What are you opinions on this feminist organization?

Question

A friend of mine mentioned this organization today, which strangely I've never heard of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminists_for_Life

http://www.feministsforlife.org/cop/perception.htm

What are your opinions of this organization? Do you believe it goes hand-in-hand with feminism or is it the antithesis of feminism?

I would like to hear from feminists and non-feminists alike.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The right to control one's own reproductive choices is one of the basic tenets of feminism.  These women are sorely misguided.  

They keep touting Susan B. Anthony as being "pro-life," quoting writings where she talked about disliking abortion.  However, they neglect to mention that this same essay was written to OPPOSE anti-abortion legislation; she did not believe that legislation would resolve the issue of unwanted pregnancy.  

Answer 2

Feminists believe feminism is some sort of great progressive movement, when in reality it is an offshoot of liberalism, and basically a disease.

Answer 3

It's interesting that they claim to be all about "Insuring healthy choices for women," yet also say "opposed to all forms of abortion, including cases of rape, incest, birth defects, or to preserve the mother's health or life." Where, exactly, is the *choice* in that?

I consider myself a Feminist, but to try and quantify what IS and what ISN'T "feminism" is pointless. I go with what I see as fair and beneficial treatment for women. It's all a matter of what one agrees to be Right.

I'm sure this group feels it is doing what it considers right, and I agree with a number of their points, but they are too "hard-line-no exception" against abortion for me to support them. They appear more interested in anti-abortion than the Rights of Women.

EDIT: I would consider them a Pro-Life Group before I'd consider them a Feminist Group.

Answer 4

Sigh, I am sick of explaining why modern day feminism is stupid, it gets old.

Its just stupid.

Answer 5

Feminists create more problems then what they set out to fix. They do not speak for every woman and I really hope they do not speak for even the majority of women.

Answer 6

"FFL is a non-profit dedicated to "systematically eliminating the root causes that drive women to abortion — primarily lack of practical resources and support — through holistic, woman-centered solutions."

Its all good.  Whatever floats your boat.  They are attempting to do something positive, as opposed to many other pro-life organizations who  shoot clinic staff, set buildings on fire, etc.  Terrorism.  On the surface, at least, these feminists don't sound like terrorists.  More like social activists.  

I don't know anything about their organization either.

Answer 7

My opinion is that it's totally rallying against the old feminist's standard of, "It's my body; it's my choice."  What they believe is who cares whether or not you have been traumatized by rape, and, or you and the baby are in serious danger of some fatal disease; according to them, you must die both physically and emotionally.  So, what if you end of hating the kid; he/she just have to understand how lucky he/she is to have been born in the first place.

Yeah, a real jumping philosophy they have got there.

Answer 8

It just shows how undependable and arbitrary, thus dismissable, feminisim as a movement is.  How can any "philosophy" be taken seriously when their core values are subject to such modulation?  

And society has had to accomodate their rantings for decades and they still want to be taken seriously.

Now they are trying to isolate the pro-lifers by encroaching upon, thus diminishing, their pure movement.  Abortion is not a negotiable moral position beyond rape and the mother's life at risk.

Answer 9

They are essentially an anti-choice organisation which has attracted a number of women by flying the feminist flag.

*Shrugs* they can believe what they want, I don't share their views and won't be joining, but I don't imagine they'll find that a huge loss.

Their membership would mainly be the anti-choice crowd, who no doubt think it will give them entree to feminist meetings and organisations which they perceive as very very bad indeed.

I don't care for organisations which hide their real intentions behind false flags, but then, lying about women is what the anti-choicers are best at.

Cheers :-)

Answer 10

If we go to the dictionary definition of feminism, then abortion really has nothing to do with it. But then again modern feminism has been totally unlike the dictionary definition for 4 decades now so most people are inclined to go by the reality rather than what they read in a dictionary.

Answer 11

"The president of the "non-sectarian, non-partisan" Feminists For Life, Serrin Foster, describes the organization as opposed to all forms of abortion, including cases of rape, incest, birth defects, or to preserve the mother's health or life"

So the organisation believes a woman who has been raped and is going to die in childbirth shouldn't have an abortion. A woman too ill to see the pregnancy through would be condemned to death. Doesn't seem particularly feminist to me.

Working on the causes of why women have abortions is a good idea. Taking away reproductive choice for women isn't. It's simply not acceptable or reasonable in this age of scientific knowledge and supposed gender equality to value the life of a non-sentient clump of cells over an adult woman.

Answer 12

They aren't feminist. It is almost impossible to be feminist and still think that restricting the choices of people who are not yourself in regards to their body is okay. They use strawmen and circular rhetoric to appear supportive, when in reality, they want to be able to dictate how others use their bodies.

Answer 13

wow, while I like the sentiment I have to say its completely inconsistent with their perception of what "reproductive rights" encompass. I don't believe in reproductive rights or a right to life personally but I do say that if anyone believes a woman has fundamental human right to be free from harm etc. then a fetus does too by virtue of its humanity. Same species = same fundamental rights (not social ones)

Answer 14

I'm all for female empowerment, and am sort of a feminist myself, but sometimes these people take things too far!  I want both genders to be equal, not have either one higher than the other.

Answer 15

This whole modern Feminism business has me so confused I don't even know what the h**l to do.  It's like banging my head against the wall and expecting something great to happen, I don't get any of it, none.  I think it's all a bunch of confusing and conflicting ideas and it's just wayyyyy too hard to know what's going on at all.  I don't think anybody even knows anymore what this whole business is all about.

I find mastering Quantum Mechanics at the graduate level a much easier task than figuring out this whole feminism thing.

Answer 16

They are hardcore anti-abortion. They are against it more than I am. I am anti-feminist and belief in certain necessary times to aboriton like medical reasons.

"The problem is that FFL doesn't just oppose abortion. FFL wants abortion to be illegal. All abortions, period, including those for rape, incest, health, major fetal defects and, although Foster resisted admitting this, even some abortions most doctors would say were necessary to save the woman's life." http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050829/po...

"Pro-life feminists want REAL choice for women. A REAL choice where women have the option to *choose* effective birth control, effective being the key word. A REAL choice when it comes to having a career and a child - women should not be in the situation where they either have an abortion or risk losing their job. What kind of choice is that? And this sort of thing does happen. What does this say to women? That a pregnant woman isn't as valuable in the workplace? How is that showing a respect for women? How does that type of attitude "liberate" women?" http://www.gargaro.com/lifefem.html

I think they take an extreme anti-abortion stance, which is a weird think for an anti to say. The thing about this that I don't like is it would result in a more socialized state (more state run daycares and maternity programs), which would mean more taxes on a society that is going to feel the squeeze as the baby boomers get older. It is also weird because they don't promote abstinence, just no abortions.

They have a have your cake and eat it too philosophy. It is a feminism that is for pampering women.. Like I wrote before, this means that taxpayers have to pay to raise somebody elses child(ren). It is a wolf in sheep's clothing belief system. While they disagree on the grounds of abortion with other feminist, they agree on everything else.

The end goal is a socialist utopia, a paradoxal state where individuals have the right to do what they please, and when mistakes are made they bureaucracy will save them. There is no attempt to prevent mistakes and there is no learning from one's mistakes because there is a safety net to catch them. Being an individualist, I am against anything that results in a collectivist state.