Our History

In 2012, we will celebrate our 20th anniversary on the forefront of the fight for Life. Over that time, we will have financed and endorsed over 75 winning members of Congress. We will have helped to nurture a first generation of women leaders who have embraced the cause of Life and advanced in public office. Now, we are ready to help raise and support a second - and even larger - generation of leaders.

From our beginning, the SBA List has been led by our president and board chairman, Marjorie Dannenfelser, and our general chairman, Jane Abraham. During the “Year of the Woman” in 1992, when the pro-abortion EMILY’s List PAC rose to power, Marjorie and Jane recognized the uphill battle we faced with only two pro-life women leaders in Congress. They vowed to level the playing field by creating a full program to encourage and elect more women as pro-life candidates for national office.

That year, the Susan B. Anthony List PAC was born and its focus was to raise early money for pro-life women candidates. The goal was to not only give direct support to candidates, but raise money from our members for the endorsed candidates in the form of bundled checks. Members were asked to contribute to at least two candidates, making the checks payable directly to campaigns of their choice. The checks were mailed to the SBA List PAC, then bundled and mailed to the campaigns. In 1997, the Susan B. Anthony List was reorganized as a 501(c)(4) membership organization with a connected political action committee (the SBA List Candidate Fund).

While the SBA List strategy has evolved over the years as technologies and techniques have changed, the SBA List has remained committed to developing and using the most effective and cost-efficient approaches available. We are poised to add to the voices of the next generation of pro-life women in Congress as well as the state capitals.