Despite being outspent 3-1 , having all four major city newspapers endorse the Planned Parenthood position, the pro-life amendment known as Amendment One relied upon a strong grassroots effort in all 95 counties and focused on the power of the pulpit to win 53% to 47% in Tennessee.
Brian Harris, President of Tennessee Right to Life summed up the winning strategy that may be described as a classic David and Goliath battle.
“We recognized that we would never have the financial resources of the abortion industry so began planning long ago to build a team of advocates who could educate and organize their local communities,” Harris said. That effort paid off, especially in rural regions of the state where volunteers raised funds and awareness of both the amendment and the 2000 court ruling in Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v Sundquist, a decision which claimed a fundamental right to abortion.”
The previous post explained the significance of this battle, not only for Tennessee, but for the signal it would send to the rest of the country, especially the 15 other states similarly attacked in the courts by the abortion industry. This should also encourage them to follow the lead of the Volunteer State. Had it failed, it would have emboldened the abortion industry to attack the remaining 34 states as needed with their winning strategy of using the courts to find a right to abortion in their state constitution to effectively block pro-life legislation.
