WASHINGTON, DC—Kmart Corporation and anti-life March of Dimes officially kicked off the company’s 2004 support for WalkAmerica with the unveiling of a banner by Julian C. Day, Kmart’s chief executive officer. The banner, which acknowledges the company as the nation’s top WalkAmerica team, is displayed in the lobby of the Kmart Resource Center in Troy, Michigan.

“At Kmart we hope that every baby is born healthy,” Day said. “That is why Kmart is proud to support March of Dimes WalkAmerica in helping our customers and associates get the information they need to have healthy babies.” But Douglas R. Scott, president of Life Decisions International (LDI), has written to Day asking that the company end its association with the March of Dimes.

March of Dimes claims it does not take a position on abortion, but every respectable pro-life organization opposes the group due to its “search and destroy” philosophy. The primary objection is over prenatal testing that is done to give women “choices” about bringing a child into the world. “The Pro-Life Movement strongly opposes fetal testing that is done for such reasons,” Scott said. “Prenatal testing should be done only for the sake of the unborn child, such as diagnosing problems that can be corrected in the womb or helping parents prepare for the special needs of a disabled child. Any other use is clearly for eugenic purposes.”

March of Dimes does not condemn abortion as an unacceptable “solution” to the “problem” of conceiving an imperfect child. A March of Dimes booklet states: “When a birth defect is diagnosed, genetic counselors provide emotional support and understanding during what can be a very difficult time. If there are decisions to be made—about the pregnancy, the care of a child, having more children, or about the ability of the family to cope with ongoing problems—the parents can make more informed choices with the facts in hand.”

Kmart pushes for donations at its 1,500-plus stores, even verbally asking customers at checkout. It also urges customers to participate in WalkAmerica through notices in Kmart stores and its print advertising. Last year alone, its employees raised more than $3.5 million through various local fund-raising events. For example, Kmart’s “Leaders in Learning” campaign included the sale of bookmarks bearing a March of Dimes message. The company has raised $39 million in its two decades of association with March of Dimes.

“We are so very grateful to Kmart associates and their customers for making a tremendous effort on behalf of mothers and babies,” said March of Dimes President Jennifer L. Howse. “We know that Kmart greatly values its community efforts and its connection to families. The funds raised by its associates and customers will help more babies be born healthy.”

March of Dimes describes itself as a “national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality.” Founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, March of Dimes funds “research, community services, education, and advocacy [programs] to save babies…” In 2003, it launched a five-year campaign to address the “increasing rate of premature birth.” But doubt has been cast upon March of Dimes’ commitment.

The Elliot Institute, which researches the physical and psychological effects of abortion, has accused March of Dimes of concealing evidence that shows women who have had abortions need to be especially vigilant in receiving adequate prenatal care in subsequent pregnancies. March of Dimes has removed information from its website about the risk of premature birth following abortion. The website had previously included a statement that women with a history of three or more miscarriages or abortions may be at higher risk of premature delivery. In actuality, the Elliot Institute says the risk of premature birth increases after only one induced abortion.

David Reardon, Ph.D., director of the Elliot Institute, said at least 50 published studies have shown a higher risk of premature birth and low birth weight delivery among women with a history of abortion. One study found the risk doubles after just one abortion. Multiple abortions increase the risk even more. Reardon said a doubling of risk among an estimated one-fourth of delivering women who have a history of abortion would result in a 25 percent rise overall.

Rather than changing the website to include the more accurate information, March of Dimes eliminated mention of the risk entirely. “Has it (March of Dimes) updated its website and literature to better prepare American couples to receive adequate prenatal care to avoid premature births when there is a history of induced abortion?” Reardon asked. “No. March of Dimes has instead decided it must try even harder to cover up the abortion link to neonatal deaths and handicaps by removing even the vastly understated risk of premature birth after three or four abortions from their website.”

March of Dimes has awarded grants for research on genetic problems that may be used to encourage medical personnel to suggest abortion. Abortionist Maurice Mahoney received $35,000 for research on chorionic villi sampling and for developing a prenatal diagnostic technique which would permit the first-trimester abortion of affected unborn children. From 1989 to 1990, March of Dimes gave Haig H. Kazazian of Johns Hopkins University a $50,000 grant to perfect early detection methods for such disorders as Beta-Thalassemia, Hemophilia A, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Cystic Fibrosis, none of which is treatable in the womb. Kazazian is a devoted advocate of eugenic abortion.

A March of Dimes policy statement notes its support of fetal tissue experimentation as “one technique to broaden understanding of human biology and pregnancy outcome.” It has funded fetal experimentation and fetal tissue use for more than two decades. In the early 1970s, it gave $19,000 to John F. S. Crocker of Dalhousie University to study congenital kidney abnormalities. The study involved 60 pairs of embryonic kidneys that had been obtained from human abortions after five to twelve weeks gestation. March of Dimes has also written to influential members of Congress in support of federal funding for fetal tissue and embryonic stem cell experimentation.

Pro-abortion activists have held March of Dimes leadership positions. For example, President Bill Clinton’s Senate-rejected nominee for Surgeon General, Henry Foster, served on its Medical Service Advisory Committee. Foster admitted committing nearly 700 abortions based on the results of fetal testing. He also defended fetoscopic prenatal research as “clearly therapeutic” since it is done “for the same reasons that we do amniocentesis; to decide whether or not the pregnancy should continue and to provide a therapeutic abortion.”

Other pro-abortion names associated with March of Dimes include actors Ed Begley, Jr., and Ted Danson, comedians Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, and Kathy Griffin, singers Wynonna Judd and Lou Rawls, sexologist Ruth Westheimer, and author T. Berry Brazelton. March of Dimes has long been a favorite of celebrities as it allows them to show a concern for children while also supporting abortion.

Like Planned Parenthood, March of Dimes seeks out young people to do its bidding and raise money for its work. Schools are targeted for promotion of its fund-raising events, particularly WalkAmerica. Many schools allow March of Dimes posters that promote such events. March of Dimes’s National Youth Council assists the group “in the design and implementation of programs targeted to youth.” Members are involved with advocacy initiatives and the development of collegiate programs.

The head of Planned Parenthood of the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Area was recognized by March of Dimes as “Woman of Distinction 2003.” In accepting the award, the Planned Parenthood chief executive officer said she “longs to see every child wanted, loved, and cared for—the result of choice rather than chance.”

And what was the last straw? March of Dimes presented Senator Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., with its prestigious Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award for a “lifetime of work in advancing a wide range of initiatives central to the health and well being of children and families.” As March of Dimes’s president put it, “Senator Kennedy has been a strong voice on issues important to American families for decades. He is a visionary legislator whose work has resulted in significant improvements in federal support of research and services critical to children and their families.” The award is presented to individuals and corporations who have “made a substantial contribution to the community.”

Kmart is not the only corporation supporting March of Dimes. Others include Farmers Insurance Group, GUM (oral care products), Famous Footwear, Discovery Health Channel, Gymboree, General Nutrition Centers (GNC), Motherhood Maternity, CitiGroup, Sprint Communications, and the Planned Parenthood-funding CIGNA Corporation and Bank of America.