Freedom To Learn Frequently Asked Questions

What is Freedom To Learn ?
Freedom To Learn is an educational organization designed to ensure that the pro-life message receives fair and equal balance in the public and private schools.

When we speak about abortion, about how many abortions are we talking about ?
We're talking about an average of one abortion every 20 seconds 24 hours per day and 365 days per year.
If you do the Math, this is approximately 45 million abortions since Roe v. Wade. Several times greater than the Holocaust.

When did all of deluge of abortions begin ?
Abortion has been around a long time, but it began to grow into a deluge, as you so well put it, when the Supreme Court rulled on it in 1973, about one generation ago.
The decision was Roe v. Wade which made it illegal to protect the unborn child.
What were the key elements of Roe v. Wade ?
The medical procedure became a constitutional right, and regardless of the feeling of the people in a state, they could not pass protective legislation. It would have been illegal. Indeed, as hard as it is to believe, states could not even have regulations governing their abortion clinics.
There is more. The woman's choice was given constitutional protection. She alone was to make the choice without the involvement of teachers, elected officials, or others paid with tax dollars.
There is still more. A woman could have an abortion anytime during her pregnancy if her health was involved. And the term "health" was interpreted so broadly that it could refer to anxiety over finances, or even just plain ordinary worry. That is why they called the dicision "Pro-choice". Only the woman was to have an impact upon the choice even if she was but 12 years old. Obviously, parents were to be kept in the dark by the officials they elected.
Again there is more. There was nothing that any citizen could do or that a majority of citizens could do to offer protection for the unborn child.

Wait a minute. I thought abortions lasted only through the first three months ?
So do most Americans, because that was the way the media reported the decision. This tragic deception has come to light only recently because of the discussion of late term and partial birth abortions.

So ... I guess we lost it all, huh ? And we still don't have any hope.
Actually, there is some hope now. The Supreme Court has begun to significantly revise the role that the states can play. This was done in the Planned Parenthood versus Casey decision of 1992. The Court said that the previous decisions had been incorrect when dealing with state agents, like teachers, school board members, and elected officials. They said that those people could take a position and that the dangers of abortion could be shown.
The court even went so far as to say that a community could favor childbirth over abortion. (See our "Casey Quotes" in our "Resources" link)

What about abortion, it remained legal, didn't it ?
Yes, in the same way that buying cigarettes or alcohol is legal.

So ... there is some hope after all ?
Yes. And education is probably the key. We have fought alcohol and cigarette smoking through the classroom, and we can do the same with abortion.

Well, you say this, but does anyone else ?
Yes, there are several. That is why you must review the resources we proved.
Dr. Willke, the most widely read author on Pro-life in the world, has supported us with two powerful articles. Royce Dunn, head of Life Chain, supports us also. Dr. Dobson has had our organization on the cover of one of his magazines and has always provided us strong support. the Right-To-Life (RTL) newspaper have us front page coverage and continues to support us. Professor Stith, now at Valparaiso School of Law, and trained at Yale, has gives us his total support. Finally, James Bopp, the general counsel of Right To Life has been one of our most important sources from the very start. He is a man who has always supported everything we have done.
The list of similar prominent backers goes on and on.

Another thing, I read the other day that most educators still believe that abortion is merely a religious issue. Is that true ?
The old argument that dealing with abortion is a violation of the separation of church is rediculous. Our President, Dr. Beasley, has fully read 50 Supreme Court opinions on abortion related cases and the separation of church and state argument has never even been raised. Those that use it are uninformed, or they deliberately want to censor speech that favors life.

So, where do we stand ?
This is the dawn of a new day. Now we must all go out and become active, make sure people understand the law, and allow open discussion at last.

Learning only occurs with an open book

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