Feminists for Life President Serrin Foster responded to the misuse of FFL’s registered trademark, “Women Deserve Better®,” by abortion advocates who co-sponsored a rally on August 28 in support of abortion. Sponsors included Progress Iowa, Planned Parenthood Voters of Iowa, AFSCME Iowa Council 61, Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, One Iowa. Featured speakers included Iowa State Senator Jack Hatch, Representative Tyler Olson, Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, and Marti Anderson.
Abortion advocates pray for abortion at a rally in Iowa.
“Clearly, Feminists for Life is not affiliated with these groups, and we did not license them to use our slogan. Our mission regarding abortion is the opposite. Women Deserve Better® is a registered mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. FFL is communicating with these groups individually, but we are also making it public that we demand they take our slogan down from any website, Facebook page, or other Internet site and stop using it on printed materials, including placards,” Foster stated.
Feminists for Life registered Women Deserve Better (and Refuse to Choose®) with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office before the launch of the “Women Deserve Better® than Abortion” campaign in 2003.
“Women Deserve Better means ‘no’ to abortion, but it is bigger than that. It means ‘yes’ to the holistic, woman-centered resources and support, and it means both before and after birth,” said Foster.
“Women overwhelmingly have abortions because they lack support from their employer, their school, and often the father of the child they conceived together. Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Women and girls in Iowa, in the U.S., and around the world deserve better than abortion,” Foster explained.
FFL’s mission is to systematically eliminate the reasons that drive women to abortion, in particular the lack of resources and support. “Abortion is a failed social policy. How does it help when she goes back to the same unsupportive father of the child, an employer who does not accommodate her pregnancy, a school administration who throws her out, or a community that shuns her?” Foster asked.
“These are the same issues women faced when attorney Sarah Weddington presented her oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, citing the problems of poor women, working women, those in school, and those in unsupportive relationships. Forty years after the Roe v. Wade decision, we know that nothing was solved by it. The responsibility of raising children was shifted to women. Over a million times a year, women lay their bodies down or take a bitter pill to sacrifice their children. Abortion proponents call it ‘choice.’ We call it desperation and an evidence of our failure to meet women’s needs. We refuse to choose between mothers and children. And we believe that men – especially fathers – should be a part of the solutions,” Foster explained.
Feminists for Life has been leading a solution-oriented revolution on campus by working with students, administrators, and professors. Both students and faculty want more resources, including affordable housing, financial aid and scholarship security, maternity coverage in student health plans, accessible child care, flexible class scheduling, and publicized policies that support pregnant women and parents. Students and staff need a central place on campus to coordinate these services. FFL helps schools navigate and tailor solutions by hosting FFL Pregnancy Resource ForumsSM on campuses across the country.
Foster said, “We believe that education – along with a father’s financial and emotional support – is key to fighting the feminization of poverty.”
As millions of students start the school year, FFL is currently leading a campaign to send the Women Deserve Better® message and solutions to campus and inviting support for materials, speakers, and moderators for FFL Pregnancy Resource Forums to help transform campuses toward ones where women don’t feel forced to choose between terminating their education or their children.
“Instead of praying for abortion, we invite legislators and activists to work with us on our shared goals. Let’s put the focus on getting women what they need and deserve in college and in the workplace, as well as protecting victims of violence and serving the poor. Clearly, women deserve better.” Foster concluded.
About Feminists for Life
Feminists for Life is a renaissance of the original American feminism. Like Susan B. Anthony and other early American suffragists, today’s pro-life feminists envision a better world in which no woman would be driven by desperation to abortion. Gifts in support of our revolutionary efforts on campus are tax-deductible – and deeply needed and appreciated.
