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Ellen McCormack for President: Politics and an Improbable Path to Passing Anti-abortion Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2012

Stacie Taranto
Stacie Taranto*
Affiliation:
Ramapo College of New Jersey
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Journal of Policy History , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 263 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © Donald Critchlow and Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

NOTES

1. Rosoff, Jeannie I., “Is Support of Abortion Political Suicide?” Family Planning Perspectives 7, no. 1 (January–February 1975): 13–15CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Solinger, Rickie, Pregnancy and Power: A Short History of Reproductive Politics in America (New York, 2007), 205.Google Scholar

2. Fran Watson to Friends of the Right to Life, 10 August 1976, vol. 3: May 1976 through 2004, plus appendix binder, Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign Papers (hereafter EMPBIII), Dr. Joseph R. Stanton Human Life Issues Library, Bronx, New York (hereafter SHLL); Bush, Dorothy Vredenburgh, Secretary, The Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, New York City, July 1976 (Washington, D.C., 1976), 316–28Google Scholar; Gilroy, Jane, A Shared Vision: The 1976 Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign (Denver, 2010), 208.Google Scholar

3. Ellen McCormack, “Voter Pamphlet Statement,” undated, vol. 1: 1972 through December 1975 binder, Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign Papers, SHLL (hereafter EMPBI).

4. Gilroy, A Shared Vision, 2–3; Gorney, Cynthia, Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars (New York, 1998), 109, 342Google Scholar; Luker, Kristen, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1984), 1Google Scholar; Solinger, Pregnancy and Power, 204.

5. DeHart, Jane S., “Gender on the Right: Meanings Behind the Existential Scream,” Gender & History 3, no. 3 (Autumn 1991): 253–56.Google Scholar

6. Spitzer, Robert J., The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics (New York, 1987), 83–84.Google Scholar

7. DeHart, “Gender on the Right,” 261.

8. Huret, Romain, “All in the Family Again? Political Historians and the Challenge of Social History,” Journal of Policy History 21, no. 3 (2009): 239–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

9. PLAC to All Those Collecting Funds for the Ellen McCormack Campaign, 8 September 1975, EMPBI; Corrado, Anthony, Ortiz, Daniel R., Mann, Thomas E., and Potter, Trevor, The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook (Washington, D.C., 2005), 12–27.Google Scholar

10. Stricherz, Mark, Why the Democrats Are Blue: Secular Liberalism and the Decline of the People’s Party (New York, 2007), 5–9Google Scholar, 166; Jane Gilroy, “The Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign: Changing the Culture Through Politics and the Media,”3, 10, conference presentation, 13 October 2004, Nassau Community College, Garden City, N.Y.; Jane Gilroy, interview by author, 27 October 2007, New York, tape recording.

11. Critchlow, Donald T., Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism (Princeton, 2005)Google Scholar; Saletan, William, Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2003)Google Scholar; Stricherz, Why the Democrats Are Blue.

12. Judy Kessler, “A Long Island Housewife Campaigns for the Presidency on the Anti-abortion Issue,” People, 22 March 1976, vol. 2: January 1976 through April 1976 binder, Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign Papers, SHLL (hereafter EMPBII); Gilroy, interview by author, 27 October 2007;Gilroy, “Response to S. Taranto’s Questions,” e-mail to author, 30 October 2007.

13. Constance Cook, interview by Ellen Chesler, Schlesinger-Rockefeller Oral History Project, January 1976, transcript, Constance Cook Interviews, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University, Ithaca; Richard Perez-Pena, “‘70 Abortion Law: New York Said Yes, Stunning the Nation,” New York Times, 9 April 2000, 1; Lader, Lawrence, Abortion II (Boston, 1973), 47–59Google Scholar, 62–70.

14. John Pascal, “Abortion: The Issue That Won’t Go Away,” Newsday, 9 October 1977, EMPBIII.

15. Gilroy, A Shared Vision, 3.

16. Gorney, Articles of Faith, 109 (quotation), 342.

17. “Anti-Abortion Candidate for President,” New York Times, 30 November 1975, 126, EMPBI.

18. Ellen McCormack, “Voter Pamphlet Statement,” undated, EMPBI; Jo Ann Price, “Presidential Hopeful McCormack No Feminist,” Catholic Standard, 8 April 1976, EMPBII; Kristen Luker, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood, 194–97; Spitzer, The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics, 58, 83–100.

19. Spitzer, The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics, 30–32, 40–44, 57–60.

20. Maurice Carroll, “Javits Wins a 4th Term, Defeating Ramsey Clark,” New York Times, 6 November 1974, 1; Price, “Presidential Hopeful McCormack No Feminist”; Spitzer, The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics, 30–32, 40–44, 57–60.

21. Jeannie I. Rosoff, “Is Support of Abortion Political Suicide?” 13–15; Gilroy, interview by author, 27 October 2007.

22. Emphasis hers. Jane Gilroy, “Introduction of Ellen McCormack,” speech given at the March for Life Rally, Washington, D.C., 22 January 1976, EMPBII.

23. Carroll, “Javits Wins a 4th Term, Defeating Ramsey Clark,” 1; Les Brown, “Anti-Abortion Spot Seen as Editorial,” New York Times, 9 November 1974, 63; Joseph A. D’Agostino, “Conservative Spotlight: Dr. John C. Willke,” Human Events, 3 July 1998.

24. PLAC, “Why Must Right to Life Commercials Be Taken in a Political Context?” 28 July 1975; Bob Mauro, “Education or Politics? Why Not Both?” Wanderer, 16 October 1975, both in EMPBI.

25. Quotation from Gilroy, “Response to S. Taranto’s Questions,” e-mail to author, 30 October 2007; PLAC Colorado Coordinators to Friends of Life, undated, EMPBIII.

26. Ellen McCormack, “March for Life,” speech given at the March for Life Rally, New York, 11 July 1976), EMPBIII.

27. Price, “Presidential Hopeful McCormack No Feminist.”

28. Spitzer, The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics, 89; Stricherz, Why the Democrats Are Blue, 4–6, 9.

29. Ibid., 163–66.

30. Gilroy, “The Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign,” 3, 10; Gilroy, interview by author, 27 October 2007.

31. Nick Thimmesch, “Funding the Candidate from Merrick,” Newsday, 24 February 1976, EMPBII; Gilroy, “Response to S. Taranto’s Questions,” e-mail to author, 30 October 2007.

32. “Anti-Abortion Candidate Nears Matching Fund Goal,” Washington Star, 27 January 1976, A3, A6, Printed-Miscellaneous Folder, box 638, Bella S. Abzug Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York (hereafter Columbia); Jane Gilroy, interview by author, 4 June 2011, Merrick, N.Y., tape recording.

33. Gilroy, “The Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign,” 2.

34. Ellen McCormack, “Voter Pamphlet Statement,” undated; “Woman Eyes White House,” Daily Press, 4 December 1975, both in EMPBI; Judy Kessler, “A Long Island Housewife Campaigns for the Presidency on the Anti-abortion Issue,” People, 22 March 1976, EMPBII.

35. McCormack, “Voter Pamphlet Statement.”

36. The 1976 Democratic primary contenders were Gov. Jimmy Carter (Ga.), Rep. Morris Udall (Ariz.), Sen. Frank Church (Idaho), Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson (Wash.), Gov. Jerry Brown (Calif.), Gov. George Wallace (Ala.), Sen. Hubert Humphrey (Minn.), Sen. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Sen. Birch Bayh (Ind.), and McCormack. Udall was Carter’s closest competitor, often placing second. “The Campaign and Election of 1976,” American President: An Online Reference Resource, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, http://millercenter.org.

37. Schenck Travel Agency to Jane Gilroy, 12 November 1975; “Merrick Grandmother Will Run for President,” New York News, 16 November 1975; Order to Pressclips, Inc., 18 November 1975; Fran Watson to Friends of the Right to Life, 29 November 1975, all in EMPBI.

38. Quotations from CBS Evening News, transcript, 8 December 1975; Fran Watson to Walter Cronkite, 3 November 1975; “A Bonnet in the Ring,” Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin, 16 November 1975, 1; “Yes, CBS, There Really Is a Woman Candidate,” National Right to Life News, December 1975, all in EMPBI.

39. “Right-to-Life Candidate on State Ballot,” Daily Evening Item, 5 January 1976, EMPBI.

40. Eugene McMahon to Paul Guzzi, 15 December 1975; “Putting a Non-Candidate on the Primary Ballot,” Boston Phoenix, 30 December 1975; “Right-to-Life Candidate on State Ballot,” Daily Evening Item, 5 January 1976, all in EMPBI.

41. McCormack’s name appeared on a statewide ballot in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Georgia, Nebraska, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Kentucky, Tennessee, Rhode Island, South Dakota, California, and New Jersey; in one congressional district in New York, her own; and eleven districts in Ohio. Fran Watson to Friends of the Right to Life, 10 August 1976, EMPBIII; Eugene J. McMahon to Bruce A. Smathers, 22 December 1975, EMPBI; PLAC, “Presidential Candidate Makes Pro-Life TV Commercials,” Press Release, 5 September 1975, Pro-Life Action Committee (Ellen McCormack) Folder, carton 4, National Abortion Rights Action League Records, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (hereafter SL).

42. PLAC to All Those Collecting Funds for the Ellen McCormack Campaign, 8 September 1975, EMPBI; Anthony Corrado et al., The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook, 12–27.

43. “Mrs. McCormack Endorsed for President,” Wanderer, 2 October 1975; “Pro-Life Advocate Enters Race for President,” National Catholic News Service, 11 December 1975; Gilroy, interview by author, 27 October 2007, all in EMPBI.

44. Ellen McCormack to Mary R. Hunt, 18 November 1975; “Rally Demands Ban on Abortion,” New York Times, 23 January 1976, 20, both in EMPBI; Thimmesch, “Funding the Candidate from Merrick,” Newsday, 24 February 1976, EMPBII; Vincent Lavery and Roberta Genini to Friends of Pro-Life in Fresno, Calif., 7 May 1976; and Gerald M. Costello, “A Visit to a Candidate,” Beacon, 24 June 1976, both in EMPBIII; Gilroy, “Response to S. Taranto’s Questions,” e-mail to author, 30 October 2007.

45. “King Carter was formally crowned . . . ,” Lifeletter, no. 11, 21 July 1976, 1, Human Life Foundation, Inc., New York (hereafter HLF).

46. “Yes, CBS, There Really Is a Woman Candidate,” National Right to Life News, December 1975, EMPBI.

47. “Federal Agents Audit Merrick Presidential Candidate’s Fund-Drive,” Merrick Life, 12 February 1976, EMPBII.

48. “The Right to Life Candidate,” Newsweek, 9 February 1976; “Federal Agents Audit Merrick Presidential Candidate’s Fund-Drive,” Merrick Life, 12 February 1976; “Anti-abort Candidate Gets OK,” Daily News, 20 February 1976; U.S. Treasury to PLAC, photocopy of $100,000 check, 25 February 1976; “White House Hunting: Does Secret Service Make Ellen Nervous?” Daily News, 16 March 1976, all in EMPBII.

49. Quotation from: “Anti-abortion Blitz Planned with Campaign Funds,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, 29 January 1976; Charles S. Liptone, M.D., “Degree of Cruelty,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 April 1976; Betsey Mikita, “Public Funding: The Only Way,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 April 1976, all in EMPBII.

50. Maura Rossi, “The Cause, Yes; Tactics, No,” Beacon, 13 May 1976, EMPBIII.

51. NARAL, Press Release, 17 February 1976, Abortion Organizations NARAL Folder, box 605, Bella S. Abzug Papers, Columbia; “NOW Seeks IRS Probe of Church’s Political Funds,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, 29 January 1976; and “‘Pro-Life’ Candidate Sure She’ll Get Funds,” Washington Star, 18 February 1976, both in EMPBII; Gilroy, “The Ellen McCormack Presidential Campaign,” 13–14.

52. Jack Hicks, “Right-To-Life Candidate’s Strong Showing: ‘Pulpit Power’ Seen in Voting,” Cincinnati Enquirer, 26 May 1976; and Alice Hartle, “What Made the Difference? A Tale of Three Cities,” National Right to Life News, July 1976, both in EMPBIII. “Family Life Bureau Backs Abortion-Related Bills,” The Tablet, 3 April 1975, 11, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, Office of the Archivist, Brooklyn, ; “Catholic Bishops Launch New Anti-Choice Campaign,” Options, vol. 2, no. 11, December 1975Google Scholar, Abortion Organizations General WEAL Folder, box 605, Bella S. Abzug Papers, Columbia.

53. “Wanted: Your Support in a Right to Life Presidential Campaign,” Our Sunday Visitor, 23 November 1975, EMPBI; “Abortion Campaigners,” The Village Voice, 2 February 1976, EMPBII; Gilroy, “Response to S. Taranto’s Questions,” e-mail to author, 30 October 2007; Gorney, Articles of Faith, 109.

54. “‘Pro Life’ Campaigner Stages a Horror Show,” Detroit Free Press, 29 April 1976, EMPBII.

55. J. C. Willke to Fran Watson, 12 November 1975, EMPBI.

56. “Very Important,” Rhode Island Coalition for Abortion Rights Newsletter, 15 May 1976, EMPBIII; Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, flyer, May 1975, 2, NYS–NARAL Sample Book Folder, box 1, Frances Nathan Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.

57. “Mrs. McCormack Is Cut from More FEC Funding,” Long Island Press, 28 May 1976; Marcy Jankovich to Democrats, 8 June 1976; Fran Watson to Friends of the Right to Life, 10 August 1976, all in EMPBIII.

58. Colorado PLAC Coordinators to Supporters, 29 May 1976, EMPBIII.

59. “Abortion Campaigners,” Village Voice, 2 February 1976, EMPBII; Spitzer, The Right to Life Movement, 55.

60. PLAC, “The Next President of the United States?” Indiana Harmonizer, 16 November 1975, EMPBI.

61. Quotation from: “Mrs. McCormack says,” New York Times, 19 February 1976, EMPBII; PLAC, “McCormack’s Stand on Issues Other than Abortion,” memorandum, 31 October 1975, and “Merrick Grandmother Will Run for President,” New York News, 16 November 1975, both in EMPBI.

62. Faludi, Susan, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women (New York, 1992), 256Google Scholar; Critchlow, Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism; Gilroy, “Response to S. Taranto’s Questions,”e-mail to author, 30 October 2007.

63. Gilroy, A Shared Vision, 208.

64. Paul O’Hara, “The Presidential Candidates and Abortion,” West Nebraska Register, 13 November 1975, EMPBI; “Abortion Stands May Be Crucial for Ford, Reagan,” Washington Star, 4 February 1976, A6; Max H. Seigel, “U.S. Court Overturns Curb on Medicaid Abortions,” New York Times, 23 October 1976, 1.

65. Emphasis theirs. Lifeletter, no. 3, 19 February 1976, 1–2, HLF.

66. Myra McPherson, “Sisters vs. Sisters,” Washington Post, 13 July 1972, A-1, A-20; “Dem. Abortion Stance Work of Jimmy Carter,” National Catholic Register, 27 June 1976, EMPBIII; DNC and RNC party platforms are available at “The American Presidency Project,” University of California, Santa Barbara: www.presidency.ucsb.edu.

67. “‘Pro Life’ Candidate Charges Democratic Convention Shutout,” Religious News Service, 21 June 1976, EMPBIII.

68. Lifeletter, no. 11, 21 July 1976, 1, HLF; Fran Watson to Friends of the Right to Life, 10 August 1976, EMPBIII.

69. Fran Watson to Friends of the Right to Life, 10 August 1976, EMPBIII; Dorothy Vredenburgh Bush, Secretary, The Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention, 316–28.

70. “100 Who Shaped a Century,” Newsday, 19 December 1999, EMPBIII.

71. “Dem. Abortion Stance Work of Jimmy Carter.”

72. Eisenstein, Zillah, “Antifeminism in the Politics and Election of 1980,” Feminist Studies 7, no. 2 (Summer 1981): 187–205CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Critchlow, Donald T., “Mobilizing Women: The ‘Social’ Issues,” in The Reagan Presidency: Pragmatic Conservatism and Its Legacies, ed. Elliot Brownlee, W. and Graham, Hugh Davis (Lawrence, Kans., 2003), 293–94.Google Scholar