University of Virginia Library

Opposition

One reason for this falling
off of interest is that the
novelty of the movement is
past. No longer is it necessary
to have an interest in
population and the
environment to be a
fashionable liberal. Fads have
changed and people are more
concerned about nostalgia
than environment these days.

Also, many people joined the
organizations with the idea
that the problem would be
solved in a years time. When
they found that it would take
years of intensive work, they
quickly lost interest.

Another reason, is that
organized opposition has
recently sprung up. Such
groups as Right to Life and
Friends of Fetus have
materialized seemingly over
night with the helpful
assistance of the Catholic
Church. They were created to
fight the legalization of
abortion, which was one of the
objectives of the population
groups.

However the primary reason
for disinterest is the rapidly
falling birth rate. In 1967
women 18 to 25 expected to
have 2.9 children. Now the
average has dropped to 2.4 and
continues to drop each month.
The causes for this drop
include the high cost of living,
the changing lifestyle of young
people, and the success of the
population groups.

Nevertheless, these
population groups do not
consider the recent drops in
the birth rate the end of the
problem. They quickly point
out that because there is an
over-abundance of young
people producing children and
very few old people dying, the
population will continue to
grow for 60 more years at the
present rate.

One of the major victories
for the population movement,
though, has been the
legalization of abortion by the
Supreme Court. On January 22
the Supreme Court ruled that
the state could make no laws
prohibiting an abortion in the
first three months of
pregnancy. This is a measure
that was felt to be vitally
important by the groups, and it
was acclaimed throughout the
movement.

But not long after the
victory, opposition groups
mounted a counter-attack. The
attack took the form of a
constitutional amendment
recognizing the fetus as a legal
individual protected by all the
laws of the state. To date the
amendment has been passed in
the Maine legislature, and has
been introduced into the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, Congress has been
deluged by Right to Life
letters, with Senator Hubert
Humphrey of Minnesota
receiving 35,000 letters alone.

This ruling, it should be
noted, is considered only half
victories, the population
groups are now turning
towards new goals. The new
thrust of the movement is
attacking local growth, both
economic and population.