Were the original Feminists "Pro-Choice?"

[Seeker]

I happen to believe that abortion is inherently anti-woman as well as murder.  I find it hard to believe that those who claim to fight for women's rights add abortion to those "rights".  I was recently surprised to find out that the leading founders of the Women's Movement in America would agree with me.  See what they had to say about abortion here.

What has happened to feminism in America when it fights for something that is so anti-woman?  Think about it.  The woman takes the risk of abortion on herself.  The procedure is typically performed in a room where she is alone except for the "doctor" and a "nurse" who assists.  The woman alone grieves for the loss of her child.  The woman is the one who must deny her own natural instincts and agree to a "procedure" that goes against every maternal emotion in her being.  The man might pay $300 and then he doesn't have to worry about the "problem" anymore.  It makes me sick and angry.  

But then, I have to look at myself and ask, what am I doing to change all this?  How do I help support women in pregnancy, especially crisis pregnancies?  How do I help fight abortion?  Do I even pray for the end to abortion and the conditions in which women may feel pressured to choose abortion?  When was the last time I donated any money or time to a Women's Center that helped women in these situations to choose life?  The answers can be convicting.  

Abortion isn't just a problem of the late twentieth and twenty-first century.  It's been around for a long time.  Evil keeps reinventing itself.  We need to do more.  Were it not for the Hope of Christ, I might despair.  I offer a couple quotes I have found inspiring when thinking about the whole issue.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
-Attributed to Edmund Burke, British statesman, orator and writer

In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to me, "Flee like a bird to the mountains;
for lo, the wicked bend the bow, they have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do"?
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of men.
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates him that loves violence.
On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For the LORD is righteous, he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.
-Psalm 11

[Rev. Eric]

I agree that abortion is anti-woman, for the simple fact that I believe that abortion, generally speaking, is inspired by the devil.  The devil, of course, has always been anti-woman (ever since Eve), anti-man, anti-marriage, anti-family and anti-children.  God created the family unit as the building blocks of humanity, so the devil always attacks the family.  He inspired the people of the ancient Canaanite cultures to sacrifice their children in the name of pagan religion, and he inspires people of our time to sacrifice their children in the name of "convienence," "fear", etc.  True, we no longer have the pagan altars of Baal, but we have abortion mills, and as far as the devil is concerned, the effect is all the same.

May God have mercy on us!
-Rev. Eric

[Melody]

Thx Seeker for that informative link. Agreed with everything said there as well as what you & the Rev. have mentioned.

I especially liked what you said:

But then, I have to look at myself and ask, what am I doing to change all this?

and the questions you posed afterwards.

Am def. going to increase my prayer for this issue & ask the Lord what else I can do wrt this.

Blessings,

Melody

[tklein1014]

Women deserve better than abortion, I agree.  I would probably classify myself as a "pro-life feminist".  Abortion doesn't liberate women, it enslaves them.  I've read surveys (I apologize that I have forgotten where, but there are lots of resourses on the internet and other places) that suggest that most of the time, probably 9 out of 10 times, a woman who had an abortion felt "forced" or talked into it, by their SO, parents, friends, councelor, psychiatrist, or whoever, because it was "all for the best", "in their best interest", etc.

Anyhow, I agree and have also read that early feminists were pro-life.

Tina

[Seeker]

I posted the same topic on a different Catholic forum and one of the replies was that the early feminists were also anti-contraception because they realized that contraception makes it easier for men to sexually exploit women.  Funny how things have been turned upside down to the point that today's world touts contraception as a means of "freedom" for men and women both.  If only they knew the truth.    I imagine the same ideas were touted in the ancient pagan world.

[Melody]

things have been turned upside down to the point that today's world touts contraception as a means of "freedom" for men and women both. If only they knew the truth

I read this above statement as - people are blinded by Satan, the deceiver. If only they knew Jesus...