Organizational Background and Activities

• National Right to Life Committee Educational Trust Fund

• National Right to Life PAC

• National Right to Life Conventions Inc.

• Horatio R. Storer Foundation

The National Right to Life Committee was founded in 1973 in response to the United States Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. Since then, NRLC has grown to represent over 3000 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

NRLC is a political organization focused on lobbying and citizen advocacy. Their main tools include grassroots initiatives, model legislation, testifying in front of Congressional and state legislative bodies, and campaigning for “pro-life” candidates. While NRLC is often quoted in the media, they do not appear to actively seek the spotlight like other similar organizations. Instead, they focus on changing the law through policy advocacy in Congress and State legislatures.

In 1999, Fortune magazine placed NRLC number 8 on its “Power 25” list, which ranks the most influential lobbying groups in Washington, D.C. While the organization’s goal is a constitutional ban on abortion, it has branched out to address issues of death with dignity and what they consider “infanticide.”

A current NRLC legislative initiative is the “Will to Live Project” which is intended to protect “…your own life and the lives of your family members when you cannot speak for yourselves.” To the same end, and in light of the Terri Schiavo case, NRLC is also promoting sample legislation to “Prevent Starvation and Dehydration.” Additionally, they are focused on human cloning and what they call “fetus farms”.

Ironically, NRLC has no position—or at least not one easily found or promoted—regarding the death penalty. In fact, they promote legislation that could actually be used to justify criminal death sentences. For instance, in what they call the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act”, addressing a crime committed against a pregnant woman would be addressed as a crime against two people—the woman and the fetus. That is to say, if a pregnant woman is murdered and her fetus does not survive, the perpetrator should be tried for two separate murders. And in some states, the death penalty could be applied.

Beyond its political and electoral activities, NRLC has extended its reach into the judiciary. A recent case of theirs was filed by a Wisconsin affiliate challenging federal campaign finance laws; the decision is pending. The suit is based on the affiliate’s challenge to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that prohibits “electioneering communications” 30 to 60 days prior to a primary or general election. Specifically, the affiliate filed suit in order to legally run a grassroots campaign urging Senators Feingold and Kohl to oppose any judicial nominee filibuster. Because Feingold was a candidate at the time that the organization wanted to launch the campaign, the law prohibited the running of their ads.

Other cases of interest for NRLC include Oregon’s Death with Dignity law and another on so-called “partial birth” abortions.