This week, Nick has written a couple of great posts here on RightMichigan.com in which he has adequately captured the tragedy that is Roe v. Wade.  I urge you to read them, if you have not already done so.

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively nullified Michigan's statutory ban on most abortions (the ban had an exception for the life of the mother).  Just a mere three months earlier, the People of Michigan had re-affirmed the state's statutory ban by overwhelmingly defeating a ballot proposal that would have substantially "liberalized" Michigan's abortion law.  But seven justices thought they knew better and so the will of the People of Michigan was thwarted by judicial fiat.      

And 35 years later the will of the People of Michigan continues to be thwarted on the abortion question.  Michigan's pre-statutory ban remains on the books.  If, and when, Roe falls, the state of the law in Michigan will be in flux and the Michigan Supreme Court will most likely have to act.  But it is probable, given the current composition of the state Supreme Court, that Michigan's pre-Roe statutory abortion ban will again become effective throughout the state.

I remain hopeful that we are living in the final days of Roe v. Wade, but participating in my sixth March for Life since I started attending in 2000 has given me some pause.  I can't help to wonder why we remain so close to the goal, yet seemingly so far away.  Having a pro-life president in office for the past seven years, along with a Republican Congress for most of that period, has not produced the reversal of Roe that so many have worked so hard for over the 35 years of abortion on demand.  

I stood at the annual rally, which preceded the D.C. March, listening yet again to President Bush address the crowd of perhaps 100,000 pro-lifers via speaker-phone.  Why can't our pro-life president find the time to come out to the rally and address us in person?  Why isn't he leading the March?   Sigh.

Yet, it is encouraging that presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has publically pledged that, if elected president, he will not only attend the rally, but will also lead the March in 2009!  That's exactly the kind of true-believer leadership we need from the Oval Office.  Of course, none of the other leading pro-life contenders has dared to make such a pledge.  Why should they?  Pro-lifers will give them their vote anyway, right?  

Enough is enough.  How many more unborn children must be sacrificed on the altar of "choice"?    

After 35 years, Roe v. Wade must go!  We need a true pro-life believer in the White House who will finally make this goal a priority in his administration.  

As pro-lifers, we need to stop fooling ourselves, or rather, stop acting like fools, when it comes to voting for candidates who claim that they are pro-life, but have done next to nothing to change the status quo.  Otherwise, we may be marching for another 35 years and then some.

About the author: Andrew Shirvell, Esq., is a pro-life citizen activist who writes a weekly column that is published every Thursday for RightMichigan.com in which he focuses upon Michigan pro-life issues. Shirvell attended Ave Maria School of Law - Ann Arbor, where he served as president of the school's Bioethics Society, from 2004-2005.  He also served as president of Students for Life at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, from 2000-2002.