Background
AUL was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1971, two years prior to the nationwide legalization of abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. The organization's first chairman of the board was a Unitarian minister and then-Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, George Huntson Williams. Initially the group was involved in the intellectual debate surrounding abortion, but in 1975 the founders reorganized it into a legal organization. One of the group's early areas of focus was on building a case to persuade the Supreme Court to overturn its 1973 ruling. In 1987 the group outlined their plan to overturn Roe v. Wade in a book titled Abortion and the Constitution: Reversing Roe v. Wade Through the Courts. AUL was inspired by efforts of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in its strategy to impact legislation. The organization is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educational organization and public-interest law firm, with a specific interest in pro-life legislation. AUL's areas of legal interest include abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, stem cell research, and human cloning.
AUL is led by president and CEO Charmaine Yoest, who joined the organization in 2008. Prior to this she worked as vice president of communications at the Family Research Council and as an adviser to Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign. Yoest holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Virginia. Clarke Forsythe serves as senior counsel, and is a 25-year AUL veteran who has previously held the roles of general counsel and president of the organization. In December 2011, it was announced that Abby Johnson had been hired by AUL as Senior Policy Advisor.
Read more about this topic: Americans United For Life
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