American Life League

American Life League, Inc. (ALL) is an American Catholic activist organization which opposes abortion, all forms of contraception, embryonic stem cell research, and euthanasia. Its current president is co-founder Judie Brown and its headquarters is in Stafford, Virginia.

American Life League, Inc.
SuccessorLife Amendment PAC
American Life Lobby
FoundedApril 1, 1979 (1979-04-01)
EIN: 52-1238301
FocusAnti-abortion
Location
Area served
United States
ProductsLiterature
Key people
Judith "Judie" A. Brown,
President
Revenue
$5,022,739 (2012)
Expenses$4,991,338 (2012)
WebsiteAll.org
Part of a series of articles on
Abortion
and the Catholic Church
Official opposition
Philosophy and theology
History
Activism
Dissidence
See also
icon Catholic Church portal

Projects and resources

Projects that American Life League has sponsored include:

  • Celebrate Life Magazine[1] is a bi-monthly 32-page magazine on topics including abortion, contraception, euthanasia, infertility and cloning.
  • Marian Blue Wave[2] is a call to Catholics across America to pray a weekly Rosary with the specific intentions of ending all surgical, pill, contraceptive and IVF abortion and shutting down every Planned Parenthood facility in the United States.
  • Crusade for the Defense of Our Catholic Church in which ALL sought to persuade Catholics about its views on abortion, as well as name Catholic politicians who they say knowingly defy Church doctrine and statements by church officials regarding abortion rights. In 2004, ALL published a full-page advertisement in USA Today urging Catholic priests and bishops to deny Communion to Catholic legislators who support abortion rights.[3] The League's slogan in this matter was "You can't be Catholic and pro-abortion."
  • The Pill Kills[4] discouraged people from using contraceptive medication, making claims about its effects on a woman's body as well as the effect that contraceptives have on fish once they enter the water supply. The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals said that ALL's claims regarding fish are "not supported by science".[5]

History

American Life League was founded on April 1, 1979[6][7] by Judie and Paul Brown, Gary Bauer, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson,[8] and six other anti-abortion Americans after a schism with the National Right to Life Committee. Within less than a year of its founding, ALL had 68,000 members and received assistance founding ALL from Howard Phillips,[9] publicity from The Heritage Foundation co-founder Paul Weyrich, and membership lists provided by right-wing direct mail specialist Richard Viguerie.[8]

Street tactics

In 1994 ALL filed suit to challenge the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. In American Life League v. Reno, ALL lost in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals,[10] and the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case.[3]

Disney boycotts

In March 1995, the American Life League boycotted the then-owners of Miramax, The Walt Disney Company, over the film Priest, in which a Roman Catholic priest deals with a variety of issues including his own homosexuality. Subsequently, ALL charged that Disney had concealed subliminal sexual messages in the animated films The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. Disney denied all the claims.[11] Snopes states the ALL claims about both Aladdin[12] and The Little Mermaid[13] are false. Their claim about The Lion King is listed by the site as "legend", indicating that the claim is "essentially unprovable".[14]

Spending

In 2005, ALL was on Charity Navigator's list of highest paid CEOs, with one-third of its income spent on fundraising and administrative expenses and $699,857 (almost 9% of its income) paid out to its CEOs.[15] As of 2019, the non-profit charity evaluator Charity Navigator awards ALL 2 out of 4 stars, a ranking indicating they believe the charity "needs improvement".[16]

See also

Notes
  1. "Pro-Life Organizations". About.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
  2. "Michigan Planned Parenthood Closure is Focus of National Prayer". Dexter, MI Patch. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  3. "American Life League". People For the American Way. 2006. Archived from the original on October 11, 2006. Retrieved October 17, 2006.
  4. "The Pill Kills". Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  5. Little, Becky (July 31, 2017). "How One Bad Science Headline Can Echo Across the Internet". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019.
  6. "Founded". Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  7. http://www.clmagazine.org/article/index/id/MTM1NDE Archived May 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine A saintly influence: Pope John Paul II's impact on American Life League—and me. Judie Brown. Celebrate Life Magazine.
  8. "Right Wing Watch - American Life League". People for the American Way. Wayback Machine. April 2006. Archived from the original on October 11, 2006. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  9. Smith, Peter (May 6, 2013). "Catholics Bid Farewell to Pro-Life Lion Howard Phillips". National Catholic Register. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  10. American Life League v. ACLU appeal at Findlaw
  11. Smith, Leef (September 1, 1995). "Disney's Loin King? Group Sees Dirt in the Dust". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  12. "Take Off Your Clothes!". Snopes. August 19, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  13. "The Aroused Minister". Snopes. August 20, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  14. "Sex in The Lion King". Snopes. August 19, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  15. "2007 CEO Compensation Study". Charity Navigator. 2007. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  16. "American Life League". Charity Navigator. Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
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