Recently, I have been investigating the politics of a few controversial labels as they've crept up once again in the news: Pro-life, Pro-Choice, Feminist. (
see: Obama's speech at Notre Dame.) A recent
gallup poll (a poorly executed poll, I might add) resulted in the first time in the history of said poll that more Americans identify themselves as pro-life then anything else. I think this phenomenon has a lot to with the marketing of the phrase, "pro-choice" AND with the many unique and not entirely exclusive definitions of what these narrow labels mean for people --after all, this is one of the most politically charged topics in modern American history. So,who isn't pro-life, really? Are pro-choice folks anti-life? No. Many pro-
choicers are very much so about life-- quality of life issues, building better institutional support for mothers, children and families, etc.
Similarly, not all those who identify themselves as pro-life, are actually anti-choice. If one digs deeper into the
gallup poll, they'll see that a majority of those who identify as pro-life also agree that abortion should be legal, if only in limited circumstances.
This lead me to my next query. Pro-life feminists. Is there such a thing? There is an organization called, "Feminists for Life." (
http://www.feministsforlife.org/ ) Their mission states "Feminists for Life recognizes that abortion is reflection that society has failed to meet the needs of women. We are dedicated to systematically
eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion--primarily the lack of resources and support--through holistic women-centered solutions."
I can get behind some of this, in the sense that yes, women do deserve a system that provides more resources and support to mothers. BUT, What about young girls getting pregnant in the first place? Feminists for life says nothing about supporting comprehensive sex education. (quick anecdotal : I work with a young woman (15) who recently found out she is four months pregnant and was ignorant of effective birth control methods. she and her boyfriend were on the 'pull out method.' While she's going through with the pregnancy and plans on keeping her baby, she has little support or resources available to her.)
Can you be feminist if you are inhibiting a woman's power over her own body? I will assume most pro-life women would not interpret their views this way. I must defer to another blogger now, "Plain Feminist," who also wrote about this topic:
http://plainsfeminist.blogspot.com/2008/08/can-you-be-feminist-and.html. She argues that many pro-life women have made admirable contributions to women's struggle and should not be dismissed because they do not identify with all the
ideology of feminism, however, the
Feminists for Life do inhibit choice and stigmatize particular subgroups of women through their work. (though one can also argue that mainstream feminism does that by making it mostly about white middle class women.) Plain Feminist also writes in response to the feminists who choose not to acknowledge women who identify themselves as both pro-life and feminist as feminists. " I don't think drawing the label 'feminist' more tightly around our shoulders will serve any purpose - it will only serve to divide feminists. Instead of looking at the label, it might be more instructive to look at one's actions and at the impact of one's work on women. " word.
In the end, both of the terms-- pro-choice and pro-life-- are terribly limited. The "pro" and "anti" suggest that there are only two sides to this issue, when in reality, it is a continuum of choices, beliefs and
ideology. Using these terms also builds an "us" and "them" that further
exacerbates the issue instead of finding a way for us to work together in reducing unwanted pregnancies, creating better support for mothers and families, and empowering women and girls.
