The future of the pro-life movement (now) and PLAGAL at Dartmouth (1995)

A recent piece by Ruth Graham at Slate identifies several reasons to be hopeful about the future of the pro-life movement. The energy and hopefulness of the newest generation of pro-life leaders brought me back to thinking about my college experience at Dartmouth. I was reminded, in particular, of an early event that we hosted when restarting the Dartmouth Coalition for Life. It was a presentation by Philip Arcidi of the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL). And it was a successful event. Through the wonders of the Internet, I found an archived PLAGAL newsletter dated December 20, 1995 that describes our event. Here's what it says:

When Philip Arcidi spoke for PLAGAL at Dartmouth on November, 28th, he greeted one of the most diverse audiences we've encountered at a college campus: pro-lifers and self-titled pro-choicers; some straight, some gay, and some lesbian. All were curious about the synergy between the pro-gay and pro-life point of view. An atmosphere of civility and mutual respect prevailed, with many of the best questions coming from our sisters and brothers in the gay community.

The Dartmouth Pro-Life Coalition, which invited PLAGAL, is an energetic campus presence, an impressive alliance of thoughtful men and women. Arcidi joined a couple of them in a long conversation with a lesbian doctor who performs abortions. The dialogue was refreshingly civil, but the doctor's perspective was unsettling -- and inconsistent. Our Dartmouth allies, adept at thinking on their feet, asked her if she'd abort a preborn girl if the parents wanted a boy. No, she couldn't. When the child is no longer an abstraction, abortion advocates find it hard to trivialize his or her right to exist.

Hard to believe that was over 20 years ago, as I still remember in particular the conversation mentioned at the end of the newsletter excerpt. But exciting to imagine the possibilities for improvement that the next 20 years might bring.