Anti-abortion petition drive continues, without Right to Life

[Soldier4Christ]

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A group that wants to legally define a person as existing from the moment of conception keeps plugging away on a petition drive targeting the November election — without the help of Michigan's dominant anti-abortion organization.

A newly formed group called Michigan Citizens for Life, relying on volunteers and a modest budget, wants to spark a challenge to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. The American Civil Liberties Union has said it would file a lawsuit to block the constitutional amendment if it makes the ballot and voters approve it.

The effort to give legal standing to embryos and fetuses in Michigan has picked up supporters across the state as an early July deadline to collect at least 317,757 valid signatures of Michigan voters approaches.

"We're not there yet. But we can get there," said Cal Zastrow, a Citizens for Life leader who lives near Bay City. "It looks good."

The petition drive has raised public awareness about what some call a splintering of Michigan anti-abortion forces.

Right to Life of Michigan is not supporting the campaign, saying the proposal is technically flawed and not needed because the state already has a law on the books that could ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

In addition, a Right to Life-backed initiative that would ban what some call partial-birth abortion is under review in a federal appeals court and could spark a Supreme Court review, supporters say.

The Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor counters that the success of the petition drive is "vitally important" if Michigan is to become an anti-abortion state if Roe v. Wade is overturned. The center has agreed to defend the petition drive.

Right to Life — considered one of the most influential lobbying groups in Michigan — has chosen to focus its resources on races for the state Legislature, governor and U.S. Senate in 2006.

Citizens for Life and Right to Life leaders say they taking different paths toward some of the same goals.

"Is there room for everybody? Absolutely," said Pam Sherstad, a Right to Life spokeswoman. "The more pro-life people, the better."

Zastrow also refrains from criticizing Right to Life, saying the dominant anti-abortion group already had a full agenda for the 2006 election cycle before his effort got rolling late last year.

"They're great people," Zastrow said. "They're not on board right now, but that's OK. They are welcome to get on board at any time."

But others who support the petition drive have clashed with Right to Life, including Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jerry Zandstra, a Cutlerville minister.

All three Republican U.S. Senate candidates — Zandstra, Troy minister Keith Butler and Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard — oppose abortion. All three had met Right to Life's criteria to win the group's endorsement.

But Zandstra was removed from the list recently after he made public statements about his support for the Citizens for Life campaign and issued a press release that Right to Life says reflected negatively on it.

Zandstra says Right to Life leaders earlier had threatened him with consequences if he backed the Citizens for Life petition drive. Right to Life is equally adamant no threats were made.

"Our campaign is based on principles, and one of those principles is protection of the sanctity of life," Zandstra said in a release March 22, just a few days before Right to Life decided he no longer met its endorsement criteria. "I am not going to abandon my principles because a powerful political interest group has decided not to support an issue."

Right to Life said Zandstra was removed from the endorsement qualification list because of what it perceives as negative attacks on the organization — not because he backed the Citizens for Life drive. Right to Life says it has endorsed officeholders who back the petition and won't rescind endorsements because candidates support the petition drive.

"Had he simply endorsed the petition drive, that's fine," said Larry Galmish, a leader of Right to Life's political action committee.

Butler has signed the Citizens for Life petition and still meets the Right to Life endorsement criteria. Bouchard's campaign says he has not signed the petition, trusting Right to Life's judgment on the issue.

All three Republicans want to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

Citizens for Life may not be the only group opposing abortion that has a different approach than Right to Life.

A group called Michigan Chooses Life formed in January. One of the Genesee County-based organization's first steps was to back the Citizens for Life campaign.

Michigan Chooses Life's leaders have questioned some of Right to Life's past political endorsements, saying Right to Life backs some candidates based on their electability rather than pure philosophy. They also say Right to Life is not always responsive to local affiliates' concerns, citing a rift in Genesee County.

"We've become another oar in the water," said Michigan Chooses Life board member Roy McLaughlin, a Swartz Creek pastor who has served as president of the Baptist Missionary Association of America. "We're another option."