Palin Candidacy Fuels Discussion On Role Of Abortion Rights In Defining Feminism

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Abortion
Article Date: 27 Oct 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The candidacy of Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin (Alaska), who opposes abortion rights, "has sent a jolt through traditional liberal women's organizations as she tries to redefine feminism," the Washington Post reports. In an article examining the 2008 election cycle as a transformative year for women in politics, the Post reports that women's-rights advocates in both the Republican and Democratic parties "perceive with satisfaction a heightened emphasis on their issues in this year's race," as a result both of Palin's candidacy and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign in the Democratic primary. According to the Post, although Palin is "adamantly antiabortion" she has "grabbed the feminist label vigorously and has been hailed as one by the thousands of supportive women who wave their lipstick tubes at her rallies." The Post reports that "[b]y calling herself a feminist -- once considered a dirty word by the religious right -- Palin proclaimed that feminism is no longer synonymous with liberalism but something that could be shared and celebrated by all women." Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) last week said Palin "is a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America."

Sarah Stoesz -- head of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota -- said, "As feminists, we've always thought that a core aspect of women's equality is being in control of our reproductive lives. But Sarah Palin is throwing the calculus out the window and demonstrating a view that some people would call feminism: I can be governor, I can have five children, I can shoot and field-dress a moose and I don't need access to abortion." Michelle Bernard, president of the Independent Women's Forum, said Palin's declaration of feminism prompts the question, "Is there a big enough tent -- can we all find common ground in the push for women's rights regardless of women's position on abortion?" Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said in an interview that although she finds Palin's views on issues critical to women "a disappointment," she believes that it is important for her own teenage daughters "to see women competing at the highest levels," the Post reports.

Although groups such as IWF and Feminists for Life in recent weeeks have worked "to fight the perception that only liberal women can be in favor of equality and independence," Palin has received mixed support from her own party. For example, the Republican Majority for Choice -- which supports abortion rights -- announced in September that it would not endorse the McCain-Palin ticket. Jennifer Blei Stockman, co-chair of the group, said Palin "is not pro anything we support" (Romano, Washington Post, 10/24).

'Nightly News' Interview
In related news, NBC's "Nightly News" on Thursday included a discussion with Palin and McCain. When Palin was asked by anchor Brian Williams if she would consider "an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist," Palin did not provide a direct answer stating, "Now, others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or facilities that uh, it would be unacceptable. I don't know if you're going to use the word terrorist there." Later in the interview McCain responded to the question by saying that he wants "anybody who violates the laws, whether it be bombing an abortion clinic or throwing a Molotov cocktail ... I want them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law" (Williams, "Nightly News," NBC, 10/24).

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