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Our History
On 22 January 1993, the
third day of office for then President William J. Clinton, there were
issued and signed
into law 5 Executive Directives which were formerly viewable at
the Clinton
Foundation website. All were related to issues that led to the
destruction of innocent Human Life, and the continued denial of the Right
to Life of American unborn children and unborn children abroad. This
represented a complete change in President
Clinton’s and Vice-President Al Gore’s position on abortion
from previous years where both men were publicly opposed to abortion.
One of those directives
was to lift
the ban on abortions in military hospitals overseas. The result
of this directive was the refusal to perform abortions by all
44 of the Obstetrician and Gynecologist military physicians stationed
overseas in the European theater at that time. Physicians in the
Pacific theater soon followed suit and refused the directive as well.
As the result of this directive, several active duty and veteran groups
emerged and organized to provide a voice of support and education to the
men and women in uniform who were refusing to perform abortions, and that
did not want abortions being performed at the military hospitals they were
stationed at. That voice of support extended from the United States
to military installations abroad, for those who were serving at the time
the directive was issued. The stand that these military physicians and
medical staff took in defense of the unborn child went largely unreported
by the mainstream media. Through the efforts of these various small
grassroots groups, and with the larger established Right to Life
organizations which networked together across the United States,
their actions became public. Some of those military and veteran
groups were GIFT, GI’s for Truth that were based out of Spangdahlem Air Force Base, Germany, Armed Forces For
Life based on the east coast in Chantilly, VA., and Veterans Coalition For
Life based on the west coast in Ventura, CA.
As a result, physicians,
military officers dependants and civilians setup
the Kaiserslautern Crisis
Pregnancy Center to serve and minister to women in crisis pregnancies
at the Landstuhl
Army Medical
Center and Ramstein Air Base area, a center which still operates
today. Educational seminars for military and civilian medical staff
highlighted the “Window to the Womb” training on pre-natal
development utilizing ultra-sound technology.
Both officer and enlisted
engaged in this stand for the Right to Life of the unborn child, citing
moral, ethical and/or religious beliefs and convictions. Basis of
information for this page was reporting that was published by the Stars and Stripes European edition in
1993. Archived
news files can be viewed here as reference and substantiating material.
The formation of this
alliance is a “re-activation” by some of the former members of
those various small groups that organized back in 1993, and based upon
those same principles and beliefs that brought them together, and a strong
commitment to duty to complete and fulfill a sacred
oath of enlistment, we now once again come together as American
Veterans Christian Alliance.
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