The angry matrons of the pro-abortion movement are aiming their ire at presidential adviser Karen Hughes regarding her response to a question about the recent pro-abortion march in Washington.

Her offense? Believing that Americans seem to value life more now, after Sept. 11, 2001.

“I think after Sept. 11, the American people are valuing life more,” Hughes said, “and I think those are the kinds of policies the American people can support, particularly at a time when we're facing an enemy, and really, the fundamental difference between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life.”

“We're endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, the right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she added. “Unfortunately, our enemies in the terror network … don't value any life, not even the innocent and not even their own.”

“Insensitive! Divisive!” shrieked Gloria Feldt of Planned Parenthood — “outrageous” to suggest that we “do not value life.” Feldt has demanded an apology. Hughes has not given one.

Of course Hughes wasn't saying that abortion activists are terrorists or are like terrorists. No reasonable person would conclude that from her remarks.

The irrational attack on Hughes stems from a new sense of panic in the pro-abortion movement, the source of which is not George Bush or his advisers — it's the mass exodus of Americans from their cause.

Polls show that in the last 10 years, there has been a seismic shift in public opinion on abortion. Ten years ago Gallup found that 56% of Americans identified themselves as “pro-choice” compared with only 33% calling themselves “pro-life.” A new Zogby International poll shows the numbers have flipped: Today more Americans call themselves “pro-life” than “pro-choice” — 49% to 45%.

In fact, women poll more “pro-life” than “pro-choice” by a margin of 48% to 46% in the recent Zogby poll.

This is a bitter pill to swallow for Planned Parenthood. And it is not the first indication of the diminishing appeal of “pro-choice.”

In April President Bush signed a new law that was fought vigorously by the “pro-choice” community — vigorously but unsuccessfully. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act recognizes an unborn child as a second victim in a federal crime of violence, and polls show that 80% of Americans believe such crimes have two victims. Against this overwhelming majority stood the pro-abortion movement — not because the law threatened abortion (it exempted abortion), but because it was said to undermine the “logic” of Roe v. Wade.

Here again, the sense of panic. The “pro-choice” movement holds up Roe v. Wade as the standard by which all other laws should be judged, forgetting what the rest of us know well — that legal abortion is the exception, not the rule, when it comes to the way the law treats unborn children.

Outside the context of abortion, unborn children are often recognized by the law — as victims of recompensable personal injury, as inheritors of property, as claimants in paternal wrongful-death actions, as wards of a legal guardian and more recently as recipients of state-funded health insurance.

The “logic” of Roe is like the emperor's new clothes — and the abortion movement stands in fear of the day when it, too, will be seen as nonexistent.

The worst news of all for Planned Parenthood must be that young people are turning away from the pro-abortion movement. Today, according to Zogby, 60% of the under-30 crowd thinks abortion should never be legal or should be legal only in cases of life endangerment or rape or incest. Abortion supporters themselves acknowledge that these circumstances account for only about 2% of abortions.

Young people — the prize of any movement — are the very raison d'etre of the “pro-choice” cause. They are the very people to whom abortion “rights” should mean the most, if they mean anything at all. And yet they are leaving.

And this departure of the young is not for lack of effort on Gloria Feldt's part. Planned Parenthood and its allies launched a $40 million advertising campaign a few years ago designed specifically to draw young people to their cause. Forty million dollars spells desperation, even for well-heeled Planned Parenthood. It does not seem, however, to spell “success.”

Planned Parenthood is promising to send activists into bookstores to heckle Karen Hughes at her upcoming appearances to promote her new book, Ten Minutes from Normal. The most likely result of these bookstore brawls is a boost in book sales for Hughes. In the public-relations world, this is known as “earned media.” By standing up to Planned Parenthood, she's earned it well.

Cathy Cleaver Ruse is director of planning and information for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.