By DEXTER DUGGAN
The president of a large national seniors organization that advocates conservative values told The Wanderer he was pleased with reaction to pro-life articles in the group’s quarterly magazine’s winter issue.
The front cover of that issue of Amac Advantage, published by the Association of Mature American Citizens (amac.us), was entirely devoted to pro-life topics, including a large illustration of a baby and blurbs of three articles inside.
The cover read: “Protecting the Miracle of Life. The gift of life has been under attack for decades in the United States. AMAC is taking a stand to expose the institutions that demean the sacred blessing of life, including Planned Parenthood and the Roe v. Wade ruling. We must give a voice to those who cannot yet speak.”
Dan Weber, president and founder of the 1.3 million-member AMAC, told The Wanderer he was gratified by the response after wondering if there’d be complaints that the organization should stick to senior-citizen issues.
After expecting a negative reaction, “the exact opposite happened,” with only “maybe one or two” unfavorable comments, Weber said during a February 8 telephone interview.
If a nation is lacking in moral character, he said, that means trouble. “People tend to, in their heart, they know the difference between right and wrong,” Weber said.
His “Publisher’s Letter” column at the front of the winter issue was headlined, “AMAC Chooses Life.” It began:
“The picture of a beautiful newborn baby on our cover reminds us of our duty to protect life. It is certainly marvelous that so many AMAC members support the right-to-life movement. Perhaps we can be strengthened in our spirit by recalling some of the statements the sainted Mother Teresa said about abortion.”
After citing the saint saying Roe v. Wade “deformed a great nation” and meant “violence,” Weber pointed to Mother Teresa speaking about providing alternatives for pregnant women.
Recalling former President Obama “leading the effort to allow Planned Parenthood to take our money” for “the taking of an innocent life,” Weber asked, “Will God bless any nation with blood on its hands?”
The cover page of AMAC’s website promoted the January 19 National March for Life in Washington, D.C., saying that Weber would be among those “proudly attending . . . to speak up for those who do not yet have a voice….
“AMAC is proud to support the March for Life, and will continue to persistently defend the rights of the unborn,” the website said. “As we continue working with representatives and policy leaders to help push forward life-affirming legislation, we hope you will join us in our fight to preserve the miracle of life.”
The website also reprints pro-life articles such as “Ignore the scam: Planned Parenthood no supporter of African-Americans,” and “3 reasons why pro-life young adults like me are dangerous.”
The value should be obvious to the pro-life movement of having such a large organization on its side that has a different focus. The spread of the culture of death, however, certainly impacts people at the other end of the life cycle.
Weber told The Wanderer he had planned to retire and sell his financial business to his children, but “I was getting fired up over some of the political things. . . . When government gets involved, it seems to screw things up.”
He said he started AMAC in 2007 after being “unhappy with the direction of the other senior organization, AARP. . . . We believe in the traditional American values, but they had gotten away from that.”
AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, is perhaps the most-publicized seniors organization and aggressively pushes expansion of its membership, although AARP is tilted to the left and strongly campaigned to have Obamacare passed into law.
Looking for his own approach to take, Weber said, “Finally we found our footing. . . . Older people want advice on things pertinent to senior citizens. . . . They love discounts. . . . They liked an organization that stood for some of the things they stood for.”
The dynamic-voiced Weber appeared on national radio talk host Mike Gallagher’s program on February 7 to chat about another project he’s interested in, preserving private health care instead of moving into a single-payer government system.
Weber told Gallagher that AMAC is supporting a pro-bono health-care bill that would allow doctors to receive tax deductions for providing free care for the needy, instead of the government spending billions of dollars for their care.
Cong. Daniel Webster, a Republican representing Florida’s 11th District, backs this legislative proposal, said Weber, who told The Wanderer that he’d be visiting Washington, D.C., the week after this interview to look for more congressional supporters. Webster has “been a pretty fearless person,” said Weber.
AMAC will have about a 10-minute segment each Wednesday on Gallagher’s radio program where Weber will present an update on its activities, Weber told The Wanderer.
The organization brings in a good mix of members through its radio advertising, he said.
In addition to other articles, features, and advice columns, the 84-page winter issue of the AMAC magazine included the following pro-life titles: “Planned Parenthood: The ugly truth,” “Roe v. Wade: A case of deadly deception,” and “Protecting the unborn: The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”
(Disclosure: I became a member of AMAC because of its reputation as a conservative alternative to AARP, but I don’t take an active role in it.)
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress