Delta force

Mississippi pro-life activists' success in fighting abortion shows not only can some battles be won at the state level—but it can be done with broad bipartisan support | Lynn Vincent

For the past two years, Mississippi pro-life activists have marked this month's Roe v. Wade anniversary with a haunting monument: 2,000 small, white crosses staked in solemn ranks on the south lawn of the Capitol building in Jackson. Each represents a baby killed by legal abortion. Last year, pro-abortion activists, under cover of darkness, suspended coat hangers from the crosses. Last week, the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration cited an obscure state law and canceled this year's memorial, telling organizers that the crosses were "harming the soil."

It was a rare setback for Magnolia State pro-lifers, who enjoy so much success in working with state government that Mississippi has become for pro-aborts a blueprint for failure.