Must one be pro-choice to be feminist?

Question

I ask because I see this debate happening a lot with Sarah Palin now in the spotlight. I'm hearing feminists claim that she couldn't possibly be a feminist and pro-life at the same time. There seems to be this underlying notion that in order for someone to be feminist they must be pro-choice.

Now I happen to be a pro-choice feminist, but I find it disconcerting that so many seem to have this idea that feminism has these iron-barred constraints attached to it's beliefs.

I realize the largest feminist organizations such as NOW, and most feminist public figures support the pro-choice stance, but does that necessarily mean pro-choice and feminism are rigidly attached?

I know the pro-life/pro-choice debate is a hot button issue, but I'm asking that you please set aside your own agenda in this post and ask yourself if you believe feminism should welcome or not welcome debate of this issue within its own ranks.

Related: here's a link to "Feminists for Life" an organization Sarah Palin apparently belongs to

http://www.feministsforlife.org/

Answer 1

A really provocative question, thanks for posting it.

IMO: YES.  Feminists for Life tell lies, and I object to the way they attempt to manipulate people.    There is no such thing as "post-abortion syndrome", and they know it.  These women are rich; do you think they give a toss about the "resource deficient" women who lack the money and connections they have?  No way.  Here's a wonderful example of them lying and attempting to frighten women, and to guilt-trip them (pulled from their website):

1. "Intense feelings of guilt, shame, and anger are reported by

many women who have had abortions. Some women act out

their severe emotional anguish through alcohol and drug

abuse, irresponsible sexual behavior, or eating disor-

ders.  Some women even attempt suicide.

Psychologists generally agree that about 10

percent of the 1.6 million women who have

abortions each year experience severe

emotional trauma following the pro-

cedure. There is no consensus,

however, about how many

women experience less

severe symptoms,

collectively

known as post-

abortion syndrome

or post-abortion emo-

tional distress.

A study published in the

American Journal of Psychiatry

indicated that 50 percent of women who

have abortions experience post-abortion emo-

tional distress.found that a woman’s feelings about an abortion resurface years

later when the woman enters therapy. Pro-choice therapists

Candace DePuy, Ph.D., and Dana Dovitch, Ph.D. wrote The

Healing Choice: Your Guide to Emotional Recovery After an

Abortion  after encountering women who were still dealing

with abortions that had occurred years earlier. “The idea for

this book arose out of our clinical relationships with female

clients whose lives had been touched by abortion,” wrote DePuy

and Dovitch. “As mental health professionals, we were con-

cerned to find how few had discussed the life-changing decision

they had made. When they began to share their stories, nearly

all were surprised by the depth of emotion they still felt.”

The lack of awareness of post-abortion emotional distress

and the fact that women and men suffering from symptoms do

not know assistance is out there is a problem pro-life feminists

must tackle. Theresa Burke, Ph.D., director of the Center for

Post-Abortion Healing in Bridgeport, Pa. says many women do

not initially connect their symptoms to the abortion. According

to Burke, learning that post-abortion distress is a real problem

that many women suffer “gives them some sense of control—a

sense of validation to know that their feelings are not abnor-

mal. What they’re experiencing is grief from loss. This is an

we

can

no

longer

ignore the

psychological

toll that

abortion has

had on the

lives of

women

and

men..."

The American Psychological Association Task force on the subject suggests this is not the case and that correlation is not causation:

2. "The task force found that some studies indicate that some women do experience sadness, grief and feelings of loss following an abortion, and some may experience "clinically significant disorders, including depression and anxiety." However, the task force found "no evidence sufficient to support the claim that an observed association between abortion history and mental health was caused by the abortion per se, as opposed to other factors."

The report noted that other co-occurring risk factors, including poverty, prior exposure to violence, a history of emotional problems, a history of drug or alcohol use, and prior unwanted births predispose women to experience both unwanted pregnancies and mental health problems after a pregnancy, irrespective of how the pregnancy is resolved. Failures to control for these co-occurring risk factors, the task force noted, may lead to reports of associations between abortion history and mental health problems that are misleading. "

Who is more credible, who do you believe?  Can't the "feminists" do better than a deeply-flawed, decade-old article?  Why?

Answer 2

It seems that this organization is more interested in finding alternatives to abortion instead of getting rid of it completely. So I would define them as "reasonably pro-life," which definitely has a place in feminism. Being militantly pro-life does not.

Answer 3

No.  My only problem with pro-life people is that many are trying to get contraception banned as well.    Sorry but I think that is not compatible with feminism.  

The only contradiction I see is that she says she is traditional and she definitely is not.   She also believes that abstinence education is the only thing that should be taught.    

  

Answer 4

Why does every d**n thing need a label????? I am a conservative, but I am also die hard Pro Choice...WE don't have to AGREE with every single thing our party does.  

Answer 5

I am pro choice!  I believe that a true feminist can be pro life.  A woman has their own mind and should be able to speak her mind on any given issue.  Yeah, some may believe that by being pro choice is taking away a womans right to choose, but by labeling a woman who is pro life not a feminist is taking her right to be who she believes she is...if that makes sense.  Sorry I am tired.

Answer 6

that has been one of my main issue about feminism. it's turned into nothing but about abortion rights. Nothing else.  

Answer 7

I am definitely pro-life and tend to be somewhat of a feminist.  I believe that women are equal if not superior in most life areas.  I think that employment should be equal. Why can I not be a strong woman and believe in equality and also pro-life?

Answer 8

Feminism has to be about the right to make important choices for yourself, else it's just trading one tyranny for another.  It can't be one particular set of choices to which you must adhere -- otherwise, what's the point?  It would just be trading one "master" for another.

Answer 9

Nope. I thought the point of feminism was the ability of women like me to make that choice as to where I stand on issues, have a say on said issues, and to be able to do something about it if I wanted to. But pro-life/pro-choice does not a feminist make.  

Answer 10

No you don't have to be pro-choice to be a feminist, but it's unusual.

I also see a large conflict between the goals of feminism-which is about striving for more opportunities and choices for both men and women-and being anti-choice. I find it hard to reconcile that anti-choicers want to limit women and men's choices about their decisions about their healthcare and family, and specifically, they want to limit the choices a woman can make about their body.

I'm not telling anti-choicers they have to have an abortion, or what kind of cancer treatment to get, yet they want to tell others that they cannot have an abortion, and often, that others should not have access to birth control. So I see more and more restrictions being placed on people's choices.

So it makes me wonder, what do these women consider a feminist, if they believe they have the right to limit other people's medical decisions? What other issues do they feel they have the right to impose their beliefs on another, or is it just limited to abortion or just to abortion and birth control? In Palin's case, she doesn't like s*x ed (which implies limiting education to me), supports creationist education (which sometimes means the exclusion of evolution education as well), So where do the limitations end on other's choices?    

Answer 11

I always thought feminism was about a woman being able to make her own choices. If it, in itself, tells her what she has to do or believe, even if she doesn't feel it, what good is it?

Answer 12

"Feminist for Life" is a group's clever play on words; it does not mean I'm a feminist until the day I die, it means I'm a feminist who believes ONLY in anti-choice, NOT PRO CHOICE.

Sorry, that's not a feminist.

I think Palin calling herself a "feminist" is like Hugh Hefner calling himself a feminist -- because he's "all about women."

It is a HUGE stretch to call Palin a feminist, just because she's going to TRY and juggle a very demanding, high powered position as VP of the USA (while totally inexperienced and unqualified for the job!) and has a slew of kids at home, one of them with disabilities (thanks to Palin herself) as well as a pregnant teenager.

But hey- I guess it will give her loser snowboard champ husband a chance to actually DO something useful though (be a SAHD).

Added:  Thank you COOKIE!  for taking the time to point out all the foolishness that is the "Feminists for Life" group.

Their name is misleading; their goals are the same old sexist, religiously constrictive, anti-choice rhetoric all dressed up to come off as "new feminism".

Unfortunately, many women read their c**p, agree with it wholeheartedly and then because they call themselves "'Feminists' for Life" they will believe that they too are now the REAL "feminists" of a new order.   [gag]

This is part of these falsely named groups'  hidden agenda, to steal the label and make it something else.  I won't buy it!

Answer 13

To be a feminist... you only have to believe women are more important than everything else in the world.

Answer 14

No. There's no list of "here's what you have to believe" in order to be a feminist. All that's required is that you believe in the equality and equal treatment of men and women. So surely a feminist can also be against abortion.

Answer 15

Of course not. I haven't heard anyone say that Sarah Palin couldn't be a feminist if she is pro-life, but that's nonsense. Of course, she isn't a feminist.

Answer 16

Feminists are for equal rights between men and women. . I don't think they're rigidly attached.I think it should welcome a debate such as this. It's very intriguing, but in the end people will just agree to disagree... I think.

I too am a pro-choice feminist. (It's a d**n shame that most women won't label themselves as a feminist because of the stigma attached to it)

I believe it has EVERYTHING to do with gender issues. A man cannot tell a woman what to do with her body. Like it or not, the fetus IS INSIDE her, and if she chooses to terminate the pregnancy, so be it. This is where it kind of gets sticky- if the father wants to be sole provider of the child and sole caretaker, that's a different story, in my opinion.

Right, I get what you're saying.. I don't really understand their stance either. I mean, how can you proclaim to be a feminist (equality, etc...) but say that you must carry this child that you don't want to full term! Doesn't that sound like a dictatorship?

Jaz- Agreed.

Answer 17

I'm against abortion but am a feminist.  However, that's my personal choice and am ok with others being pro-life.

Answer 18

Having the baby is a choice also