Feminists for Life

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture where Serrin Foster, President of Feminists for Life was speaking, and I then had the honor of speaking with her in a more intimate setting over dinner with some other university students. It was awesome! Her talk centered around the theme that feminist philosophy is simply incompatible with the practice of abortion. Sound crazy? Yes, it does, because contemporary feminists - those of the second and third waves of feminism fixated on 'reproductive' rights and 'control' over their 'destinies' by controlling their bodies.

Well, perhaps this is some truth to this. After all, no woman should be subjected to being a sexual object or to having her body used in inappropriate ways by a man - even if it is her husband. But also, she should not allow herself to treat her body inappropriately. Feminists for Life argue that abortion is the most tragically inappropriate treatment of a woman. They believe that it simply goes against what the first feminists sought to establish, viz. equality for all. After all, some of the first feminists, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were abolitionists who sought out justice for those enslaved because of their race and for those discriminated against because they were women. And both women (as well as many others) felt abortion was not the solution to the discrimination of women in society.

Susan B. Anthony in her publication entitled Revolution stated about abortion: “I deplore the horrible crime of child murder … We want prevention, not merely punishment." (taken from here) This quote encapsulates the philosophy behind Feminists for Life - to seek preventative measures so that women do not feel pressured to have an abortion. One of their major activities is to establish resources for pregnant women on college campuses. They even work together with pro-choice groups to attain these ends! Read their story about what they did at Georgetown University here. This group is doing what I want to do: giving women other choices, so they don't feel like abortion is their only option. Pray for me as I seek out a way of living out this vocation too! We all are called to help one another, especially because we all deserve better than abortion.