January 10 2000

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Amy Tracy prepared to die.

She had linked her arms through those of fellow pro-choice activists as they surrounded a van stopped outside an abortion clinic. Inside the van were women in the second trimester of pregnancy, trying to make it inside the clinic for their abortions.

But a band of Christian soldiers had declared it a day of battle. Singing songs about Jesus, the crowd encircled the pro-choicers and pressed in close. A 12-year-old boy jumped on the van's hood and attempted to smash the windshield with his sign. The din was overwhelming. A sudden surge in the crowd threw Amy against the van and she found herself crushed against sheet metal by the bodies of shouting, hostile strangers. Gasping, unable to draw a breath, she resigned herself to death. She would give her life for the noblest cause she knew.

As a lesbian and feminist activist, Amy had found a focus for her idealism and had risen to one of the centers of movement power: press secretary for the National Organization for Women. She was good at what she did. Amy implemented the grassroots strategy to try to defeat Clarence Thomas's nomination to the Supreme Court and shared the hard work to bring off the massive abortion-rights march in 1992. Street-smart and bold, with a mischievous sense of humor, Amy had found a niche where her talents were employed in causes she considered of ultimate importance.

And yet, she says, "My soul was never satisfied."

Today Amy Tracy works as a writer for Focus on the Family and has been a liaison to James Dobson's office for public policy. She is a dedicated evangelical Christian and speaks for Focus on the Family on issues ranging from abortion to homosexuality and gambling. But no evangelist or conservative activist can take ...