Because of the generosity of some Feminists for Life donors, we are able to offer partial grants, so that you can host the best pro-woman, pro-life speakers in the nation.
FFL President Serrin M. Foster is the creator of the Women Deserve Better® campaign. Her landmark speech, “The Feminist Case Against Abortion,” has been recognized as one of the “great speeches in history” in an anthology called Women’s Rights. She has focused on developing on-campus resources and support for under-served pregnant and parenting students and is an outspoken opponent of pregnancy discrimination.
I know many of you are very concerned about the issue of rape and pregnancy. Consider inviting Joyce McCauley-Benner to campus. She didn’t know who the father was, but she knew who the mother was and chose victory over violence!
If you are in the DC area and want a speaker who can talk about her experience as a birthmother, then former FFL Board Member Jessica O’Connor-Petts would be a great option. She became pregnant shortly after graduating from university in 1996 but continued with her plan to move to Washington, D.C. to work in public policy and row competitively. With the loving support of family, friends, and caregivers, she made an adoption plan for her birthson, including four joyful weeks with him after his birth. Ms. O’Connor-Petts’ birthson, his little sister, and his adoptive parents were part of her wedding in 2003.
We also have two speakers who know the challenges of being pregnant and parenting while still college undergraduates. Chaunie M. Brusie became a student mother her senior year of college. She shared her personal story as a pregnant student who challenged the status quo in FFL’s 2007 e-series, Chaunie’s Journey. After interning with Feminists for Life, Chaunie founded S.U.P.P.O.R.T., a campus organization dedicated to creating resources and support for pregnant and parenting students like herself. Chaunie graduated on time with her bachelor’s degree one week before delivering her daughter. In 2007 she was awarded the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses Award. As FFL’s former College Outreach Program Coordinator, Chaunie helped student activists to transform campuses across the nation in support of pro-woman solutions.
I also became unexpectedly pregnant my junior year of college. In my lecture, “Refuse to Choose: Reclaiming Feminism,” I share my own experience as a pro-choice college student facing obstacles as a pregnant and parenting student. These obstacles nearly cost my daughter her life. My tenure as Feminists for Life’s Vice President began in 2001, and I’ve been advocating for pregnant and parenting college students across the country and internationally ever since. Before coming to FFL, I co-founded Democrats for Life of America. I’ve also served as the Director of Operations for a therapeutic group maternity home serving pregnant and parenting teens in the Pacific Northwest. Quite proudly I also carried on the legacy of our feminist foremothers as Executive Director of the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum in Adams, Massachusetts.
As the pioneers of pregnant and parenting resources on campus, contact me for help. Don’t forget to take FFL’s Pregnancy Resource Survey TM and check out our Tools for Schools. Let me know your success stories so we can share them with others.
And don’t forget, if you need ads, they are FREE and downloadable! If you haven’t received your Revolution on Campus kit to grow your group, order yours FREE from info@feministsforlife.org now. FFL is also here with the original feminist historical research to share with those who are not yet aware of our feminist foremothers’ stand against abortion.
FFL is here for you and I am here for you, because YOU are there for women and children! March forth.
Because women deserve better,
Sally A. Winn
Vice President
P.P.S. Partial grants for reduced rates are on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information, please email info@feministsforlife.org.