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The Human Life Amendment was added to the Republican Platform back in the late 70's or early 80's as a way to delineate the ideas of the two parties. The Democrats were beginning to be the party of unfettered access to abortion, and were using Roe v Wade as a club with which to beat any and all restrictions that states might try to place on it. Pro-life groups wanted the HLA so as to supercede Roe, and protect unborn children. It was, and is, a noble idea, but the idea of abortion as a right has become so ingrained in America, that it has absolutely NO chance of passage. It is really easy for a Republican candidate to say he supports it, because he'll never have to actually ACT on it.

Even when we had both houses of Congress AND the White House, it was never brought forward, because in order for it to pass, it has to get a super-majority in Congress, and even with Republicans in the majority, there were too many rabid Democrats for whom the 'right' to have an abortion is one of the most important issues.

The National Right to Life Committee has been pushing for the Human Life Amendment for years, but has come to realize that it is a lost cause right now. As the article states, they have realized that they have to chip away at the idea of a 'right' to abortion, and their major obstacle has been Roe v Wade. Since George W. Bush was able to nominate some solid conservatives to the Supreme Court, we are in the best position since 1973 to actually overturn it, and the NRLC understands that, with the right President, it CAN happen, because the oldest Justices right now are the most liberal, and it is they who will likely be the first to be replaced, either because of retirement or death.