Феминистки за жизнь Америки: антиабортная организация и её эволюция.

Non governmental organization

Feminists for Life of America (FFL) is a non profit, anti abortion feminist, non governmental organization (NGO). Established in 1972, and now based in Alexandria, Virginia, the organization publishes a biannual magazine, The American Feminist, and aims to reach young women, college students in particular.

FFL uses "pro women" language in order to convince women that abortion is "immoral". They use the "pro woman" term as a substitute for "feminist", while at the same time opposing mainstream feminism. FFL holds that abortion is antithetical to feminism. FFL argues that abortion comes from gender inequality. In response to Roe v. Wade, Callaghan made several claims, including that abortion causes bodily injury to women "in a third to a half of the cases", and that the Supreme Court legalized abortion because they "hate poor and unwed mothers". Professor Kelsy Kretschmer said these claims are unsubstantiated, but that the FFL uses such claims to undermine the idea that legal abortion is a feminist "victory". although she and Callaghan were not expelled from national NOW membership.

After five years as president of FFL, Goltz retired. In 1977, organizational management was moved to Wisconsin. The group's activities focused on being a presence at both anti abortion and feminist events, distributing literature, and writing letters to various publications. A national workshop that became an annual conference for anti abortion feminists was launched during this time. Many members supported both the Equal Rights Amendment and a Human Life Amendment as "complementary in their concern for human life".

In June 1984, at the annual FFL meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, peace activist Rachel MacNair was elected president of FFL. Out of her office at a crisis pregnancy center in Kansas City, Missouri, she ran FFL for ten years. Under MacNair, FFL began to receive more national exposure through media interviews, involvement in a broad spectrum of anti abortion issues, and invitations to speak at anti abortion events. By 1989, FFL was reporting that their research had found statements against abortion that had been made by early feminists. Some of these findings were challenged by specialists in women's history, especially in the case of Susan B. Anthony, leading to a public dispute about her views on abortion. During 1992, MacNair also worked toward founding the Susan B. Anthony List as a political action committee working against abortion through electing anti abortion candidates.

In the 1990s, FFL worked within the anti abortion movement but they used "pro woman" language to establish a "feminist" identity separate from both feminists and anti abortion activists. Professor Laury Oaks noted that, in practice, their actions revealed a "pro life stance" from which they attacked mainstream feminism. closed to be converted into apartments.

FFL states that its members and supporters "hold a broad spectrum of opinions" about contraception, with FFL taking no official position on the matter. Prominent FFL member Sarah Palin stated in 2006, "I'm pro contraception, and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues".

FFL publishes a biannual magazine called The American Feminist which includes original and reprinted articles.

In 1994, Foster began to visit college campuses to deliver her speech "The Feminist Case Against Abortion". Two of the eight "Question Abortion" posters offered in 2000 touched upon political issues, one of these saying "No law can make the wrong choice right". FFL believes that there should be daycares on college campuses', dorm housing for women with children, and maternity coverage in health insurances. They blame abortion rights activists for failing to secure provisions that would help make motherhood an easier choice for women. The quotes attributed to Anthony led to a dispute about her views on abortion. Much of the dispute centered on an anonymous article called "Marriage and Maternity" published in 1869 in Anthony's newspaper and signed "A". Anonymously written articles were common in The Revolution, which published a variety of viewpoints. The author of this article used fervent religious language and called abortion "child murder". Pro Life Feminism, a book published in 1995 by FFL leaders, said that Susan B. Anthony was the "A" who wrote the article. Ann Dexter Gordon, an academic expert on Anthony, disagreed, saying that Anthony did not sign her writings as "A" and that "many of the ideas expressed in the article clash with her known beliefs." generating a discussion in which the editors referred to its author as "Mr. A." and she was an opponent of the Comstock laws restricting education about contraception and abortion. Stanton helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention, and she was responsible for putting women's right to vote on the list of convention demands. Regarding the 1868 "Child Murder" article in the Revolution, from which FFL takes a supposed Stanton quote, Gordon concluded that Stanton was not the author of this article, saying its "flat style" does not match Stanton's. Rather, it was likely written by Revolution co editor Parker Pillsbury who used that same style in other articles. Thomas said that Pillsbury performed most of the day to day editorial activities for the newspaper because Stanton was away on speaking tours for much of the year, sending in her articles by mail.

In 2007, Foster noted that FFL had reached 26,000 members, including the families of women who joined. Sarah Palin, the first woman to be nominated by the Republican Party for Vice President of the United States and the first female governor of Alaska, has been a FFL member since 2006.

Carol Crossed, founder of the New York chapter of Democrats for Life of America and former board member of FFL's New York chapter, purchased the Adams, Massachusetts, birthplace of Susan B. Anthony on August 5, 2006. FFL did not own the Susan B. Anthony birthplace, Its mission states, "The Museum will highlight the familial and regional influences which shaped Ms. Anthony's early life, by displaying the textiles and furnishings of that period, as well as the literature and other memorabilia associated with her later career". The birthplace is managed by The Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum, a non profit corporation.

FFL's anti abortion positions have been criticized by other feminists. Katha Pollitt, columnist for The Nation, argues that FFL seeks to make abortion illegal in all cases, including those of rape, incest, health, major fetal defects, and "even some abortions most doctors would say were necessary to save the woman's life". FFL supported the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Students Act, which was criticized by writer Emily Bazelon in Mother Jones as a "largely hollow 'message bill'". Bazelon opined that the 10 million dollars provided by the bill would be "paltry" when spread nationwide. Bazelon quoted Frances Kissling, leader of the abortion rights organization Catholics for a Free Choice, as calling the bill "not serious", and adding that "if we support these message bills that don't really give women much help, then the real message we send is that we're not strongly committed to women". Some commentators have criticized FFL for not promoting contraception. Katha Pollitt says that she asked Serrin Foster about it, and that Foster replied in part that the Pill did not work for teenagers, which Pollitt said was a belief she knew to be false. Feminist scholar Laury Oaks pointed out that FFL's silence on the subjects of contraception and safer sex "fails to address some of the most critical sexual and reproductive issues for women and presents views on pregnancy that cannot encompass the reality of many women's experiences".