A new political action effort -- one that is a phase of the Atlanta Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, but which is intended to be non-partisan and non-sectarian -- has been organized here in six congressional districts.

Commonly called Pro-Life Congressional District Action Committees, or CDAC programs, such committees have been established in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, and tenth congressional districts of Georgia. It was reported at a recent national meeting that congressional district committees have been formed or are in the process of being established in about 68 percent of the 435 congressional districts in the United States.

The immediate objective of these committees is to educate their constituents to the need for a Human Life Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Such an amendment would restore legal protection to the unborn -- protection which was virtually removed in 1973 when the U. S. Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand during the entire nine months of pregnancy.

The Congressional District Action Committee is a "broad-based non-sectarian citizens' lobby" committed to "congressional accountability through pro-life citizen awareness." The CDAC is a part of the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities which was adopted by the U. S. bishops in 1975. The bishops' plan calls for the formation of committees in each congressional district and describes the task of these committees as being "essentially political … to organize people to help persuade the elected representatives."

The bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities refers to the Congressional District Action Committee as "an agency of the citizens, operated, controlled, and financed by the these same citizens. It is not an agency of the Church, nor is it operated, controlled, or financed by the Church."

Each Congressional District Action Committee has a steering committee which is responsible for its overall direction. Mr. Bill Nursey and Miss Mary Kay Davis oversee the fourth district. Miss Karen Gunner chairs the fifth district. The sixth district steering committee membership includes Mrs. Rose Kinkella, Mrs. Annette Schimmelman, Bill Foley, Mrs. Anne Lyons and Bob Williams. Mrs. Mary Marvich, Mrs. Emily Moore and Jim Martin serve on the seventh district steering committee. In the ninth district, Mrs. Shirley Williams, Mrs. Ruth Lammers, Mike Bruning, Mrs. and Mrs. Bob Joseph, and Mrs. Lynn Rhinehardt are the steering committee members. The steering committee membership in the tenth district is still being recruited from the four active pro-life communities in that district.

The CDAC's are complementary to, and often share the membership of, interdenominational efforts, professional groups, Georgia Right to Life, Archdiocesan groups, and pregnancy counseling and assistance groups. They are bi-partisan, non-sectarian, and inclined toward political action.

As such, the CDAC's different from the Archdiocesan Pro-Life Action Committee, whose task is educational motivational, not political, and whose range of action includes a variety of efforts calculated to reverse the present atmosphere of permissiveness with respect to abortion. The Pro-Life Action Committee, formed one year ago, serves to coordinate parish groups and activities within the Archdiocese, particularly efforts to effect passage of a constitutional amendment to protect the unborn child.

In its coordinating role, the Committee relies on information and direction from the Bishops' Pro-Life Office and the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment. Its primary objective is to educate, and coordinate others to educate the community, on: the development of the unborn child; the radical nature of the Supreme Court decisions on abortion; and the need for a Human Life Amendment to overturn those decisions.

The Committee also serves as an educational resource for all the CDAC's. Through the Committee, speakers are available to address church, civic, educational and neighborhood groups. Father Edward J. Dillon serves as director of the Archdiocesan Pro-Life Action Committee, and Miss Kathryn Buckley is the Committee's Coordinator.

For further information on the Congressional District Action Committees and the Pro-Life Action Committee, call 404-881-0956.