Rockefeller Commission at 50: Pro-Life Leaders Reject ‘‘Heartless’’ Policies, Urge Respect for Human Life

A Declaration for a New American Future

Washington, D.C. – 50 years ago, the Rockefeller Commission on Population Growth and the American Future released a massive report calling for the United States to achieve zero population growth.

The March 27, 1972, report, requested by President Nixon and authorized by Congress, called for the legalization of abortion through the second trimester, taxpayer funding of abortion, and other policy initiatives to reduce the number of children conceived and born in the United States.

Based on a bleak worldview about humanity, the proposals represented a sharp departure from centuries of U.S. law safeguarding human life and supporting the family unit as a foundational building block of a healthy society.  The proposals were also reflective of the alarmist views of the cultural and business elites of the late 1960s, as evidenced by Dr. Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 manifesto, The Population Bomb, which presented the next generation as the enemy.

This week, a coalition of pro-life leaders from across the United States are releasing “A Declaration on a New American Future,” a response to the horrors of the Rockefeller Commission report and a call for America to resume policies which “embrace the worth of every human life and put supreme value on the sanctity of life and the preservation of institutions that safeguard it.”

The Declaration for a New American Future urges:

• The reversal of Roe v. Wade and other unconstitutional abortion decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.
• The end of taxpayer funding of abortion, eugenics, and other programs that subvert respect for the equality of every human being under the law.
• The United States to reinstate international aid policies which exclude abortion, eugenics, and population control programs.
• Recognition that embracing abortion as a solution to population growth has contributed to sharply declining birth rates worldwide, including the U.S. fertility rate often dropping below replacement.
• A renewal of the historic American understanding that God is the source of our rights and blessings.
• An understanding that the historical impact of the Rockefeller Commission and America’s pro-abortion policies is pessimism and savage competition, which is both enormous and accelerating.

Charles A. “Chuck” Donovan, president of Charlotte Lozier Institute and former Deputy Director of Presidential Correspondence for President Ronald Reagan, said:

“As is plain for all to see on the 50^th anniversary of the Rockefeller Commission report, the apocalyptic predictions about future famine and disease caused by ‘overpopulation’ have proven to be false, but the damage to the fabric of American society has proven to be immense.

“When government promotes a policy of children as disposable, and when killing innocent children is promoted as a solution, we should not be surprised that the vulnerable of our society are mistreated, denied equal opportunity, and marginalized.  This trend can and must be reversed, and it starts with a renewed emphasis on equal respect for every human under the law.”

Charter signers of the Declaration for a New American Future include:

• Marjorie Dannenfelser, President, Susan B. Anthony List
• Ambassador Sam Brownback, Chairman, National Committee for Religious Freedom
• Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., President, The Heritage Foundation
• Star Parker, President, Center for Urban Renewal and Education
• Benjamin S. Carson Sr., M.D., Chairman and Founder, American Cornerstone Institute
• Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
• Shea Bradley-Farrell, Ph.D., President, Counterpoint Institute for Policy, Research, and Education
• Michael P. Farris, President and CEO, Alliance Defending Freedom
• Gary L. Bauer, President, American Values
• Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
• John Stonestreet, President, Colson Center
• Gerard V. Bradley, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame
• Susan Wills, Esq., Associate Scholar, Charlotte Lozier Institute
• Louis A. Brown, Jr., J.D., Executive Director, Christ Medicus Foundation
• Jeanne F. Mancini, Author and Pro-Life Leader
• Russ Vought, President, Center for Renewing America
• Penny Nance, President and CEO, Concerned Women for America
• Kristan Hawkins, President, Students for Life
• Frank Cannon, Founding President, American Principles Project
• Catherine Glenn Foster, President and CEO, Americans United for Life
• Christopher Manion, Ph.D., Director, Humanae Vitae Project, Population Research Institute
• Ryan Bomberger, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, The Radiance Foundation
• Ryan Anderson, Ph.D., President, Ethics and Public Policy Center
• Brad Mattes, President, Life Issues Institute
• Chuck Donovan, President, Charlotte Lozier Institute
• Peter Wolfgang, Executive Director, Family Institute of Connecticut
• Austin Ruse, President, C-FAM
• Jessica Anderson, Executive Director, Heritage Action
• Steven Mosher, Ph.D., President, Population Research Institute
• Tami Fitzgerald, Executive Director, North Carolina Values Coalition

Signers’ affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.

Full text of the Declaration for a New American Future is available at NewAmericanFuture.net.

Charlotte Lozier Institute was launched in 2011 as the education and research arm of Susan B. Anthony List. CLI is a hub for research and public policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and nations around the world. The Institute is named for a feminist physician known for her commitment to the sanctity of human life and equal career and educational opportunities for women.

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