Misguided searches, a March for Women's Lives, and Heaven

I note that I am the #8 search result on Yahoo for Lara Roxx. 1100+ of them have come here in the last 12 hours. If that's why you are visiting, here is the entry on the subject.

This Sunday, the 25th, is the March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C. Its supporters describe it:

The time is right for a public demonstration of historic size in support of reproductive freedom and justice for all women.

Since so many of those who will be marching will be marching for an end to global violence against women, it's hard for me not to want to support these good folks wholeheartedly. But a visit to the website makes it clear that this isn't really about a broad panoply of gender-related issues; it's about abortion rights, and abortion rights alone.

I'd rather let Serrin Foster, president of Feminists for Life, speak for me on this one; here's part of her press release:

Feminists for Life will not join the upcoming "March for Women's Lives" sponsored by a coalition of abortion advocates on April 25, announced FFL President Serrin Foster. "What organizers don't seem to recognize is that too many women know the gut-wrenching truth about abortion," Foster said. As many as 25 million to 30 million American women have had one or more abortions.

March co-sponsor and outgoing President of NARAL Pro-Choice America Kate Michelman asks, "Who decides?" She had an abortion after her husband left her pregnant with three children, no house, no car, no job, and no money. "Didn't Kate deserve better than abortion?" asked Foster. "Women need to know there are perfect strangers who will help when those she counts on most let her down. The decision should not be left to those who would abandon pregnant women."

Another March organizer, Planned Parenthood's President Gloria Feldt, has said, "Roe v. Wade enabled women to participate in the social, financial and political life of this country." Foster responded, "Abortion does not 'enable' women. Women need housing, childcare, health care that includes maternity benefits, maternity leave, the ability to telecommute, a living wage and a supportive family for themselves and their children. A woman needs and deserves support from the father of the child-both emotionally and financially. The lack of support and resources are what concern women the most. Addressing these unmet needs must become our priority-not abortion."

"Abortion just masks the problem-and creates new ones," says Foster. "This march is misdirected energy." (Bold emphasis is Hugo's).

Amen. One feminist event in which I will be participating is tomorrow's: International Denim Day.

Oh, and in a fit of candor, I wrote this in a comment on Jenell Paris' excellent blog:

In heaven, all the women in my life get along, and I am allowed as many Cadbury Creme eggs and Cinnabons as I want without getting sick. How's that for narcissism?

For the record, before I get in loads of deserved trouble, it was a joke. But there is a tiny bit of masculine wishfulness in there that I suspect is not unique to me.

Comments

[Brian]

I've wondered when more women (and men, too) will start to realize the moral bankruptcy of a political movement that defines the most important issue to their "woman-ness" as the right to terminate the lives of their children in the womb. I hope that progressive Christian men and women can make the political manifestation of feminism about more than abortion without discarding feminism as a whole.

[Hugo]

Amen, Brian; Amen. As a progressive, I want folks to see that pro-lifers DO care about women and children. The pro-choice rhetoric depicts anti-abortion activists as conservative men; FFLA gives the lie to that.

[Elizabeth]

I happen to disagree with your views on this issue, Hugo. But thanks for introducing me to Feminists for Life, along with International Denim Day!

[Jonathan Dresner]

Hugo,

You may not be aware of it, but the pro-choice image (Gross Generalization Alert!) of pro-life supporters is not just conservative men who want to maintain control over women, but also conservative women who nonetheless sneak themselves or their daughters into clinics when they find themselves "in trouble."

It has always struck me that the dominant image of pro-life held by pro-choice and the image of pro-choice held by pro-life is that of a single-issue essentializing position. Neither is really correct, but the rhetoric has so distorted communication and understanding that groups which agree on at least 80% of the problems and 50% of the solutions (The Foster quote which you highlighted could have come from either side, at least the either sides I know) can't work together on them.