Stalking the pro-life feminists

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:10 pm by tmatt

Stalking the pro-life feminists 2013-01-30T17:10:29-05:00 tmatt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Few journalists paid attention when two teen-aged mothers from Grant County, Ky., won their legal fight to enter the National Honor Society.

Somer Chipman and Chasity Glass were barred from the 1998 induction ceremony for one simple reason — both were pregnant. The American Civil Liberties Union said this was illegal discrimination.

Feminists for Life agreed and backed the ACLU case. Executive director Serrin Foster told the court: “If Ms. Chipman and Ms. Glass had had abortions, their sexual activity would not have become known to school officials. Actions such as those of the Grant County School District thus send a message that a decision to carry a pregnancy to term will be punished.”

This court affidavit was quietly handled by the group’s legal counsel — Jane Sullivan Roberts.

Little ink was spilled.

That was then. This is now.

“We’ve had our share of media attention, but I’ve never seen anything like what is happening in the mainstream press right now,” said Foster, referring to the storm caused by this link between Feminists for Life and the wife of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr. “Maybe the time is ripe. It’s been three decades since Roe and it seems that some people are beginning to realize that abortion isn’t solving all the problems it was supposed to solve.”

Then again, it is also possible that journalists cannot resist stories involving (a) abortion, (b) the Supreme Court, (c) feminism, (d) Catholicism or (e) “all of the above.” The twist in the Roberts case is that Feminists for Life is a nonsectarian group and is often viewed as the odd secular sister at faith-based rallies against abortion.

Over and over, Foster has explained that this 33-year-old organization is as committed to the welfare of women as it is to defending the unborn. This is a hard sell in America’s balkanized public square, where everything is starkly divided into blue vs. red, “pro-choice” vs. “pro-life,” Democrats vs. Republicans, Anthony Kennedy Catholics vs. Antonin Scalia Catholics.

Foster and her colleagues winced when journalists pinned a “committed anti-abortion activist” label on Roberts, and by proxy her husband, because of her volunteer work with Feminists for Life. But Foster was surprised that some scribes kept listening.

The New York Times did quote the group’s mission statement: “Abortion is a reflection that our society has failed to meet the needs of women. Women deserve better than abortion.” Foster went further, confirming that “reversing Roe v. Wade … is a goal,” but also telling the Times that this action is “not enough.”

This is precisely the two-pronged message what progressives who are opposed to abortion have been trying to communicate for decades, said theologian Ronald J. Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action. Hopefully, the upcoming confirmation hearings for John Roberts can focus on both sides of this delicate equation.

“What this all illustrates is the fact there are many Christians — evangelicals and Catholics alike — who are strong defenders of human life, yet are in no way right-wingers on many other issues,” said Sider, who two decades ago wrote a manifesto entitled “Completely Pro-Life: Building a Consistent Stance on Abortion, the Family, Nuclear Weapons, the Poor.”

“I suspect,” he added, “that a majority of the American people want to find a way — somehow — to respect and protect unborn children while respecting and protecting the rights of women. Can we find the will to do both?”

Foster has felt that tension and, as a result, has started referring to herself as a “Demorepublicat.” Then there is the tension caused by those who assume that her fight against abortion is built on religious dogma alone, rather than a heritage of early feminist opposition to “child murder” and “foeticide.”

More than once, Foster has described her beliefs and heard journalists say, “That sounds Catholic to me.” Issues linked to the sanctity of life are too complex for this old framework, she said. It will be hard to fit groups such as “Wiccans for Life” and “Gays and Lesbians for Life” into the old stereotypes.

“We can pledge to support every mother and to welcome every child,” she said. “We don’t have to be at war with our own bodies and our own children. We don’t have to settle for that. We can change the status quo.”

Previous Post

August 10, 2005

Peter Jennings -- news seeker

Next Post

August 24, 2005 Democrats trying to see red

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Anglicanism Announcements books Catholics doctrine evangelicals family life First person Godbeat Islam Judaism Mainline churches Marriage mass media movies Orthodox Politics popular culture religion sex Social issues Uncategorized Web/tech World World religions worship young people

Select a Month July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 January 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 February 2000 January 2000 December 1999 November 1999 October 1999 September 1999 August 1999 July 1999 June 1999 May 1999 April 1999 March 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 September 1998 August 1998 July 1998 June 1998 May 1998 April 1998 March 1998 February 1998 January 1998 December 1997 November 1997 October 1997 September 1997 August 1997 July 1997 June 1997 May 1997 April 1997 March 1997 February 1997 January 1997 December 1996 November 1996 October 1996 September 1996 August 1996 July 1996 June 1996 May 1996 April 1996 March 1996 February 1996 January 1996 December 1995 November 1995 October 1995 September 1995

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

A hand wrote on the palace wall during a feast, and I interpreted the message: numbered, weighed, divided. What were these three Aramaic words?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Babylon, Media, Persia Holy, Holy, Holy Ichabod, Ebenezer, Beulah Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin