inspiring. His presidency started eight years after the Supreme Court’s decision of Roe v. Wade. At that time, the nation had begun to grasp the grisly implications of Roe, which resulted in the annual destruction of 1.5 million unborn children a year from abortion on demand. (More than 65 million abortions have now occurred since 1973.) Mr. Reagan’s administration led the way with policies that banned abortion funding with tax dollars to organizations that promote abortion as a method of family planning. His appointments to federal agencies and the federal courts of highly qualified people who shared his foundational pro-life beliefs promoted a culture of life throughout the government.
Few people are aware, however, of Ronald Reagan's admiration for the work of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, now referred to as pregnancy resource centers or pregnancy medical clinics. These life-affirming agencies began to flourish across the nation in the 1980s as a response to the proliferation of abortion clinics and the rise of a multi-million-dollar tax-supported abortion industry. CPCs, as they were called then, began to spring up in every community of the nation offering alternatives to abortion to women in problem pregnancies. The services provided included free pregnancy testing, material assistance, referrals for medical care and legal help, and temporary housing assistance. Today this movement has flourished and there now are more than 3,000 such centers nationwide and hundreds of them operate as medical clinics providing pregnancy confirmation through ultrasound, STI testing and Treatment, and even prenatal care.
I became aware of President Reagan's support for this work in 1983. Earlier that year, Laura, my wife, had written to Reagan to thank him for his pro-life commitment and to tell him of our work in opening the first CPC in the Northwest in Seattle. Neither of us expected a response. I was pleasantly surprised, however, when an unsolicited letter from the President addressed to my wife came in November.
The letter reads in part:
I was pleased to learn recently of the valuable and important work performed by the Crisis Pregnancy Center of King County. The time and energy you devote to providing special services for women facing a problem pregnancy are a vital community resource. The need for services provided by organizations like yours is great, and there are few challenges to the well-being of our society which call for more sensitivity and selflessness. By helping to meet this challenge, you have demonstrated to thousands of individual women that there is indeed a place to turn for strength and assistance. More importantly, you have served as a beacon of light to the community at large, demonstrating that positive solutions to difficult problems are available if we work together.
You can be sure that you have my wholehearted support and my prayers for the heightened public awareness your activities so richly deserve. God bless you.
Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan
Two years later in 1985 the President sent another letter to address the attendees at the annual fund-raising banquet for our pregnancy center in Seattle. He states:
The CPC of King County, along with other centers like it across the country, shows Americans that the civilized morally defensible response to problem pregnancies is not the cynical surrender of abortion, but the life-affirming alliance of all sectors of the community to overcome our problems. You have my admiration, my prayers, and my full support for your beautiful work. God bless you.
Both of these letters are beautifully framed and proudly hanging on the wall of my office.
Today, as in the early 1980s, Americans are confronted with the issue of life and its tragic destruction through abortion. However, no Ronald Reagan has emerged to lead the way out of this current quagmire and into the basking glow of a nation that honors, respects, and defends human life, born and unborn.
One current candidate for president disdains the work of pro-life pregnancy centers and actively promoted, as her state’s attorney general, a law that would have mandated that pro-life centers promote and advertise for abortion. The other candidate bumbles and stumbles around trying to avoid the issue, apparently being influenced by advisors who see it as a losing one.
Ronald Reagan never wavered on the issue of life after he realized that his previous position was wrong. He was that kind of leader.
I miss him. The nation misses him. And the world misses him.
Thomas Glessner is founder and president of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA).
Join the conversation as a VIP Member