Should You Support the Walk For Babies?

Spoiler alert:  NO.

Across America, communities are gearing up for the 2013 Walk For Babies.  A fundraising initiative of the nonprofit March of Dimes, the Walk For Babies is purportedly intended to help prevent premature births.

I remember my own mother marching in the March of Dimes campaign in the 1950s.  Up and down the street, people turned on their porch lights to indicate that they were ready to help in the campaign.  I helped to count the dimes Mom collected from neighbors on our block, sliding them into a cardboard holder.

The March of Dimes had been established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 to combat polio; and since I knew two victims of polio on my own block, raising funds to support needed research seemed an important and noble goal.

Redefining Their Mission

But then, Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine.  No longer necessary and facing impending dissolution, the March of Dimes (formally called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis) sought a new mission which would ensure continued public support.

• In 1958, the organization abbreviated its name to the National Foundation and launched its “Expanded Program” against birth defects, arthritis, and virus diseases, hoping to become a “flexible force” in the field of public health.
• In the mid-1960s, the organization refocused its efforts on the prevention of birth defects and infant mortality.
• And in 1976, the organization changed its name to the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.
• Most recently, in 2005, the organization added a new mission objective:  reducing the toll of premature birth.

Does it begin to seem as though the organization exists primarily to continue its existence? 

Charity Navigator, an independent nonprofit organization which evaluates charitable organizations, has given the March of Dimes a rating of only two stars (out of possible four), meaning “Meets or nearly meets industry standards but underperforms most charities in its Cause.”  Charity Navigator also reported that a sizable chunk of March of Dimes’ income went to staff salaries, with president Jennifer Howse’s 2010 compensation reported to be $631,877.

But that’s not the biggest problem!

For years, pro-life advocates have urged people not to support the March of Dimes because of its support for prenatal testing, with its goal being the possible abortion of children conceived with abnormalities.

In a 2009 article, the Life Issues Institute offers compelling reasons to say ‘no’ when invited to participate in or support the March For Babies.

Although pro-lifers have been boycotting the March of Dimes since the 1970’s, the general public seems unaware of the boycott and continues to support MOD. To help educate more people on the facts, we have provided a list of seven good reasons for boycotting MOD:

1. Their emphasis on pre-natal diagnosis of birth defects, for which abortion is often the “treatment”

2. Their close ties to the eugenics movement

3. Their support of experimentation on live babies in the womb and on tissue from aborted babies

4. Their support of federally funded embryo-destructive stem cell research and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)

5. Their dishonesty in ignoring the connection between prior abortions and premature birth

6. Their grants to Planned Parenthood

7. Their “neutral” stance on abortion, which accepts and encourages abortion by its silence

Learn more about these seven objections in the original article.