A Tribute to John Stanton: The Founder of Pennsylvania's Pro-Life Movement

By Mike McMonagle, President
Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania

John's death on January 31, 2014 at the age of 86, marks the passing of the leader of efforts to protect women and children from abortion in Pennsylvania prior to Roe v. Wade.  His leadership has resulted in hundreds of thousands of women and children being saved from abortion in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania pro-life movement's continuing efforts to effect pro-life state government policies stand on John's shoulders.  Let's begin to honor his legacy by stopping state funding for Pennsylvania's abortion industry.

John Stanton died on January 31, 2014, as a result of complications from cardiac bypass surgery on January 28, 2014.  John and his wife, Harriet, have twelve children, 46 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Beginning in 1967, John provided excellent leadership for the pro-life movement in all phases at the local, state and national levels.  Stories in the Bucks County Courier Times and on CatholicPhilly.com provide some reports on his immense contributions.  I focus the remainder of this commentary on his leadership of efforts for pro-life public policies in our state government.

The Pro-Life Movement Begins in Pennsylvania

Beginning in 1967, the forces of the Culture of Death began weakening laws against abortion in a few states.  This development resulted in the establishment of "Pennsylvanians for Human Life" organizations in eight geographic areas throughout Pa., which corresponded to the eight Catholic Dioceses.  The immediate goal of these organizations was to resist the inevitable assault of Pa.'s abortion law.

Gov. Shapp Leads the Attack on Children in the Womb

Upon taking office in January 1971, Pa. Governor Milton Shapp led this assault.  Shapp "re-interpreted" Pa. life-of-the-mother only abortion law (passed in 1860 and signed by Gov. William F. Packer) to allow abortion if the mother was "considering suicide."  Philadelphia District Attorney Arlen Specter aided this "re-interpretation" by allowing abortion chambers to "operate" in Philadelphia.  Thus, the Pa. Department of Health reported 6,517 abortions in 1971 and 8,340 abortions in 1972, most of which were in Philadelphia.

Organizing the Resistance to Abortion in Pennsylvania

John Stanton and Rep. Marty Mullen from Southwest Philadelphia led the effort to stop Gov. Shapp's "abortion loophole" by passing H.B. 800.  John organized the "Pa. Coalition to pass H.B. 800" (which, after Roe, became the Pro-Life Coalition of Pa.) to achieve the passage of this legislation.  According to Charlie Dougherty (from Northeast Philadelphia, who served as the pro-life leader of the Pa. Senate from 1973-1979), John demonstrated a persistent and special ability to educate and activate citizens throughout Pa. to influence their state legislators to support pro-life legislation.

In 1972, the Pa. House and Senate both passed H.B. 800 with veto-proof majorities.  The Pa. Senate overrode Shapp's veto, but the Pa. House failed by one vote because two Pa. Representatives who had initially voted for H.B. 800 (Bob O'Donnell from the East Falls section of Philadelphia and Matt Ryan from Media in Delaware County) changed their position and voted to sustain Shapp's veto.

Post Roe Pennsylvania

Despite the huge setback of Roe v. Wade, John Stanton, Rep. Marty Mullen and now Sen. Charlie Dougherty continued their efforts to resist Gov. Shapp and, to the best extent possible, protect women and children in Pa. from abortion.  Their efforts led to the passage of the 1974 Abortion Control Act over Gov. Shapp's veto.  In their 1979 decision of Colautti v. Franklin, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a majority of this Act, but the remaining provisions saved lives and established the basis for further progress.

In May 1976, newly elected Rep. Steve Friend joined their efforts.  In 1978, again over Shapp's veto, they passed restrictions on Medicaid funding of abortions in Pa., which were then approximately 13,000 per year.  When these restrictions finally took effect in 1985, abortions in Pa. declined by 5,000 per year.

In 1979, some other pro-life leaders in Pa. and I joined their efforts.  In 1980, Steve and Marty led the successful efforts to delete state funding for "family planning services" from the state budget despite opposition from Gov. Thornburgh, Planned Parenthood and much of the secular media.

In the 1980s, under Steve's leadership, the Pa. General Assembly passed Abortion Control Acts in 1981, 1982, 1987, 1988 and 1989, as well as banning Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life lawsuits.  We also maintained the elimination of state funding for "family planning services."  We suffered, yet persevered through, the 1981 and 1987 Christmastime vetoes by, respectively, Gov. Dick Thornburgh and Gov. Bob Casey, Sr.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the 1988 and 1989 Abortion Control Acts in their June 29, 1992 Casey v. Planned Parenthood decision.  When most of these provisions finally took effect in 1994, abortions declined in Pa. by another 5,000 per year.

What I Learned From John

Throughout these efforts, I learned and applied lessons from John.  He was always emphasizing and leading in the tedious, yet highly effective, task of identifying and organizing constituents to contact their own state legislators.

Pennsylvania Takes a Major Step Backward in 1995

Steve's departure from the Pa. House left a huge leadership void.  As a result, in 1995, at Gov. Tom Ridge's urging, the Pa. General Assembly approved state funding for "family planning services."  Because these funds promote promiscuity (and, therefore, abortion, STDs and out-of-wedlock births), attack parental rights, and aid the abortion industry's attacks on pro-life public officials, John persisted in his efforts to remove this funding.

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

In 2002, in response to John's leadership, Rep. Jerry Birmelin, then the leader of the Pa. House Pro-Life Caucus, succeeded in passing the "Birmelin Amendment" to the 2003 State Budget, which would have effectively eliminated "family planning services" (FPS) funding by prohibiting its distribution to any organization that commits abortions.

Some pro-life leaders predicted that this Amendment had no chance of passing in the Senate.  But, John persisted.  He enlisted the leadership Sen. Ed Helfrich and the "Helfrich Amendment" passed 33-16.

But…, a last-minute "Budget Deal," engineered by then Sen. Majority Leader David Brightbill, replaced the Birmelin-Helfrich Amendment with a worthless amendment attaching the abortion restrictions to the money rather than to the organization.

Why Does a Pro-Life Governor, House and Senate

Continue to Fund Pennsylvania's Abortion Industry?

Gov. Corbett's proposed 2015 Budget continues the provision of approximately $8.3 million in state funding to Pa.'s abortion industry through "family planning services" or "women's health services."  Motivated by John's example, I appeal to the pro-life members of the Pa. General Assembly (and to all pro-life citizens throughout Pa.) to demonstrate the resolve necessary to end our state's funding of Pa.'s abortion industry.

One very practical way to stop Pa.'s funding is to place H.B. 1870 into the 2015 State Budget. This legislation assigns priorities to state family planning funds.  This legislation also prohibits the Department of Health from "entering" into a contract with or make a grant to any entity that performs abortions that are not federally qualified abortions or maintains or operates a facility where such abortions are performed.

John Stanton's Persistence Is Why "Choose Life" License Plates Are Available In Pa.

The availability of "Choose Life" license plates is another tribute to the effectiveness of John's perseverance.  John launched this effort in 1996 after their success in Florida.  John succeeded in having them be part of a larger bill that was vetoed by Gov. Ridge in 1999 for other reasons.

But John persevered.  In 2005, Choose Life License Plates became available in Pa. as part of the new "specialty plate" program (which is an alteration of the existing plate rather than a new designer plate, such as the beaver, the tiger, the train and DARE) available to any organization (for an additional $20 fee per plate) that identifies an initial 300 participants.  John's almost single-handed efforts resulted in thousands of Pennsylvanians now driving with "Choose Life" license plates and hundreds of thousands of dollars being raised for pro-life crisis pregnancy centers in Pa.