The Susan B. Anthony List, Feminists for Life and Concerned Women for America are three pro-life national women’s organizations currently supporting the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. The Stupak-Pitts Amendment, known as Stupak for short, is the bipartisan effort of U.S. Representatives Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Joe Pitts (R-PA) to preclude putting mandatory taxpayer-covered abortion, and mandatory insurance coverage for abortion, in the government’s new Health Care package. The Amendment passed in the House, but is still threatened in the Senate.

Let’s learn more about these pro-life women’s organizations:
The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide organization dedicated to supporting, representing and increasing pro-life women in politics. The organization’s counterpart is Emily’s List, which supports the election and appointment of pro-choice women. President Obama’s appointment of Ellen Moran as White House Communications Director was controversial because Ms. Moran is a former Executive Director of Emily’s List and well-known pro-choice advocate, which some saw as a deterrent to bipartisan efforts (Ms Moran is now in a different position).

Feminists for Life is a non-religiously affiliated national organization supporting women’s strength, rights, education, and standing against violence toward women and exploitation of women. Per the website, FFL advocates valuing human life and is against abortion. 

Concerned Women for America is a non-denominational Christian organization based on biblical principles. CWA works for six main precepts: protecting the sanctity of life from conception to natural death; preserving traditional family values; ending the spread of pornography; protecting U.S. National Sovereignty; supporting religious liberty, and restoring parental rights in education.     

Wait…Susan B. Anthony, the women’s rights advocate, was against abortion?
Most Americans know Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) as the key figure in the women’s suffrage movement, best known for achieving the women’s right to vote. In reality, Anthony died fourteen years before the passage of the 19th Amendment. She had worked tirelessly throughout most of her life for social equality between men, women and races, having first collected petitions for an end to slavery.

Pro-life and pro-choice groups disagree about Anthony’s beliefs on the issue of abortion or what she would think today. But according to Feminists for Life’s report, Feminist History of Susan B. Anthony, Anthony co-editored a woman’s paper entitled The Revolution, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Considered radical for its time, they editorialized against abortion while addressing its causes, and Anthony gave speeches against abortion.

Will “women’s preventive services” in the Health Care bill include abortion?
On December 3, the Senate passed the Mikulski Amendment, which guarantees women’s “preventive care” in the new health package. Mikulski neither mentions nor guarantees abortion services. But its critics say the wording is so broad, that pro-choice activists will insist it be used to guarantee abortion. And since the Mikulski Amendment states that preventive services shall be free of co-pays, that means that all taxpayers could in effect end up paying for abortion services for all abortion recipients, with no co-payments from the patient. That is why these organizations, and many others, continue to support Stupak.

Writer’s concluding commentary:
“Preventive care” probably should not include abortion. Abortion is not an illness prevention. Abstinence education advocates would say that the best “preventive care” against abortion would be to say “NO” to sex, since only 1.5% of all abortions occur after rape or incest (to which a woman cannot say no). According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, formerly an arm of Planned Parenthood, all other abortions are a matter of economy, embarrassment, or pressure from families or boyfriends. These causes could well be avoided by refusing to have sex outside of marriage.

However, Christians are called to love, care for and be a help to those who have been through abortions in their time of need and to do so with a non-judgmental attitude, expressing the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). 

(The writer of this article has not been compensated by any organization mentioned herein; nor does the concluding commentary necessarily represent the views of the organizations or sources used. It is strictly based on research).