Friday, August 07, 2015

Oppressive patriarchy masquerades as Pro-Life: Katha Pollitt and Abortion Rights

In my facebook posting of August 5, 2015, I responded to a NYT op ed by Katha Pollitt, "How to really defend Planned Parenthood."

Could Katha Pollitt have gone further and pointed out that right wing opponents of abortion are not, as they claim, pro-life but are pro-patriarchy; patriarchy of the kind that oppresses women, that is bent on returning them as far as possible back to the kitchen and bedroom?  It’s an anti-life movement pretending to be a pro-life movement.

Pollitt speaks not a word of this in her NYT op ed. Is it because she doesn’t believe it or because she fears such an argument would cross a red line? She only goes as far as saying that women should have the right to abortion even when they are faced with no special conditions like rape or threatening medical conditions and so on. Is this enough? It’s noteworthy that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton supported the 2009 coup against President Zelaya of Honduras who did everything he could to maintain women’s access to the morning after pill; a right that was removed with the coup.

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