Feminists for Life

Feminists for Life (FFL) is a non-sectarian, non-partisan, nonprofit pro-life feminist organization established in 1972. The organization describes itself thus:

Major Outreach Programs

The American Feminist

The American Feminist has been the official magazine and primary publication of Feminists for Life since 1994, when it replaced FFL's Sisterlife newsletter. Since its beginning, most issues have been thematic, exploring "Crimes Against Women Around the World," "Victory Over Violence," "Remarkable Pro-Life Women," "Our Pro-Woman, Pro-Life Legacy," "FFL On Campus: The Revolution Continues," and "Pro-Woman Answers to Pro-Choice Questions."

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College Outreach Program

FFL's College Outreach program began in 1994 when Serrin Foster, now president of Feminists for Life, began delivering her speech "The Feminist Case Against Abortion" on college campuses. Originally designed to educate students about the history of pro-life feminism, the speech evolved to identify difficulties faced by pregnant and parenting women in the workplace and higher education and to propose "creative, life-affirming, women-centered solutions." Feminists for Life identified college women as the group at greatest risk of abortion and determined to address their unmet needs, the coercive factors that drive them to choose between their education and their children.

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Over the next couple of years, FFL began designing an ad series for a college audience challenging traditional abortion rhetoric and providing practical information for pregnant women. A university health clinic kit was designed to help staff advise pregnant students how to seek and access existing support and resources. The first Pregnancy Resources Forum at Georgetown University brought together students, both pro-life and pro-choice, and administrators in a non-confrontational gathering to discuss, identify, publicize, create, and improve resources for pregnant and parenting students on campus. Question Abortion became a popular slogan in FFL college activism. In 1997 Planned Parenthood's INsider called FFL's growing College Outreach Program the "newest and most challenging concept in anti-choice organizing" and predicted it could "have a profound impact" on college campuses.

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In following years Feminists for Life created several kits for student activists, a kit for residential advisors and psychological counselors, a feminist history kit for libraries, more challenging ads for college audiences, and continued to deliver speeches and moderate Pregnancy Resource Forums on college and university campuses across the United States. More resources became available to students domestically and internationally through the FFL website. "The Feminist Case Against Abortion" was included in the Women's Rights anthology of the "Great Speeches in History" book series (2001, ISBN 0737707739). FFL reports that its College Outreach Program has reached more than 5 million students since 1994, and the rate of abortion among college educated women has dropped by 30%.

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::(Primary source: The American Feminist vol. 11 nos. 2-3.)

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Women Deserve Better Campaign

Feminists for Life's Women Deserve Better campaign was launched on the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. FFL describes it as "a long-term public education effort examining the failure of abortion. The campaign aims to refocus the nation on the reasons women feel pressured into abortion and to promote women-centered solutions," ("Women Deserve Better than Abortion"). The basic message of the campaign, featured on ads, billboards, posters, and placards, is "Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Women deserve better than abortion."

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"Abortion is not a measure of society?s success in meeting the needs of women; it?s a measure of its failure. Why celebrate failure?" explained FFL president Serrin Foster. "Abortion is a symptom of?never a solution to?the problems faced by women.... abortion has completely failed as a social policy designed to aid women.... women have had to settle for far less than they need and deserve," ("Women Deserve Better than Abortion").

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The Women Deserve Better message goes hand-in-hand with Feminists for Life's Refuse to Choose motto. Serrin Foster explained the philosophy: "We refuse to choose between women and children. We refuse to choose between sacrificing our education and career plans or sacrificing our children," ("Some Feminists Won't Participate in 'March for Women's Lives'").

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International Outreach Program

In 2004, Feminists for Life launched an International Outreach Program, on the grounds that "in every country and region of the world, abortion is a reflection that the needs of women have not been met. Women Deserve Better than abortion, no matter where they live," (FFL International index). According to FFL's "Global Vision":

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::Feminists for Life seeks lasting solutions to the problems that can drive women to abortion worldwide. These solutions include:

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:::*increased education standards and opportunities for the poor, especially for girls

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:::*increased employment opportunities for all women, especially poor women and those who have been excluded from such opportunities

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:::*micro-loans and other business assistance for low-income women to start businesses and own land

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:::*health care for mother and child, before and after birth, including prenatal care, assisted delivery, postpartum care, emergency services, immunizations, disease prevantion and treatment, especially for the HIV/AIDS pandemic

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:::*sustainable development that provides clean water, sanitation, housing and food

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:::*child care for the working poor and regulations to protect vulnerable women and children from forced labor

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:::*protection for women and children from violence, including sex trafficking

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:::*measures to rescue women trapped in domestic violence

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::::(The American Feminist vol. 12 no. 1, p. 20)

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"Abortion doesn't put food on the table, or provide clean water. After an abortion, a woman returns to the same situation that drove her there. One abortion is too many. It means we have failed women," argued FFL's international outreach director Marie Smith. "What women want and need is full participation as citizens, equal access to resources and opportunities, and enforced legal protection against discrimination, violence, and oppression.... Education is the most empowering choice for any woman's future," (The American Feminist vol. 12 no. 1, pp. 20-21). Feminists for Life grounds this thinking in the argument of early American feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who said, "There must be a remedy for such a crying evil as . But where shall it be found, at least where begin, if not the complete enfranchisement and elevation of women?" (The Revolution, 1(10):146-7 March 12, 1868).

Related Topics:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton - The Revolution

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In 2005 FFL was granted special consultative status as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the United Nations' Economic and Social Council ("New Voice for Women and Children at United Nations").

Related Topics:
Special consultative status - Non-Governmental Organization - United Nations - Economic and Social Council

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Celebrity Activists

Two-time Emmy Award winning actress Patricia Heaton is honorary chair of Feminists for Life. Heaton said she believes in "supporting people and stepping out and affirming that life is good," and "wanted to find a group that had compassionate, intelligent, reasonable people who are fun and life-affirming" when she joined FFL. Heaton's activist motto is "Women who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy also deserve unplanned joy," (The American Feminist vol. 7 no. 4, pp. 12-13).

Related Topics:
Emmy Award - Patricia Heaton

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Actress Margaret Colin is honorary co-chair of Feminists for Life. In an address to a Congressional briefing on July 14, 2002, Colin said, " is violence against women. This is the failure of medicine to help and heal. We need to address the reasons that women seek abortions, to help them find the resources that are available to ease their situations, and coordinate the resources nationwide. Politically, women have always sought to address the root causes. This isn't news. The early American feminists, who fought for our right to vote, fought for the rights of pregnant women?for society to change to accept them, not for them to change to be accepted by society.... remember the woman. Become her voice. And help us redirect this debate by focusing on solutions?because women deserve better," (The American Feminist vol. 12 no. 1, p. 4).

Related Topics:
Margaret Colin - July 14 - 2002

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Both women have spoken on behalf of Feminists for Life on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and in the national media.

Related Topics:
Capitol Hill - White House

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