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By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

ATLANTA-Becky Turner recalls the joy she felt last summer going to pick up a $110,000 check for Georgia Right to Life's media campaign from a charity. It was located a block down from a clinic where she regrets having had an abortion 14 years earlier. "My God is a God of restoration," she said. "It was pretty neat of him to do that for me." Getting pregnant her senior year of college, Turner felt she didn't have time for a baby. The abortion left her suicidal for the months following and she now believes that if she had been given information on fetal development at 10 weeks that she would have realized this was not just "a blob of tissue," but a life. With a personal understanding of abortion, Turner has served for two years as the development director of GRTL. The organization is dedicated to restoring legal protection to those members of society threatened by abortion, infanticide or euthanasia, believing that every human being has a right to life from fertilization until natural death. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan grassroots organization made up of people from diverse backgrounds. Turner said GRTL is now focusing on the Georgia General Assembly, advocating for passage of the Woman's Right to Know bill. The Right to Know bill would require that women seeking abortions be given basic information, 24 hours beforehand, on risks involved, fetal development and alternatives like adoption. While abortion is the only surgical procedure in Georgia that doesn't require this type of informed consent, the bill has sat for nine years in a committee, which must approve it in order for it to be passed out to the assembly floor for debate, Turner said. "We'd like to create awareness of the Woman's Right to Know bill. We'd love to see it come out of committee and out to the floor for discussion," she said. "Because it's an election year we're working to elect pro-life legislators. (Then) we'll get into the Capitol and make a difference." Turner believes pro-choice organizations oppose the bill because "if (women) know, if they can get all the information, they're going to probably choose to not abort the child." The American Civil Liberties Union opposes the bill, claiming that it would lead to increased cost, that it insults women's ability to make sound decisions for their health and that its intent is to discourage abortions. An affiliate of National Right to Life, GRTL, based in Lawrenceville, supports 26 chapters in 49 counties, builds membership, educates the community through speakers and literature, raises funds and participates in political and legislative advocacy. It identifies pro-life churches and finds lay persons to serve as liaisons for educational and other resources, and runs a media campaign. Turner said its primary emphasis now is on restricting abortion. The abortion rate in Georgia has increased three percent from 1988-99, and over 32,000 abortions are performed yearly. In that same time frame the number performed nationally has decreased by 19 percent. GRTL's largest event is the annual memorial service for aborted lives held at the Capitol steps followed by a one-mile silent walk. In October GRTL will hold its annual meeting, providing educational workshops on pro-life issues. There are 1,900 identified, pro-life churches and approximately 23,000 active supporters in their database. The organization works with the Catholic community through Mary Boyert, director of the archdiocesan Pro-Life Office, who previously worked at GRTL for 21 years. "If the Catholic Church had not been carrying this banner for so long, we'd be in an even worse situation than we're in now," Turner said. "The archbishop doesn't pull any punches. He speaks the truth and encourages the different priests and parishes to make things happen. We've gotten nothing but support from the diocese." Boyert said that in their diverse pro-life efforts, Catholic parishes are encouraged to support GRTL, as well as other pro-life groups. Many parish pro-life leaders are also active in GRTL, but, by organization and membership, GRTL takes a role that differs from that of parish pro-life groups. "It's certainly an important part of the movement," Mary Boyert said. "You need to have a community group not specifically church-based because some things can't be accomplished by the church, like political work (supporting pro-life candidates for election), because we're not allowed to do that. Certainly we support the work of GRTL." Right now GRTL is raising money for a second round of commercials in Georgia beginning in July. President Caryl Swift said last year's three-month commercial campaign was a major success. "That reached 1.8 million women in the metro Atlanta area. It was $400,000 to do that, but we would never reach that number of women even with a postcard with that amount of money." This year the organization will run the commercials less often but over a longer period. Turner noted that Michigan, which has had a strong media campaign for 10 years, has had a 43 percent decrease in abortions from 1988-99. At the same time, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League has a two-year, $5.8 million media campaign underway. "The choice story has been told better and longer than the pro-life story. We just need to be telling the life story more often and better-that's why we've got the commercials," Turner said. While abortion supporters argue that restricting abortion is restricting one's right to privacy, Turner believes destroying human life isn't anybody's right and equates killing a fetus with killing one's neighbor. When people say they believe abortion is morally wrong for themselves personally, she asks them "if that's what you think, why should you extend that right to anyone else to kill their baby?" While the fetus may be in the mother's womb, it's a "completely different being. It has its own DNA," noted Swift. "Our greatest challenge is education. We are all about educating Georgians on life issues." Swift said that the organization, while upholding life, chooses not to take a stance on the death penalty, as there are different, valid viewpoints from both perspectives on that issue. Turner spoke of GRTL's need for more prayers for its cause, financial donations and for pro-life people to influence their neighbors, churches and other groups. Many people know in their "heart of hearts," Turner believes, that abortion is wrong but are reluctant to talk about it, which will make them feel they have to do something about it. "I feel if we would talk about it there would be a greater impact," she said. "We don't talk about it because of the shame associated with it." But increasing numbers do want to do something about it. Turner said more and more people are calling the organization wanting to help out, which she attributes partially to President Bush's leadership, making it more "politically correct" to be pro-life. GRTL reports an August Gallup poll, where just as many Americans identified themselves as pro-life as pro-choice, while six years ago 56 percent were pro-choice and 33 percent pro-life. In the abortion battle "I think we're on the upswing," she said.