The American Feminist

The American Feminist, Fall 1997

Pro-Life Students Coerced by "Choice"

Results from a 1996 Gallup Poll clearly demonstrate the need for FFL's presence on college campuses:

"The poll suggests that while attendance at college has little influence on men's attitudes about abortion, for women the college experience is a major - even revolutionary - influence.

"Regardless of their education levels, just over half of men are pro-choice, while about a third are pro-life. Women of different education levels, however, express considerably different views about abortion. Women with a high school education are more pro-life (47 percent) than pro-choice (37 percent) while those who have attended college but not completed a four-year program are more pro-choice (59 percent) than pro-life (35 percent) - an increase in the pro-choice group of 22 points. The margin of pro-choice over pro-life responses is even greater among women who have completed a four-year college program - 73 percent to 24 percent."

While abortion advocates choose to interpret these statistics as documentation that pro-lifers are "uneducated," any woman who has experienced the college environment knows the real forces at work.

• Women's studies departments indoctrinate students with "abortion rights" rhetoric, conveniently forgetting to teach 200 years of pro-life feminism, and dismiss the anti-abortion sentiments of the suffragists without thorough research to put their views into proper context.

• Students who dare to turn in papers documenting the pro-life stance of the early feminists place themselves at risk of receiving a bad grade. One student reported a situation where she was required to document and footnote every statement she attributed to the suffragists on their outspoken opposition to abortion. That was not enough. The furious professor insisted the student provide copies of every page she referenced from The Revolution.

• Pro-life feminist history and women's studies professors are weeded out. Suddenly, their services are no longer "needed."

• Pro-life students especially women often find themselves alienated from their peers.

Perhaps it is the personal experience of an unplanned pregnancy that most influences college women's begrudging acceptance of abortion. Many women, isolated and unaware of available resources, feel they don't really have a choice and obtain an abortion as a last resort.

Abortion clinics are located in close proximity to colleges and universities for one reason - college students represent one-fifth of the abortion industry's business. FFL needs to establish a significant presence on campuses to empower women with "the rest of the choices."

Women wonder how they can continue their pregnancies without long-term support from the fathers, their families and friends.

Women look around their campuses and realize there is no housing for parenting students, no day care, and no maternity coverage in their student health insurance.

Women do not know about the many resources available at established, credible pregnancy resource centers that will guide them through the maze of public and privately funded services to support them and their children.

Some women, who have lost all hope, deny that they are pregnant, only to become another tragic headline for yet another neonatal infanticide.

One women's history professor said that FFL "is really on to something" but the situation is "worse than you can imagine." Forcing women to choose between their children and life plans is not limited to students on campus. Female professors and staff are often discouraged from having children. Many liberal institutions do not have maternity leave policies even though the Family and Medical Leave Act allows for unpaid leave to take care of newborn and adopted children.

FFL's Pregnancy Resource Kit, Feminist History Kit, Pregnancy Resource Forum, ads, and "You're Not Alone" brochures are the tools necessary on college campuses to provide real hope in developing resources for pregnant and parenting students. Feminists real feminists do not accept the status quo. Whether the problem is a lack of financial or emotional support, women and men are capable of overcoming obstacles to find non-violent choices.

FFL is fighting for college students who face institutionalized hostility toward pregnancy and parenting. FFL is up against the abortion industry's giant. Planned Parenthood's budget is in the millions, while ours is only in the thousands. FFL needs to count on every member, every supporter, and every new friend to do their part because FFL is not under siege college students are.