Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 04:22, 16 January 2010

Feminists for Life of America

Abbreviation	FFL
Formation	1972
Type	NGO
Legal status	Not-for-profit
Purpose	Advocacy
Location	Alexandria, Virginia
President	Serrin M. Foster
Website	www.feministsforlife.org

Part of a series on
Feminism
History Feminist history History of feminism Women's history American British Canadian German Waves First Second Third Fourth Timelines Women's suffrage Muslim countries US Other women's rights Women's suffrage by country Austria Australia Canada Colombia India Japan Kuwait Liechtenstein New Zealand Spain Second Republic Francoist Switzerland United Kingdom Cayman Islands Wales United States states
Intersectional variants Fat Lesbian Lesbian of color Radical lesbianism Separatist Sex-positive Transfeminism Postgenderism Vegetarian ecofeminism Socialist Anarchist Queer Jineology Marxist Critical theory Standpoint Materialist Ecofeminist Postcolonial Global Transnational Xenofeminism Multicultural Africana womanism Black Hip hop Lesbian Ratchet Chicana Lesbian Indigenous Native American Multiracial Romani Womanism
Other variants Anti-abortion Equity Femonationalism Maternal Postfeminism Reactionary State Carceral Imperial Embedded Gender-critical or trans-exclusionary Victim White
Religious variants Atheist Buddhist Christian Mormon New Womanist Asian Neopagan Dianic Wicca Reclaiming Ecofeminist Hindu Islamic Jewish Orthodox Sikh
Movements and ideologies 4B movement Analytical Anti-fascist Anti-pornography Cyberfeminism HCI Networked Difference Cultural Neo Ecofeminism Eugenic Individualist Lipstick Stiletto Liberal Equality Social Labor Libertarian Post-structural Postmodern Radical Political lesbianism Separatist Technofeminism Women's liberation
Concepts Antinaturalism Choice feminism Cognitive labor Complementarianism Literature Children's literature Diversity (politics) Diversity, equity, and inclusion Effects on society Equality Female education Female genital mutilation Femicide Femonationalism Feminism in culture Feminist movement African-American women's suffrage movement Art movement In hip hop Feminist stripper Formal equality Gender equality Gender quota Girl power Honor killing Ideal womanhood Invisible labor Internalized sexism International Girl's Day and Women's Day Language reform Feminist capitalism Gender-blind Likeability trap Male privilege Matriarchal religion Media Men in feminism Misogyny Trans Oedipus complex Opposition to feminism Pro-feminism Protofeminism Purplewashing Racism Reproductive justice Sex workers' rights Sexual harassment Sexual objectification Substantive equality Toxic masculinity Transmisogyny Triple oppression Violence against women War on women Women's empowerment Women-only space Women's health Women's rights Women in the workforce
Outlooks Bicycling and feminism Criticism of marriage Views on BDSM Views on pornography Views on prostitution Views on sexual orientation Views on sexuality Views on transgender topics SCUM Manifesto
Theory Feminist method Gender studies Gender mainstreaming Gynocentrism Kyriarchy Male gaze Matriarchy Women's studies Men's studies Patriarchy Écriture féminine Areas of study Anthropology Archaeology Architecture Art Art criticism Literary criticism Film theory Science fiction Biology Composition studies Criminology Pathways perspective Economics FDPA Geography International relations Constructivism Legal theory Pedagogy Philosophy Aesthetics Empiricism Epistemology Ethics Justice ethics Existentialism Metaphysics science Political ecology Political theory Pornography Psychology Therapy Revisionist mythology Sex wars Sexology Sociology Technoscience Theology womanist theology
By continent/country Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo Egypt Ethiopia Ghana Mali Nigeria Senegal South Africa Albania Australia Bangladesh Canada China Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Republic of Ireland Israel Italy Japan Latin America Argentina Brazil Chile Haiti Honduras Mexico Paraguay Trinidad and Tobago Lebanon Malaysia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Northern Cyprus Norway Pakistan Philippines Poland Russia Saudi Arabia South Korea Sweden Syria Taiwan Thailand Turkey Vietnam Ukraine United Kingdom United States History of women
Lists and categories Lists Articles Feminists by nationality Literature American feminist literature Feminist comic books Feminist songs Conservative feminisms Ecofeminist authors Feminist art critics Feminist economists Feminist philosophers Feminist poets Feminist rhetoricians Jewish feminists Muslim feminists Feminist parties Suffragists and suffragettes Women's rights activists Women's studies journals Women's suffrage organizations Categories Women's rights by country Feminists by nationality
Feminism portal
v t e

Feminists for Life of America (FFL) is the largest and most visible pro-life feminist organization. Established in 1972 and now based in Alexandria, Virginia, the organization describes itself as "shaped by the core feminist values of justice, nondiscrimination, and nonviolence." FFL asserts they continue the tradition of early American feminists such as Susan B. Anthony, who they cite prominently. FFL is a non-profit organization dedicated to "systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion—primarily lack of practical resources and support—through holistic, woman-centered solutions." FFL seeks to make abortion illegal in all cases, including some abortions most doctors would say were necessary to save the woman's life, and to punish doctors who perform abortions.

FFL publishes a quarterly magazine and is involved in a number of projects, promotions and events. FFL specifically targets young women in its advertising campaigns. A bill was sponsored by FFL in 2005–2006, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Students Act. This bill was criticized for being a "largely hollow 'message bill'" that did little to help U.S. women.

In using the words of 19th century feminists for their own purposes, FFL has attracted criticism from historians. Researchers familiar with the lives and works of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony challenge that the attempt to compare modern abortion issues with those of the 19th century gives misleading results. Anthony scholars note that she was much more concerned with abolitionism, the temperance movement and women's suffrage, and that she avoided discussions of abortion. Investigative journalist Lynn Sherr has even questioned whether Anthony wrote one of FFL's more widely-used quotes.

FFL was founded in 1972 by Pat Goltz and Cathy Callaghan in Ohio, and has grown to include many chapters across the U.S. and around the world. Its members include some famous entertainment celebrities and political figures. In 2007, FFL claimed 26,000 members, this number including the husbands and children of women who join.

Statement of purpose

FFL describes itself as a non-sectarian, nonpartisan, grassroots organization. It describes its members as believing in "the strength of women and the potential of every human life," refusing "to choose between women and children," believing that "no woman should be forced to choose between sacrificing her education and career plans and sacrificing her child," and as rejecting violence and exploitation.

On its website and in its in-house publication American Feminist, FFL describes its broader vision as opposition to all forms of violence, considered as "inconsistent with the core feminist principles of justice, nonviolence and nondiscrimination" including the death penalty, assisted suicide, euthanasia, infanticide, and child abuse. FFL seeks the traditional feminist goal of equality in the workplace. FFL maintains that being pro-life is compatible with feminism, and, further, that it is the natural conclusion of feminist values.

Abortion

FFL has been criticized by traditional feminists for striving to make abortion illegal in all cases, including those of "rape, incest, health, major fetal defects" and, according Katha Pollitt of The Nation, "even some abortions most doctors would say were necessary to save the woman's life." In a 2005 interview, Pollitt found that Foster "professed ignorance" about the high rates of death and injury that have resulted in countries where abortion has been made illegal.

Contraception

FFL does not take an official stance on contraception, indicating instead that their "mission is to address the unmet needs of women who are pregnant or parenting" and that "reconception issues including abstinence and contraception are outside of our mission." Pollitt asked Foster why FFL did not promote contraception, as fewer conceptions would result in a reduced need for abortion, and Foster said that the pill didn't work for teenagers, a statement Pollitt knew to be false. In 2006 in The American Prospect Online, the veracity of FFL's stated lack of a position on contraception was challenged by journalist Adele M. Stan who noted that whenever FFL has addressed the issue, it has "invariably been to point out the health hazards posed in particular forms of birth control." Stan connected FFL's messages against contraception with the similar views held by the Catholic Church, and tallied instances of Catholic co-sponsorship of FFL initiatives. However, FFL member Sarah Palin stated an opposite position in a 2006 political debate in Juneau, Alaska conducted and broadcast by KTOO radio: "I'm pro-contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues."

Projects and activities

Feminists for Life produces a professionally edited quarterly 28-page magazine that is included with membership in the organization. Each issue is centrally focused on a theme like Remarkable Pro-Life Women—Part III, Pro-Woman Answers to Pro-Choice Questions and Our Pro-Woman, Pro-Life Legacy. Using original and reprinted articles The American Feminist shows a "reliance on factual data, experiential testimony, and well-phrased analysis of abortion-related issues that can't be dismissed as expressions of inherited, unexamined religious beliefs." Regular features include Herstory—a profile of an abortion opponent, news items and legislative update.

FFL's College Outreach program began in 1994, when Foster began to visit college campuses to deliver her speech "The Feminist Case Against Abortion". Originally designed to educate students about the history of pro-life feminism, the speech evolved to identify difficulties faced by pregnant and parenting women in the workplace and higher education, proposing "creative, life-affirming, women-centered solutions." Given that data from sources such as the Guttmacher Institute have identified college women as the group at greatest risk of abortion, FFL determined to address these women's unmet needs, including the coercive factors that drive them to choose between their education and bearing children.

For a college audience, FFL designed a promotion campaign which challenged traditional abortion views and provided practical information for pregnant women. A kit for university health clinics was created, to help staff advise pregnant students on how to seek and access existing support and resources. The first Pregnancy Resources Forum at Georgetown University brought together students and administrators, both pro-life and pro-choice, in a non-confrontational gathering to discuss, identify, create, improve and publicize resources for pregnant and parenting students on campus. "Question Abortion" became a popular slogan in FFL college activism. In 1997, Planned Parenthood's INsider called FFL's growing College Outreach Program the "newest and most challenging concept in anti-choice organizing" and predicted it could "have a profound impact" on college campuses.

Feminists for Life members also created several kits for student activists, a kit for residential advisers and psychological counselors, a feminist history kit for libraries, and more challenging ads for college audiences. They continued to deliver speeches, and to moderate Pregnancy Resource Forums on college and university campuses across the United States. More resources became available to students domestically and internationally through the FFL website. FFL reports that its College Outreach Program has reached more than 5 million students since 1994, and the rate of abortion among college educated women has dropped by 30%.

Feminists for Life's "Women Deserve Better" campaign was launched in 2003 on the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. FFL described it as "a long-term public education effort examining the failure of abortion. The campaign aims to refocus the nation on the reasons women feel pressured into abortion and to promote women-centered solutions." The basic message of the campaign, featured on billboards, posters, and placards, was "Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Women deserve better than abortion."

"Abortion is not a measure of society's success in meeting the needs of women," explained Foster, "it's a measure of its failure. Why celebrate failure? Abortion is a symptom of—never a solution to—the problems faced by women... abortion has completely failed as a social policy designed to aid women... women have had to settle for far less than they need and deserve."

The "Women Deserve Better" and the "Refuse to Choose" slogans reflected what FFL saw as integrated aspects of their philosophy. Foster explained: "We refuse to choose between women and children. We refuse to choose between sacrificing our education and career plans or sacrificing our children."

The major legislative goal of FFL's "Women Deserve Better" campaign was the passage of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Students Act by Congress. The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act was first introduced into the United States Senate by Elizabeth Dole on November 8, 2005, and into the House of Representatives by Melissa Hart the next day. The first Capitol Hill briefing on the legislation took place on February 15, 2006. The legislation was criticized by Emily Bazelon in Mother Jones as a "largely hollow 'message bill'" with very little power. Bazelon noted that the 10 million dollars provided by the bill was a "paltry" amount when gauged against the needs of the nation. Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice said the bill was "not serious." Kissling said that "if we support these message bills that don't really give women much help, then the real message we send is that we're not strongly committed to women."

In 2006, Foster announced a new Web-based campaign to educate the general public about pro-life feminism.

Feminists for Life has been a participant in the annual March for Life commemorating the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade for many years. Their part of the procession is often joined by the non-traditional, non-sectarian pro-life groups such as the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians.

Feminists for Life of America is one of the main sponsors of the Walk for Life West Coast, an annual abortion protest in San Francisco that takes place near the anniversary date of Roe vs Wade.

References to 19th century feminists

Feminists for Life professes to "stand on more than two hundred years of pro-life feminist history," continuing the tradition of early feminists such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Wollstonecraft and Alice Paul, as well as others whose remarks they contend indicated opposition to abortion. "Without known exception," Foster stated "the early feminists condemned abortion in the strongest possible terms."

One quote in particular by suffragist and lecturer Mattie Brinkerhoff, from an 1869 letter to the editor in The Revolution, appears on the inside front cover of almost every issue of FFL's magazine, The American Feminist:

When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society—so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged."

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton began her fight for women's rights about 12 years earlier than Susan B. Anthony. Stanton helped organize an early and influential women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Beginning in 1852, Stanton and Anthony teamed with Lucy Stone to fight for women's rights. The three women fought against anything that reduced a woman's dignity.

Let woman assert herself in all her native purity, dignity, and strength, and end this wholesale suffering and murder of helpless children.

Susan B. Anthony

FFL also features prominently on its website a quote it attributes to Susan B. Anthony:

Sweeter even than to have had the joy of caring for children of my own has it been to me to help bring about a better state of things for mothers generally, so their unborn little ones could not be willed away from them.

Susan B. Anthony dedicated her early career to abolitionism and the Temperance movement. After the American Civil War, her interest in women's suffrage became foremost in her life; she worked tirelessly toward gaining for women the right to vote. Occasionally, she touched upon other issues related to women's rights. Though she never married, Anthony published her views about marriage, holding that a woman should be allowed to refuse sex with her husband; the American woman had no legal recourse at that time against rape by her husband. Anthony devoted very little time to the subject of "child murder", or abortion. Of primary importance to Anthony was a woman's right to choose whether or not to engage in sexual activity. She saw this form of empowerment as essential for the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, using abstinence as the method. In her newspaper, The Revolution, she wrote in 1869 about the subject, arguing that, instead of merely attempting to pass a law against abortion, the root cause must also be addressed. Simply passing an anti-abortion law would, she wrote, "be only mowing off the top of the noxious weed, while the root remains." Anthony continued: "Guilty? Yes, no matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh! thrice guilty is he who, for selfish gratification, heedless of her prayers, indifferent to her fate, drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime."

Controversy Regarding Anthony

FFL's prominent use of quotes from Susan B. Anthony has been criticized by historians. The primary controversy concerns the authorship of remarks which are used as a mainstay of the argument that Anthony opposed abortion. Mary Krane Derr, a member of FFL and co-editor of the anthology "Prolife Feminism: Yesterday and Today", cites an 1869 article in The Revolution in which abortion is called "the horrible crime of child-murder." That article was signed with the initial "A", and Derr ascribes it to Anthony because she sometimes signed her name as "S.B.A." and was referred to as "Miss A." Ann Gordon, editor of the "Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony", contends that Anthony did not write that article and says, "She never voiced an opinion about the sanctity of fetal life" and "she never voiced an opinion about using the power of the state to require that pregnancies be brought to term." Investigative broadcast journalist Lynn Sherr, who wrote "Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words," has asserted that Anthony did not sign her pieces "A."

Apart from the contentious issue of authorship, some believe that the use of Anthony is inappropriate because Anthony did little to make known her views on abortion. Gloria Feldt, former president of Planned Parenthood, disputes the significance of Anthony's remarks saying that, "There's absolutely nothing in anything that she ever said or did that would indicate she was anti-abortion". Nonetheless, feminist Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said of Anthony that "Her quotes really stand for themselves. They've been well documented and well researched at the Library of Congress."

Furthermore because the issues surrounding abortion were different in Anthony's day, Gordon asserts that comparing today's abortion debate with that of the 19th century is misleading. In the first half of the 19th century, abortion was legal but very risky, and in the second half, doctor's organizations began passing laws against abortion for the purpose of driving out untrained practitioners such as midwives. Feldt notes that suffragists generally avoided the subject of abortion because it was "a political hot potato", and would take attention away from the drive to acquire for women the right to vote. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff writes that, "There is no question that she deplored the practice of abortion, as did every one of her colleagues in the suffrage movement," but "we cannot possibly know what Anthony would make of today’s debate."

Membership

In 2007, Foster noted that FFL had reached 26,000 members, including the families of women who joined. A number of the members are well known in the arts and politics.

Two-time Emmy Award winning actress Patricia Heaton is honorary co-chair of FFL. Actress Margaret Colin is also honorary co-chair of FFL. Both women's mothers were active in the early pro-life movement during the 1960s and 1970s. Heaton's mother was a Catholic political activist who, in addition to working to promote racial integration in their area, was also a staunch abortion opponent. Colin's mother helped found the New York State Right to Life Party, after the State of New York legalized abortion in 1970. Both celebrities credit their mothers' influence as part of their right-to-life stances. Star Trek Voyager actress, Kate Mulgrew is also an FFL supporter.

Jane Sullivan Roberts, wife of U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, is counsel to the organization and a former Vice-President.

Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States and the first female governor of Alaska, is pro-life, pro-contraception and a member of Feminists for Life since 2006.

History

Early years

Feminists for Life was founded in Ohio in 1972. Founders Pat Goltz and Cathy Callaghan met in a judo club on the campus of Ohio State University, where Callaghan was a tenured professor of linguistics. Goltz was expelled from the Columbus, Ohio, Chapter of the National Organization for Women ("NOW") in 1974, for arguing that abortion violated feminist principles, although they were never expelled from national NOW membership. Callaghan would later voluntarily opt out of NOW, as the organization added planks that she did not consider to be women's issues.

Goltz and Callaghan met many other pro-life feminists who similarly were or felt excluded from women's organizations during the Women's Liberation Movement's second wave. In protest, Goltz and dozens of other pro-life feminists picketed the National NOW convention, hoping to draw attention to the controversy. The plan backfired when most media sources failed to pick up the story, and the few that did only mentioned that the pickets were by a pro-life group, failing to convey the full meaning of the protest.

Goltz later drew attention to what she saw as the growing trend of pro-life feminism and hostility against it from the feminist establishment. While testifying before a Congressional panel in 1975, Goltz stated "The National Organization for Women suppresses any woman who is pro-life. It does not matter how sincere her feminism on the basic issues." (Senate Testimony, 1975)

The newsletter, Sisterlife, was first published during Goltz's tenure as national president. Originally the Feminists for Life Journal, the newsletter got its unique name from a letter to Goltz by a member of the Canadian chapter of FFL, who instead of closing her letter with the customary "In Sisterhood," wrote "In Sisterlife." Editors conferred the title on the newsletter, feeling that it reflected what they saw as a dedication to life from conception to natural death.

Mid-1970s

FFL was active in the ten-year battle to ratify the ill-fated Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The organization's commitment to the E.R.A. formed with the organization, during Goltz's presidency. Unlike Goltz, Callaghan was not immediately convinced of the need for the amendment, having achieved success as a professor at Ohio State University. Callaghan soon changed her mind, however, and began to support the amendment. In 1973, Goltz published an article (included in the anthology, Pro-Life Feminism: Yesterday and Today) disparaging the fact that the widespread fear of abortion on-demand had blocked the ratification of E.R.A. in Ohio at the time, and that it would eventually kill the amendment's ratification.

Like many other feminist groups of the women's liberation movement, the personal experiences of members of FFL were what informed their drive for equality and social justice. Many pro-life feminists had experiences with pregnancy discrimination, abortion, rape, child molestation. Their stories were published in various journals, newsletters, and other publications. Many of these stories were included in the anthology, Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voices.

After five years as president of FFL, Goltz retired. In 1977, organizational management was moved to Wisconsin. The group's activities focused on being a presence at both pro-life and feminist events, distributing literature, and writing letters to various publications. A national workshop that became an annual conference for pro-life feminists was launched during this time. Many members supported both the Equal Rights Amendment and a Human Life Amendment as "complementary in their concern for human life."

FFL's work for the Equal Rights Amendment was met with a great deal of resistance, including strong resistance at pro-E.R.A. demonstrations, when FFL members attempted to distribute Pro-Life/Pro-E.R.A. tracts. In the late 1970s, Goltz spoke with the legendary suffragist Alice Paul, who authored the original Equal Rights Amendment. Paul conveyed to Goltz her belief that abortion was inconsistent with feminism, and that many of the founding mothers of feminism disapproved. She also related her fear that the increased attempts to link abortion to E.R.A. would prevent the amendment's ratification, and eventually end feminism as well.

1980s

In 1984, FFL's headquarters was moved to Kansas City, Missouri. FFL began to receive more national exposure during this time, through media interviews, involvement in a broad spectrum of pro-life issues, and invitations to speak at pro-life events.

1990s

In 1994, the organization relocated its national office to Washington, D.C., where FFL reorganized its structure, and updated its image: the Sisterlife newsletter was renamed as The American Feminist magazine, a website was created, and new outreach programs were developed, including the College Outreach Program. FFL also became more involved in political advocacy, working to ensure the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and enhanced enforcement for child support. Child exclusion provisions in the Welfare Reform Act were opposed by FFL.

2000s

At the 2002 March for Life, which observes the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, several members of the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians (PLAGAL) were arrested for attempting to march under the PLAGAL banner, on the orders of Nellie Gray, holder of the permit for the march. Foster came out publicly in support of PLAGAL, saying she also had had similar run-ins with Gray in the past.

In mid-2005, the organization's building closed without warning. FFL moved their headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia. FFL's recent work has involved advocating laws protecting pregnant women from being coerced into an abortion, laws that provide pregnant and parenting students with services, and monitoring cases of pregnancy discrimination.

On February 15, 2006, Susan B. Anthony's birthday, the first major Congressional discussions on the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Students Act began. On October 2, 2006 Foster announced the launch of a national web campaign to promote their message. The campaign included a pro-life feminist response to the traditional pro-choice arguments for abortion.

Structure and chapters

FFL of America

FFL of New York

The state chapter, Feminists for Life of New York, is located in Rochester, New York. Mary Dwelley, the president of the chapter, was killed in a car wreck on April 11, 2006.

Carol Crossed, founder of the New York chapter of Democrats for Life of America and a board member of Feminists for Life of New York, purchased the Adams, Massachusetts birth place of Susan B. Anthony on August 5, 2006. FFL does not own the Susan B. Anthony birthplace, but maintains the property, and is developing a plan to perpetuate Anthony's legacy.

In 2007 the Feminists for Life of America dissolved ties with its last chapter Feminists for Life of New York which is now the new pro-life organization Feminists Choosing Life of New York.

Feminists for Life International

International outreach program

In 2004, FFL launched an International Outreach Program, reflecting that abortion is a global issue. According to FFL's "Global Vision":

Feminists for Life advocates for

• increased education standards and opportunities for the poor, especially for girls
• increased employment opportunities for all women, especially poor women and others who have been excluded
• micro-loans and other business assistance for low-income women to start businesses and purchase land
• health care for mother and child, before and after birth, including prenatal care, assisted delivery, postpartum care, emergency services, immunizations, disease prevention and treatment, especially for the HIV/AIDS pandemic
• sustainable development that provides clean water, sanitation, housing and food
• child care for the working poor and regulations to protect vulnerable women and children from forced labor
• protection for women and children from violence, including sex trafficking
• measures to rescue women trapped in domestic violence

(The American Feminist vol. 12 no. 1, p. 20)

"Abortion doesn't put food on the table, or provide clean water. After an abortion, a woman returns to the same situation that drove her there. One abortion is too many. It means we have failed women," argued FFL's international outreach director Marie Smith. "What women want and need is full participation as citizens, equal access to resources and opportunities, and enforced legal protection against discrimination, violence, and oppression... Education is the most empowering choice for any woman's future." FFL refers to early American feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who said, "There must be a remedy for such a crying evil as . But where shall it be found, at least where begin, if not the complete enfranchisement and elevation of women?"

In 2005, FFL was granted special consultative status as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the United Nations' Economic and Social Council.

FFL International

Feminists for Life International is the international organization beyond its national groups Feminists for Life of America, and Feminists for Life of Ireland, which focuses on global violations of women's rights, particularly poverty, sex trafficking, domestic violence and abortion.

The Spring–Summer Edition 2002 of "The American Feminist" was devoted to monitoring crimes against women around the world including abortion, sex trafficking, bride burning, female genital mutilation, forced illiteracy, and sweat shop labor. Three other editions of the organization's newsletter were specifically devoted to monitoring sex trafficking.

Feminists for Life International also supported the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals by publishing a statement saying, "Feminists for Life believes that the Millennium Development Goals are life-affirming targets that if achieved will greatly improve billions of lives around the globe. Women and children will be freed from lives of poverty, hunger, death, disease, and despair. We support the promotion of these goals and work to ensure that all members of society, including the unborn, benefit from their promotion and achievement." FFL's international director and U.N. representative Marie Smith cautioned, however, that "omen's advocates must unite and direct our full attention to addressing the unmet needs of women—life-saving health care and nutrition, eliminating poverty through education and work opportunities, protecting women and children from violence and exploitation. Abortion is a sign that women's needs have not been met, and women deserve better." "While Feminists for Life was gratified that the concluding document of the Summit was not compromised by the insertion of 'sexual or reproductive rights' (code for abortion), we believe caution must be taken with language that was adopted into the document. The inclusion, 'Ensuring equal access to reproductive health' is problematic. While 'reproductive health' has never been defined by the members of the United Nations to include abortion, proponents of abortion often use a broad definition of this term that includes abortion as a part of fertility regulation." "Political word games do not serve women. Word games distract us and delay our efforts to help those in greatest need."

Additionally, Smith published an editorial in 2005 in the Washington Times on the growing problem of sex trafficking of young Americans in the U.S. as a result of homelessness, child abuse, and poverty.

FFL of Ireland

Feminists for Life also has an international branch in Ireland, known as Feminists for Life of Ireland. The group was once headed by Irish feminist Breda O'Brien, who was profiled by The American Feminist's project "Herstory Worth Repeating".

Feminists for Life of Ireland one of many pro-life feminist organization in the area, and works with other groups such as Feminists Against Eugenics.

FFL New Zealand (1978–1983)

Originally founded in response to correspondence with American founder Goltz, Feminists for Life New Zealand (1978–1983) was founded by Connie Purdue (who also founded the New Zealand National Organization for Women) and romance writer Daphne Clair de Jong, who, like their American counterparts Goltz and Callaghan, found themselves at odds with the feminist establishment's endorsement of abortion.

During this period, de Jong authored "Abortion and Feminism; the Great Inconsistency" and "The Feminist Sell-Out" for the New Zealand Listener. The articles attacked pro-choice ideology as inconsistent with feminist principles and as a pandering to a male system devised by men, for men. However, de Jong soon drifted away from the organization, disheartened at the increasingly social conservative membership and wholesale anti-feminist agenda of the organization.

Feminists for Life of New Zealand no longer exists. After 1984, it was known as "Women for Life." Although it began as a pro-life feminist organization, the organization gradually changed from a secular liberal organization to a Christian conservative pressure group, which reflected the increasingly socially conservative views of its late founder Connie Purdue. It then changed its name to the "Family Education Network," which published "Off the Fence," until it ceased publication in 2003.

See also

• Abortion debate
• Feminist history in the United States
• Feminist theology
• History of feminism
• List of feminism topics
• Social criticism
• Suffragettes

References

1. "List of NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 18 September 2008", U.N. Economic and Social Council
2. "Living the Legacy of Pro-Life Feminism". Feminists for Life. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
3. ^ "The Truth About Susan B. Anthony" (PDF). The American Feminist. Feminists for Life. Spring 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
4. Becker, Brenda L. (Fall 2000, vol. 12 no. 1, p. 5). "Finding One Another: The Internet's Genius". Feminists for Life. Retrieved 2007-08-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. ^ The Nation. August 11, 2005. Katha Pollitt. Reproductive Rights. Feminists for (Fetal) Life: subject to debate. Retrieved on May 11, 2009.
6. ^ Bazelon, Emily (January–February 2007) "Suffragette City: Pro-life Feminists." Mother Jones, Politics, Current Affairs. Retrieved on January 12, 2010.
7. ^ Women's e-News. October 6, 2006. Allison Stevens, Washington Bureau Chief. Susan B. Anthony's Abortion Position Spurs Scuffle. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
8. FFL's mission, p.2, feministsforlife.org, accessed Jan. 10, 2010
9. FFL's mission, p.1, feministsforlife.org, accessed Jan. 10, 2010
10. O'Brien, Nancy (Summer 1995). "Women's Groups March in Wrong Direction". Feminists for Life. Retrieved 2007-08-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
11. ^ Hoyt, Robert G. (1999-06-04). "In The Know: Newsletters worth your time". Commonweal. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
12. Mathewes-Green, Frederica (2006, reprinted from SisterLife). "The Euthanasia/Abortion Connection". Feminists for Life. Retrieved 2007-08-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. Kiniorski, Kerri-Ann (Fall 1997). "Desperate Young Women Kill Their Newborn Babies: Fighting a Culture of Violence". Feminists for Life. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
14. Gordon, Karen J. (Winter 1999, Vol 6, #4). "Child Abuse: Abortion and the Battered Child" (PDF). Feminists for Life. Retrieved 2007-08-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. Kiniorski, Karri-Ann (Summer 1998, Vol 5, #2). "U.S. Work-Family Policies: Historical Precedents and new Directions" (PDF). Feminists for Life. Retrieved 2007-08-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. Feminist for life Winn wants support for pregnant students by Alissa Cerny; The Brown Daily Herald 17 February 2006.
17. "What is Feminists for Life's position on contraception?". Feminists for Life. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
18. ^ Stan, Adele M. (October 19, 2006) "Untruth in Advertising: The anti-choice group Feminists for Life is clever. Dangerously so." The American Prospect Online, web only. Retrieved on January 12, 2010.
19. ^ Mehta, Seema (September 6, 2008) "GOP ticket split over condom use: While running for state office, Palin said their use ought to be discussed in schools. McCain disagrees." Los Angeles Times, The Nation. Retrieved on January 12, 2009.
20. "The following issues of The American Feminist". Feminists for Life. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
21. "Organizations Opposed to Reproductive Freedom". Political Research Associates. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
22. http://www.feministsforlife.org/WomenDeserveBetter/WDB-OpEd.pdf. Pregnant Students Deserve Better than Abortion. By Serrin M. Foster
23. "The Feminist Case Against Abortion" was included in the Women's Rights anthology of the Great Speeches in History book series (2001, ISBN 0-7377-0773-9).
24. "College Outreach Program". Feminists for Life.
25. ^ Feminists for Life. Serrin M. Foster. smf.htm "Women Deserve Better than Abortion"
26. "Women Deserve Better than Abortion"
27. "Some Feminists Won't Participate in 'March for Women's Lives'"
28. Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act
29. Official website of the Walk for Life http://www.walkforlifewc.com/sponsorship.htm
30. The American Feminist vol. 12 no. 1, p. 5
31. Foster, Serrin, "The Feminist Case Against Abortion", The American Feminist vol. 11 nos. 2–3, p. 29
32. The Revolution, 4(9):138–9, September 2, 1869.
33. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Revolution 1(4):57–59, January 29, 1868
34. FFL website
35. ^ "Marriage and Maternity". The Revolution. Susan B. Anthony. July 8, 1869. Retrieved 2009-04-21. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
36. 'Susan B. Anthony, against abortion?' by Tracy Clark-Flory Friday, October 6, 2006 in Slate.com. . Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
37. ^ Schiff, Stacy (2006-10-13). "Desperately Seeking Susan". New York Times.
38. The American Feminist vol. 7 no. 4, pp. 12–13
39. The American Feminist vol. 12 no. 1, p. 4
40. WinterTAF00-01.11-17.quark
41. "Jane Sullivan Roberts' Service to Women". Feminists for Life.
42. Juneau Empire, "Abortion Draws Clear Divide in State Races," accessed 8/29/08 and Anchorage Daily News, "Governor’s Race: Top contenders meet one last time to debate," 11/03/06.
43. Alter, Jonathan (August 29, 2008). "McCain's 'Hail Sarah' Pass". Newsweek. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
44. Cite error: The named reference Same-sex unions, D was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
45. Gov. Sarah Palin—GOP's dream V.P. candidate by Debra J. Saunders; San Francisco Chronicle, 31 August, 2008.
46. Yardley, William (August 29, 2008). "Sarah Heath Palin, an Outsider Who Charms". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
47. Dennis Doyle, 'Catholic Social Teaching and Movements, The Church Emerging from Vatican II: A Popular Approach to Contemporary Catholicism (1992), 212.
48. "Reflecting as FFL Celebrates Its Tenth Birthday" and "HLA and ERA]—Inedible Alphabet Soup?" in Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voices, ISBN 0-919225-22-5, pp. 17, 35
50. Bottcher, Rosemary Oelrich (Fall 2002) "The Conception and Life of FFL." The American Feminist, volume 9, number 2, pp. 3–6. Retrieved on January 12, 2010.
51. Feminists for Life of New York
52. George, Leah (2006-04-12). "Close To A Saint". R News. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
53. ^ Leibovich, Lori (2006-08-07). "Suffragist's home bought by anti-choice group". salon.com. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
54. FFL International index
55. The American Feminist vol. 12 no. 1, pp. 20–21
56. The Revolution, 1(10):146–7 March 12, 1868
57. "New Voice for Women and Children at United Nations"
58. Foster, Serrin, ed. (Spring–Summer 2002) "Crimes Against Women Around The World." The American Feminist, volume 9, number 1. Retrieved on January 12, 2010.
59. ^ Smith, Marie (2005) United Nations Millennium Development Summit. Feminists for Life. Retrieved on January 12, 2010.
60. Washington Times, Editorial/Op-Ed. Marie Smith, Homegrown sex trafficking. Archived webpage.

External links

• Feminists for Life

• Organizations established in 1972
• Pro-life organizations in the United States
• Non-governmental organizations based in the United States
• Women's political advocacy groups in the United States
• Organizations based in Virginia
• Feminism and health