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Feminism, rape culture, and the pro-life movement

August 22, 2018 by Lia Milousis Leave a Comment

In my previous post, I mentioned that I had recently finished reading Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape. Well, I am back to discuss another one of the incredibly problematic accusations that was made in this book. And yes, we are going to be focusing once again on Jill Filipovic’s essay “Offensive Feminism: The Conservative Gender Norms that Perpetuate Rape Culture, and How Feminists Can Fight Back.” (Prepare yourselves.)

In addition to misquoting religious texts and accusing “anti-choicers” of trying to “give a fetus rights that no born person even has” (Friedman & Valenti, 2008, p. 19), Filipovic also decided to draw illogical comparisons between sexual assault and abortion. This is what she said:

“Sexual assault is not only a crime of violence and power, but also one of entitlement. So long as men feel entitled to dominate and control women’s bodies, sexual assault will continue. While issues like reproductive justice may initially seem unrelated to sexual assault, they are a crucial aspect of women’s bodily autonomy and integrity – legally forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy for nine months and give birth against her will and without her consent, or coercing certain kinds of ‘unfit’ women into not reproducing, are deeply troubling uses of women’s bodies to serve the needs, ideologies, and desires of others” (Friedman & Valenti, 2008, p. 26).

Filipovic then went on to claim that “anti-choicers” were actively supporting rape culture:

“We need to situate sexual assault within the greater cultural battles over women’s bodies, and recognize that anti-rape activism cannot be separated from action for reproductive freedom, anti-racism, LGBT rights, and broader equality; and that the opponents of those movements are the same people who have an interest in maintaining rape culture” (Friedman & Valenti, 2008, p. 27).

Now, there are many, many things that could be said in response to these claims. For example, it is intellectually dishonest to claim that pro-lifers are “legally forcing a women to carry a pregnancy for nine months and give birth against her will and without her consent”. As a pro-life woman, I have no interest in forcing women to give birth. However, I am interested in ensuring that the state does not sanction abortion, which allows doctors to systematically dismember an unborn human fetus/being/child. This has nothing to do with “forcing” women to give birth and everything to do with “forcing” men, women, and physicians to abstain from participating in the destruction of human beings.

But Filipovic’s accusation goes much deeper than this. The real claim that Filipovic is making is this: by opposing a woman’s bodily autonomy, “anti-choicers” are supporting rape culture. So let’s examine this claim.

As a pro-life woman, I would like to clearly state, once and for all, that I believe in, support, and advocate for a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. I mean, let’s be serious. I am a woman. I love women. I believe in women’s rights. I studied feminism. I am a traditional feminist. I am thankful for my bodily autonomy. I support the bodily autonomy of other women. Capiche?

However, there is a massive difference between supporting a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and supporting a woman’s right to exercise autonomy over the body of another human being (ie. the human fetus). This is where pro-life and pro-abortion advocates diverge.

You see, pro-abortion advocates believe that a woman not only has the right to control her own body, but that she also has the right to control the body inside her body (ie. the body of the human fetus). (Side note: This is why the “My body, my choice” slogan should really be “Our bodies, my choice.”).

However, as a pro-life advocate, I reject this belief. I reject the idea that another individual has the right to assert control over, perpetuate violence against, and threaten the existence of another individual. And do you want to know a secret? This is perfectly in alignment with my stance as a traditional feminist who combats rape culture!

When a man rapes a woman*, he is asserting control over and perpetuating violence against another autonomous individual. In simplified terms, he is violating the woman’s bodily autonomy.

As a pro-life woman, it is my belief in bodily autonomy (among other things) that fuels my opposition to sexual assault. And it is also my belief in bodily autonomy (among other things) that fuels my opposition to abortion.

Now, before people begin to freak out and make all sorts of unfounded accusations against me, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: I am not suggesting that abortion and sexual assault are similar. However, what I am saying is that Jill Filipovic’s claim is absolutely false.

Do “anti-choicers” actively support and maintain rape culture by “opposing” a woman’s bodily autonomy? Absolutely not. As I demonstrated, the pro-life worldview is premised on the equal distribution of human rights and bodily autonomy to all human beings, born and unborn. This is what fuels our opposition to abortion. This is what fuels our opposition to human trafficking. And this is what fuels our opposition to rape culture.

One final point: The connection between rape culture, abortion services, and businesses like Planned Parenthood is a lot more problematic than you might think. I would recommend that you watch this video and this video. The reality is that, through our activism, pro-life people have been actively combatting rape culture. And realistically, if you truly want to combat rape culture, you too must oppose the insidious way that abortion is used by Planned Parenthood to cover-up sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation.

 

*Note: I recognize that rape and sexual assault do not always follow this construction. However, in light of the fact that the vast majority of sexual assault is perpetrated by men against women, this is the construction that I have chosen to use.

Filed Under: Featured Posts, Feminism Tagged With: anti-choice, bodily autonomy, feminism, human trafficking, Jessica Valenti, Jill Filipovic, Planned Parenthood, pro-abortion, pro-choice, pro-life, rape, rape culture, reproductive justice, reproductive rights, sexual abuse, sexual assault, Women's rights, Yes Means Yes

When abortion is viewed as compassion

May 19, 2010 by Andrea Mrozek 11 Comments

An excellent editorial, here.

When abortion is viewed in general as a compassionate course of action, it will naturally be viewed all the more compassionately when a girl or woman is pregnant because someone raped her.

The prevailing “necessary evil” view on abortion is part of the “abortion as compassion” view. Denying an abortion, particularly in cases of rape, is viewed by many as excessive and cruel.

In our current culture, it’s not easy to say abortion is never compassionate. We might point to the many known cases where abortion concealed rape and/or incest and allowed the criminal to keep assaulting a young woman. We might point to the victim in the womb being one and the same in substance and soul as any other pregnancy, normally conceived. All of it rings hollow, and I’m aware of that.

With Quebec’s history with the Roman Catholic Church, the problem is compounded. It’s also worse in Quebec because there, more so than any other province, abortion is used as birth control. Multiple examples of one woman having multiple abortions are known to me personally.

If you had many abortions for pretty much no reason–how crazy is it to deny a woman who might possibly have a very good reason?

Where rape is the topic in conjunction with abortion the discussion is as hard as it gets. There’s disagreement on the PWPL team, too. But we have agreed to work on the 99% of abortions done for casual reasons before turning our attention to the very difficult cases.

________________________

Brigitte adds: Right on. If we could make a dent in the number of casual abortions in this country, that would make me very happy indeed. That said, I’m no longer sure quite where I stand on the subject of rape/incest. I find it difficult, if not impossible, to tell a woman who got pregnant after non-consensual sex (especially if the event was particularly traumatic) that she should bear the child that came from the assault. I’m not sure I could do it. Yes, I know – the child is innocent and human and making him or her yet another victim of the criminal’s actions would not do anything to right the wrong. But at the same time, gosh, carrying a baby for nine months then going through childbirth for someone whose existence is a constant reminder of a horrible crime of which you were the primary victim, that must be extraordinarily difficult. I suppose that puts me somewhere on the fence.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: rape

Palin and pro-life consistency

October 1, 2008 by Rebecca Walberg 3 Comments

I was advised to look up footage of Sarah Palin in the Alaska gubernatorial debates on YouTube, since she apparently performed much better in that context than she did with Katie Couric, and lo and behold, it seems that she did. [youtube:http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-B-OyQ-KI&feature=related] 

I am struck by how much the discussion of abortion dwelt upon abortion for a rape victim.  Why does it seem to baffle so many people that those who believe abortion is wrong also believe that aborting a baby conceived in rape is wrong?  If the issue is an innate right to life, why would the circumstances of conception be a part of the equation?

Any attempt to point out that abortion for rape victims might not be the answer is dicey, because of the need to be sensitive to the pain and horror endured by rape victims for a long time – frequently a lifetime – after the assault itself.  Pregnancy with a much-wanted child can still be a physically and mentally stressful experience; I can’t imagine how much worse this would be if the pregnancy was not only unwanted but a constant reminder of violation.  If the issue, though, is to minimize the suffering of a woman who has already been victimized, why do the reservations pro-lifers have about abortion in general – that it damages women on a physical, moral and emotional level – not still apply?

To put it more bluntly: most pro-lifers believe abortion to be wrong because it ends a human life.   How does it help a rape victim to make her an accessory to this?

_________________________

Andrea adds: It’s only in a world where abortion is viewed as compassionate that we would “offer it” as a “solution” to a victim of rape. We’re a long ways away from reversing the “abortion as compassion” sentiment. The line I’ve adopted is that I’ll get into discussing cases of rape and incest when the other 99 per cent of abortions are eradicated. So very few abortions are done for this reason. 

We recently had someone who regrets her abortion write in to PWPL. She had the abortion because she was raped. Just goes to show you, these cases are not clear cut–and the pain of killing another exists even when you were wronged in the first place, grievously so.

________________________

Brigitte is looking for a middle ground: While I would not go so far as to recommend abortion as a “solution” to a victim of rape (nothing can erase that kind of memory) who found herself pregnant due to the rape, I could not bring myself to condemn her for choosing to end that baby’s life. In my book, when you do not consent to sex, you can’t be forced to bear and give birth to the child.

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Andrea adds: To be frank, I’m not in the business of condemning any woman–so many have had abortions, and again, 99 per cent are not because of rape. I’m in the business of nurturing good choices. Abortion isn’t one. Rape is terrible–always. So is abortion. Though I appreciate the connection Brigitte is making between sex and pregnancy–ie that’s where the “reproductive choice” truly lies–the fact that the woman is raped, thereby denying her the “choice” doesn’t make the killing of innocents into a workable thing, or the right thing to do.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: abortion, incest, rape, Sarah Palin

I love the way these people don’t exaggerate

September 14, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

 Senator Claire McCaskill, on McCain-Palin:

But women of America are going to kick the tires the next 55 days, George, and they’re going to going to find out that this is a ticket that wants to put women in prison for having an abortion after they have been raped.

[h/t The Corner]

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: Claire McCaskill, John McCain, rape, Sarah Palin

Planned Parenthood south of the border…

April 16, 2008 by Andrea Mrozek Leave a Comment

Planned Parenthood appears to be getting a run for their money. Again. Which is fine, as it has been established this “charity” has plenty. Recent accusations highlight racism, and of course, there is the ongoing problem of abortions for minors where the possibility of actually just concealing rape is high.

Again, to repeat my point: Abortion clinics (read: our sanitizated houses for the business of killing) are depressing and abortion has depressing outcomes. We ought at least to be very aware of that, and subsequently very wary of those who present terminology like “abortion care.”

And on the flip side, again, to repeat: Pro-lifers ought to be very aware of caring for the messy lives of those who seek abortion. A woman never arrives at the abortion clinic after a series of perfect and well thought out decisions.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: Abortion care, Planned Parenthood, racism, rape, Vicki Saporta

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