On Friday, Dr. Jack C. Willke, the father of the modern pro-life movement, passed away at the age of 89. He and his wife Barbara dedicated their entire lives to defending the unborn. They were publicly speaking and writing about abortion well before the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. During the late 1960s and early 1970s the Willkes advised pro-life activists who were trying to block various state-level efforts to expand access to abortion. In 1972, their advice to Michigan pro-lifers to show pictures of aborted babies was crucial to the defeat of a referendum that would have legalized abortion in Michigan. The famous Willke slides of fetal development are still used in pro-life presentations to this day. 

Dr. Willke, spent the last several years of his life collaborating with his wife Barbara on a history of the pro-life movement. This book, Abortion and the Pro-Life Movement, was published by Infinity Publishing this past fall. It’s the first truly comprehensive history of the pro-life movement. The first several chapters cover the history of abortion from ancient times through the late 1960s. Then starting with chapter 6, Willke devotes an entire chapter to every year from 1970 to 2010. By painstakingly chronicling the history of the pro-life movement and presenting it in a readable form, Willke has done the pro-life movement a great service.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/pulse/dr.-jack-willke-r.i.p