Pro-Life*Feminist*Christian

 “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” ~ Cheris Kramarae & Paula Treichler

For years I wore this definition of feminism as a badge of honor, even quite literally, on a t-shirt. I didn't understand why more Christians weren't getting behind "this great cause".  One of my Christian friends once replied that it was because if you are a Christian, you already have all that feminism stands for and much more.  Now that I'm a practicing Christian, I understand what she meant.  Feminism, the way I understand it, is the feminism of the original suffragettes, who, I might add, were quite pro-life.  

It is sad that I have to specify that I'm a "pro-life feminist", since modern feminism has gotten so far beyond what it was meant to be.  It has twisted what is rightfully women's rights, and it has shot itself in the foot, turning women into some sort of monsters brought up almost in jest in Isaiah 49:15: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you."  Today, indeed, this is an everyday occurrence.  Millions of women forget the children of their wombs, as they fight for the right to kill them and refuse to see them on ultrasound first, maybe for fear of realizing the truth of what they're doing. 

Therefore, I have had to distance myself from my previously proud association with feminism, and instead focused on the feminism of Jesus, who treated everyone equally indeed.  In this spirit, I bring you a new quote to live by:

  

“Pro-life is the radical notion that unborn babies are people.” 

Recently, I saw an appalling political advertisement featuring grade-school girls begging their parents to vote for a candidate so that when they grow up, they could have abortions.  I kid you not.  Another ad let us overhear a conversation where we hear the woman complain that a candidate's stance on abortion is "extreme" because he doesn't support the killing of unborn children.  Still another ad showed several women supposedly representing "Virginian women", who would "lose their reproductive rights" if a certain candidate were elected.

I want to be perfectly clear;  I am a woman, but the pro-choice movement does not speak for me.  I do not desire a legal right to kill my offspring if I don’t purposefully plan their arrival.  Instead, I desire actual reproductive rights, rights which many women do not have, yet no feminist is fighting for. These are the women’s reproductive rights that I desire for all women everywhere, regardless of age or ability to pay: 

   

   1.       To have a positive body image and high self-esteem. 

   2.       To be treated with respect based on their intellect, skills, and personality, not their physique. 

   3.       Comprehensive sex education, including a woman’s fertile cycle, fetal development, the process of  childbirth, nursing, and the symptoms of STDs. 

   4.       To choose if and when to have sex. 

   5.       To have sex with a man of her choosing, and to marry him.

   6.       To affordable gynecological exams, including pap smears, breast cancer and bone density screenings.  

   7.       To affordable and timely pregnancy testing and prenatal care. 

   8.       To work together with their doctors on a birthing plan, including access to a lactation consultant. 

   9.       To affordable, noninvasive, and safe fertility treatment. 

   10.   To affordable, noninvasive, and safe management of menopause.

    Galatians 3:28

    There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.