On Friday, over 100,000 activists are expected to descend on Washington for the annual March for Life. The theme of this year’s march, “Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman,” is especially timely.
The era when even pro-choice Democrats would express personal objection to abortion is not only long gone, but it has been replaced by a culture in which women are encouraged to celebrate their abortions as some sort of symbol of female empowerment. Instead of speaking honestly about the issue — even if just to acknowledge that abortion is never desirable — pro-abortion advocates argue that women need abortion and that abortion is nothing strange. In fact, it’s normal.
“Abortion is normal” is the name of an art exhibit currently on display in New York, where women can view art inspired by pro-abortion rallying cries such as “THANK GOD FOR ABORTION.”
Similar messages permeate the media and culture.
“Legal abortion means that the law recognizes a woman as a person,” wrote feminist Katha Pollitt in the New Yorker. “It says that she belongs to herself.”
When Michelle Williams won a Golden Globe award this month, she announced that she couldn’t have done it without “a woman’s right to choose.” Williams, who is now pregnant, said, “I’m grateful for the acknowledgment of the choices I’ve made, and I’m also grateful to have lived at a moment in our society where choice exists.”
Planned Parenthood acting president Alexis McGill Johnson says abortion restrictions have divided America, with abortion access and progress in one state, and banned abortions and patriarchy in another. “I think there’s a perfect illustration of this, is the idea that there’s actually a tale of two cities right now, the idea that … in one state there’s a girl who’s literally opening up her imagination, her ability to think about her future in a totally different way, and in another state and city she’s actually fighting just to get access to basic, basic health care,” she said.
It would seem that Roe v. Wade, which was decided by the Supreme Court 47 years ago, is the linchpin of women’s rights. The liberal media, woke Hollywood actresses, and even children’s books rely on this same premise. Question the “right” to abortion, and question women’s “right” to make a decision that should be between her and her health care provider.
But the choice between women’s empowerment and abortion access is a false one, which is particularly evident considering the rights of the females in the womb. And a new crop of feminists reject the premise that advocating for women’s rights necessitates embracing abortion on demand.
“As feminists it is our duty to use our hard-won rights to now protect and liberate other marginalized groups still vulnerable to violence, and in the case of abortion, even death,” says Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, founder of New Wave Feminists. Herndon-De La Rosa’s pro-life, pro-woman organization doesn’t accept the conceit that women need abortion. “So yes, pro-life is pro-woman, and we walk out these beliefs by helping women find non-violent solutions to their pregnancies, while also making sure society as a whole accommodates our fertility and our children,” she explained in an email.
Ashley Bratcher, who played former abortionist Abby Johnson in the pro-life film Unplanned, said of her own unplanned pregnancy: “Society makes us believe that you can’t have a baby and have a successful career or go to school.” But, that is “exactly what we don’t need to hear. That’s exactly the opposite of female empowerment.”
Pro-choice and pro-life advocates are arguing over entirely separate definitions of women’s empowerment. The contentious discourse surrounding the issue would benefit from the acknowledgment that abortion is not necessary for women’s rights. It’s a crutch predicated on the erasure of another person, and women deserve better.
January’s most “feminist” march, in the truest sense of the word, is not the Women’s March. It’s the one that celebrates all women, no matter their age or location. It’s the March for Life.
