The transformation of American feminism

By Kelly Kathryn Llobet

The National Organization for Women (NOW), a leading standard bearer for women’s rights and the pro-choice movement, is losing support among American women. NOW has been grappling with declining enrollment and a steady drop in public opinion in favor of abortion. By contrast, the pro-life political action committee Susan B. Anthony List, founded in 1992, is flourishing.

Prior to the 1960s, feminism was mainly concerned with women's suffrage and gaining greater respect for women within marriage. Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), a leading American suffragist for whom the pro-life organization is named, championed the sovereignty of a woman's body within marriage by using abstinence, not abortion, for unwanted conception. In her weekly journal, The Revolution, Miss Anthony called abortion "child murder."

Most Victorian and early 20th century feminists were also strongly pro-life. According to suffragist Alice Paul (1885-1977), the early feminists believed that “abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.” In 1921, Miss Paul authored the original Equal Rights Amendment: “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” In other words, these early 20th century activists were fighting for the respect of women while respecting all life itself.

In 1920, the 19th amendment gave American women the right to vote. Yet, Western culture remained wedded to traditional gender roles: By and large, men worked outside of the home, while women were typically homemakers. Extended families often lived within close proximity, lending support and ensuring the transmission of cultural traditions.

However, three landmark events brought about a radical social transformation.

In 1935 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed the Social Security Act, Simone de Beauvoir published The Second Sex in 1949 and the Food and Drug Administration made available the oral contraceptive pill in 1961. These three events changed the collective mind, body, and soul of American women.

The Social Security Act established the first national old age pension program which gave financial independence to the elderly. This effectively broke the extended generational familial interdependence and thus eroded the passing of cultural traditions and experience. The Second Sex was de Beauvoir's manifesto on the oppression of women which argued that men were considered the "normal" sex and women were considered the inferior "other." The oral contraceptive pill was the miracle pre-antidote to free the body of unwanted impregnation.  These three events formed a cultural petri dish for the 1966 founding of NOW in Washington, DC.

“The purpose of NOW is to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men,” states its Web site. NOW's priorities are pressing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that will guarantee equal rights for women; achieving economic equality for women; championing abortion rights, reproductive freedom and other women's health issues; supporting civil rights for all and opposing racism; opposing bigotry against lesbians and gays; and ending violence against women. These official priorities extend far beyond NOW's which are well beyond the cause of the early feminists.

As a response to the perceived attack on the unborn by pro-choice feminists, a counter revolution of feminism has emerged under the pro-life banner. Leading the charge since 1992 is the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA). SBA was founded after the 1992 election resulted in all women in Congress, with the exception of two, being pro-abortion.  Marjorie Dannenfelser, an original organizer of the SBA List, is currently the organization's president and chairman of the board.

The original goal of SBA was to advance the role of pro-life women in the political process.  In 1997, the Susan B. Anthony List evolved into, a 501(c)(4) membership organization with a connected political action committee, the SBA List Candidate Fund.  The PAC was formed to provide pro-life political candidates with the skills needed to run a winning campaign. Since then, SBA has grown to 280,000 members and activists; it also has a burgeoning staff. SBA’s five-point mission includes: passing pro-life legislation, training pro-life activists, dispelling abortion myths, mobilizing the pro-life vote and increasing the percentage of pro-life women in Congress.

On January 22, 2010, on the 37th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, under threat of an ice-storm, more than 350,000 individuals of all ages attended the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. The pro-life message is expanding, resulting even in a landmark prime-time Super Bowl pro-life ad celebrating the life of Heisman Trophy-winning football quarterback Tim Tebow. It appears that many Americans are now hanging up the “child-murder” cleats and switching to the team of life. As NOW dwindles and the pro-life movement soars, the feminist movement is gradually returning to its original design: lift the quality of life of all women while upholding the highest moral standards toward the unborn.

-Kelly Kathryn Llobet is a writer living in Baltimore, a veteran Navy spouse and a proud mother of five.