Abortion "Rights" Not an Emancipation for Women

"Contrary to pro-choice feminist assertions, abortion has degraded the status of women more than it has elevated it," Emory University professor Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, and Marie Oates, executive director of Boston's Bayridge, argue in Friday's Washington Times.

In their editorial column, they note: "More than the rate of abortions and its business aspects, it is the 'right to choose' mantra that has really defined the abortion movement and galvanized women and men to support it. But the abortion movement has neglected many truths about women, men and happiness." One of which, they point out, is that young women and girls do not have the same "sexual agenda" as boys, and desire "love and connection" over "adventure."

The authors argue that, for most women, "the reality of abortion exposes the bankruptcy of the claim that it is only a matter of convenience and expediency." They note that "[b]eyond the physical and psychological risks, abortion confronts a woman with the great existential questions of being and purpose: Who am I? What am I intended for?"

Fox-Genovese, also the author of "Feminism is Not the Story of My Life," and Oates further write, "Rather than emancipate women from the consequences of unwanted pregnancy, the legalization of abortion has chained many women to a narrower vision of life and one sure choice: abortion."

They conclude, "We haven't really come that far in our fight for equality if we celebrate a mother's destruction of her child as an affirmation of human freedom and dignity".


Source: Fox-Genovese/Oates, Washington Times, 4/9/99 The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and educational information. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: infonet-list-request@lists.prolife.org. Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First (http://www.prolife.org/wcf). For more pro-life info visit the Ultimate Pro-Life Resource List at http://www.prolife.org/ultimate and for questions or additional information email ertelt@prolife.org

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