Anti-abortion feminism

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Anti-abortion feminism is the opposition to

feminists. Anti-abortion feminists may believe that the principles behind women's rights also call them to oppose abortion on right to life
grounds and that abortion hurts women more than it benefits them.

The modern anti-abortion feminist movement cites precedent in the 19th century; the movement itself began to take shape in the early to mid-1970s with the founding of

New Wave Feminists
and Feminists for Nonviolent Choices.

Views and goals

Anti-abortion feminists consider the legal option of abortion to "support anti-motherhood social attitudes and policies and limit respect for women's citizenship".[2] Anti-abortion feminists believe that abortion is an action dictated by society and legal abortion "perpetuates an uncaring, male-dominated society."[3] Laury Oaks, Associate Professor of Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, writes that when abortion is legal, anti-abortion feminists believe that "women come to see pregnancy and parenting as obstacles to full participation in education and the workplace",[2] and describes anti-abortion feminist activism in Ireland as more "pro-mother" than "pro-woman".[1] Oaks has written that while Irish abortion opponents valorize child-bearing and are critical of the notion that women have "a right to an identity beyond motherhood", some like Breda O'Brien, founder of Feminists for Life Ireland, also offer feminist-inspired arguments that women's contributions to society are not limited to such functions.[1]

Anti-abortion feminist organizations generally do not distinguish between views on abortion as a legal issue, abortion as a moral issue, and abortion as a medical procedure.[2] Such distinctions are made by many women, for example women who would not abort their own pregnancies but would prefer that abortion remain legal.[2] Anti-abortion feminist organizations seek to personalize abortion by using women who survived abortions to attempt to convince others of their argument.[4] Prominent American anti-abortion feminist organizations seek to end abortion in the United States. The SBA List states this as their "ultimate goal",[5] and FFL president Serrin Foster said that FFL "opposes abortion in all cases because violence is a violation of basic feminist principles."[2][6]

Relationship to other movements

Anti-abortion feminists form a part of the

second wave feminism in the late 1960s and 1970s, the tenets of the emerging group of anti-abortion feminists were rejected by mainstream feminists who held that for full participation in society, a woman's "moral and legal right to control her fertility" needed to be a fundamental principle.[2] From their minority position, anti-abortion feminists said that mainstream feminists did not speak for all women.[2]

Having failed to gain a respected position within mainstream feminism,[2] anti-abortion feminists aligned themselves with other anti-abortion and right to life groups. According to Oaks, this placement has eroded a feminist sense of identity separate from other anti-abortion groups, despite pro-woman arguments that are distinct from the fetal rights arguments put forward by other anti-abortion advocates.[2]

Arguments

The abortion debate has primarily been focused on the question of whether or not the human fetus is a person and whether or not the killing of humans (depending on their developmental stage) should ever fall under the umbrella of person autonomy.[7] Anti-abortion feminist organizations distinguish themselves as "pro-woman" organizations as opposed to "fetal rights" organizations. This sets them apart from other anti-abortion groups.[2]

The "pro-woman" argument frames abortion as harmful to women. Anti-abortion feminists argue that most women do not truly want to have abortions,

post-abortion syndrome mental condition, which is not medically recognized, anti-abortion feminists reframe opposition to abortion in terms of protecting women's public health.[11] The "pro-woman" argument has been used to sway men and women against-abortion.[12]

19th-century feminists

Feminist anti-abortion groups say they are continuing the tradition of 19th-century women's rights activists such as

Tennessee Celeste Claflin, argued that abortion clinics would go out of business if voluntary motherhood was widely practiced.[19]

A dispute about Anthony's abortion views arose in 1989. Anti-abortion feminists in the United States began using Anthony's words and image to promote their anti-abortion cause. Scholars of 19th-century

abortion-rights activists, countered what they considered a co-opting of Anthony's legacy as the country's most dedicated suffragist, saying that the anti-abortion activists are falsely attributing opinions to Anthony, and that it is misleading to apply 19th-century arguments to the modern abortion debate.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Oaks, Laury (2000). "'Pro-Woman, Pro-Life'? The Emergence of Pro-Life Feminism in Irish Anti-Abortion Discourses and Practices". Irish Journal of Feminist Studies. 4 (1): 73–90.
  2. ^
    ISSN 1040-0656
    .
  3. ^ Oaks, Laury (2009). "What are Pro-Life Feminists doing on Campus?". NWSA. 21: 178–203 – via Gender Studies Database.
  4. ^ Kintz, Linda (1997). Between Jesus and the Market: The Emotions that Matter in Right-Wing America. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 269 – via Gender Studies Database.
  5. ^ "SBA List Mission: Advancing, Mobilizing and Representing Pro-Life Women". Susan B. Anthony List. 2008. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2010. To accomplish our ultimate goal of ending abortion in this country...
  6. ^ The Nation. August 11, 2005. Katha Pollitt. Reproductive Rights. Feminists for (Fetal) Life: subject to debate. Retrieved on May 11, 2009.
  7. JSTOR 23557071
    .
  8. ^
    doi:10.1080/02732173.2014.878624
    .
  9. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2011.537565
    .
  10. ^ "Women's Reasons for Having an Abortion". Guttmacher Institute. 2018-01-05. Archived from the original on 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  11. PMID 19108356
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-19-533181-3
    .
  13. ^ a b Kate O'Beirne, excerpt from 'Women Who Make the World Worse: and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports' National Review January 23, 2006. Archived from the original on February 3, 2006. Retrieved on March 30, 2012
  14. ^ SBA List – Early Suffragists Archived 2010-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Abortion and the early feminists". BBC. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  16. ^ McLaughlin, Peter (February 11, 2010). "Susan B. Anthony (Birthplace) House opens". The Eagle. Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  17. ^
    ProQuest 202814071
    .
  18. JSTOR 3593062
    .
  19. ^
    JSTOR 1566477
    .
  20. ^ Stevens, Allison (2006-10-06). "Susan B. Anthony's Abortion Position Spurs Scuffle". Women's eNews. Retrieved 2009-11-21.

Further reading

External links
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