Those who would have you believe that the abortion controversy is all about men trying to control women have deliberately committed a classic anti-feminist act. They have rendered women -- in this case, pro-life women -- invisible. Real women simply aren't like their stereotypes.
"It's a simple, logical, plausible assumption--that women, who alone bear the burden and hazards of pregnancy and childbearing, are instinctively friendlier to "the right to choose" than men. But it's absolutely false. Abortion-rights groups have always known that, and a recent poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News demonstrates it once again. [...]
Only 32 percent of females surveyed said that abortion should remain "generally available," with 44 percent saying it should be "under stricter limits" and 21 percent saying it should be prohibited. In other words, two out of every three American women would like the government to interfere more with the "freedom" of women to control their own bodies." -- Stephen Chapman, Chicago Tribune, January 18, 1998.
Abortion advocacy groups know that this isn't a battle of the sexes. (If they somehow don't know, they could consult the Gallup Organization, the Los Angeles Times, or the Center for Gender Equality, among others.) But it furthers their cause to portray pro-lifers as misogynistic men -- and to ignore women who dare to hold unapproved views.
Another favorite slur of abortion-choicers is that pro-life groups are all led by men. In reality, most pro-life leaders and activists are women. The National Right to Life Committee is the largest pro-life advocacy group in the United States. Its president, Dr. Wanda Franz, is a woman, as are approximately two-thirds of its members. Other large organizations such as the American Life League and the March for Life are also headed by women (albeit very conservative ones).
Political advocacy, of course, is only part of the picture. An important aspect of pro-life work is crisis pregnancy assistance. Virtually all volunteers (about 90%) at the several hundred Birthright centers nationwide are women, as are 80-90% of the volunteers at Crisis Pregnancy Centers.
And naturally, I couldn't let a discussion of pro-life women pass without pointing the reader to Feminists for Life.
It's true that the violent and violence-sympathetic fringe of abortion opponents are overwhelmingly male. That is just one more way in which this fringe is distinct from the pro-life community at large -- contrary to what the propagandists would have you believe.
It is commonly assumed by reporters and abortion-choice feminists that abortion is at least partly responsible for the "gender gap"; the growing tendency for women to favor Democrats and men to favor Republicans in U.S. elections. However, there is no evidence to support that position, and plenty to refute it.
"Gap Politics", from the Atlantic Monthly -- asserts that men and women differ little in their views on abortion, and that the gender gap is primarily due to different views on social welfare policies.
The Women's Vote -- exit polling during the 1996 elections showed that women who cited abortion as one of their top two issues voted for Dole over Clinton by a sizeable margin.
See also: Pro-Life Feminism Is the Future
Last modified December 30, 2002.
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