"When the government consolidates a monopoly over those essential services by weakening the intermediate associations of civil societies, they sap the lifeblood of the pro-life movement," she said.

Fortunately, the pro-life movement knows what to do when the going gets tough, she added. Against the "ferocious opposition" of social elites and mainstream media, the movement has managed to make legal advances. There are 29 states that mandate ultrasounds prior to abortions, 29 states sanction informed consent and 26 states require parental notification, including Massachusetts, where MCFL was instrumental in drafting the first law of that kind.

"All of those legal accomplishments are shoehorned into the little space that the Supreme Court has left open for democratic decision-making," she said.

Such laws have "struck fear into the heart of the abortion lobby," she added. "It is the voice of the people that they are beginning to hear, and it is the voice of the people that they most fear."

Anne Fox, president of MCFL, said that the people of Massachusetts are beginning to oppose the most important issue on the state ballot, physician-assisted suicide. The latest polling numbers have Question 2 with 54 percent of the vote, dropping 14 points in a short window. "We are in the game," she said.

Matt Hanafin, member of the MCFL board, encouraged those gathered to do everything possible to defeat physician-assisted suicide. "The day I fear most is not Nov. 6, Election Day, but Wednesday, Nov. 7. That is the morning that we will all have to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves, 'Did I do enough?'"