To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer 

March For Life 

The March for Life is always a highlight of my year in Washington. I spoke to a number of pro-life groups this morning, including the Right to Life delegation from my home state of Kentucky. 

The good folks who come here each year, often braving the worst of Washington's winter weather, give me hope that someday our nation will see Roe v. Wade for what it is: a rejection of our nation's highest ideal -- that liberty is a gift from God and that each of us has been endowed by our Creator with the right to life. 

Forty years ago, the Supreme Court denied that right to unborn children. Roe v. Wade is fundamentally based on the same philosophy as Dred Scott. Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom. The Supreme Court decided that he was no different than a horse or any other piece of property. As a black man, the court declared he had no rights we were bound to respect. Scott's life could be decided by someone else. 

That is fundamentally the same decision that the court made in Roe v. Wade when it held that the unborn child had no rights we were bound to respect; that life in the womb could be snuffed out by someone else's choice. 

There is tremendous irony that the first president of color, who surely sees the evil of Dred Scott, is such an aggressive defender of Roe v. Wade. So much so that he has promoted abortion overseas while he tries to force religious believers to pay for abortions here. 

Roe Will Fall 

While Roe v. Wade has stood for 40 years, it stands on very flimsy ground, and I believe it will fall. 

Its moral flaws are self-evident. The court's majority claimed in 1973 that it was in no position then to "speculate" as to when life begins. Basic biology has always been clear on that point, but ultrasound technology has given us a window to the womb, so we can now witness the life growing there. 

But as a matter of law, even liberals freely admit that Roe is deeply flawed. In a column this week, Tim Carney wrote about abortion's "foundation of lies." Consider this excerpt: 

There are more examples, but you get the point, which brings me to my next point. The men and women we elect to public office appoint and confirm the justices who sit on the Supreme Court. On the issue of life, public opinion is moving our way. That is why it is so important for men and women of faith to remain engaged in the public policy arena. 

Obama Overruled 

The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia today issued a unanimous decision declaring three of President Obama's appointments to the National Labor Relations Board to be unconstitutional.

The president made the appointments in January 2012 when the Senate was not in recess. Yet Obama claimed the power to unilaterally make the recess appointments anyway because most senators were out of town and no votes were being taken. 

Under this logic, the president could, without congressional approval, make recess appointments every weekend. The court strongly rejected Obama's position, writing in its opinion, "Allowing the president to define the scope of his own appointment power would eviscerate the Constitution's separation of powers." 

The ruling likely invalidates hundreds of decisions made by the board. Prior to the illegal appointments, the board did not have a functioning quorum. 

Whenever something controversial happens in Washington, I often get an avalanche of emails asking, "Why aren't conservatives fighting back? Why did they let this happen?" Well, my friends, they did fight back. 

In our system of divided government, courts settle disputes between the branches of government. Senator Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner joined lawsuits challenging these appointments, and, while it took a year, they prevailed.