Sarah Palin spoke at the Susan B. Anthony List breakfast on Friday, ranting on and on, invoking "mama grizzlies," while using anti women's rights language, evidently not at all concerned that her usual rhetoric extolling the values and importance of freedoms doesn't extend to women. Don't get me wrong, I respect the rights of Sarah Palin and conservative women to make decisions that fit their lives and philosophy. Unfortunately, they do not respect mine or the millions of other women who stand up for women's individual freedoms and the right to self-determination that equals any man.
You simply can't be a feminist if you don't support a woman's individual rights. Announcing a "new conservative feminist movement" without acknowledging the individual freedoms of women won't cut it. This feministic facade that actually takes aim at women's rights should be seen for what it is.
Anything less than supporting women's full individual rights simply renders you a pretender, a fake, a feminist fraud.
From Emily's List president Stephanie Schriock in response to Mrs. Palin:
"Sarah Palin talks a good game about 'grizzly bear moms' taking the country back - but I come from the West too, and her version of what American women want doesn't honor the freedom and independence that the women I grew up with in Montana cherish," said Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY's List. Referring to the "Palin 4" - four Democratic Congresswomen whom Palin displayed on her Facebook page - Schriock continued: "First she puts targets on their back, then she wants the government in their bedrooms - what is Sarah Palin doing to western women?" "Palin doesn't seem to trust American women to make their own decisions - though she speaks movingly about her own. I believe all American women are entitled to the freedom and independence I grew up with, and that EMILY's List endorsed candidates continue to fight for in states across this country." - SCHRIOCK TO PALIN: YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR MY FRONTIER
Planned Parenthood's president, Cecile Richards, remained silent, though her ineptitude has already been proven. As for NARAL and NOW, they're completely ineffectual, so nothing is expected.
Segue to Gallup's latest poll proclaiming "The New Normal on Abortion: Americans More "Pro-Life". Though it tries to bolster the Sarah Palin wing of the anti women's right lobby, Gallup needs to take a step into the 21st century, maybe taking a page from NPR's neutrality language when talking about reproductive rights. One can only wonder what the outcome would have been if Gallup had chosen abortion rights supporter (or advocate) and abortion rights opponent (or advocate). However, they have to support the status quo, which comes from another era. Until they change the language we should all take this organization for what it is: an organization that pushes an agenda that marginalizes women's freedoms in order to get a specific outcome, which benefits the right in this country, regardless of party.
Unfortunately, one particular part of the poll didn't pan out for Gallup, so they buried the statistics. When asked if abortion was "morally wrong," the number dropped from 56% who believed it is immoral in mid-2009, to 50% believing it is not immoral now in 2010. The opinion that abortion is "morally acceptable" numbers went up by 2%.
"Pro life" Independents, with no leaning to either party, have retreated by 2% points from their high of 47% in 2007-2008, back down to 45%.
But really, it's all mumbo jumbo, because Gallup has stacked the language against women's rights and freedoms.
Don't want an abortion? Don't have one.
But no one should be able to take a woman's freedom away from her, which is what Sarah Palin and her feministic followers want to do. Anyone who tries to strip women of our individual freedoms is not for women's rights, but also against women's freedoms, and they most certainly aren't a feminist in any real, true or important manifestation of the word.
Freedom is not just for men.
Human rights are women's rights, which include individual freedom, which no one has the right to abridge.
Taylor Marsh is a political analyst out of Washington, D.C.