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Dear
Amy,
I
believe I owe you an apology. On several occasions,
I have reviewed your responses to questions in
the "Repro Rights" section, and was not very happy
with what I read. I consider myself to be a pro-life
feminist (I know you disagree with this term)
and was saddened to hear what sometimes felt like
put-downs or unfair accusations against pro-life
individuals. I have written you several times
on this, and on the last occasion I was a little,
well, rude. I was reading a response to a question
on pro-life feminists and I think I took your
comments a little too personally. To me, it seemed
as though you were saying that it was impossible
to be pro-life and pro-woman. From my experience,
that is simply not the case. I am a member of
a group that I feel does excellent work to help
women find positive solutions -- particularly
on college campuses. If you have a moment, I encourage
you to check out www.feministsforlife.org. You
may not agree with our positions, but I think
you may be surprised to find some common ground.
I know I was surprised to see how much we agreed
on certain topics despite very different views
on abortion. My letter asked if you thought you
were responsible for feminism or that it was up
to you personally to decide who is or is not a
feminist. This was unfair, and I am sorry for
acting in such a childish manner. It is sometimes
difficult to support female equality and sisterhood
when you are labeled by many of your sisters as
"anti-choice" or "anti-woman." Often times, reasonable
and peaceful pro-lifers are unfairly grouped with
those who are violent and threatening. I don't
believe in standing in front of clinics and scaring
people, nor do I believe in harassing those who
work in or seek services at abortion clinics.
I suppose I reacted in the same way, though. I
made unfounded, uneducated assumptions against
you. Again I am sorry.
I do believe that one can support pro-life measures
in a positive and helpful way. That is how I try
to live my life, and I believe that you are no
different -- you see your pro-choice views as
serving in a positive and helpful way. Besides
that, you are a human being entitled to develop
your own opinions, and I should have had more
respect for that. Hopefully, all women will come
together and focus on our common goals instead
of our differences. Instead of labeling one another
and calling each other "anti-woman" or "anti-life,"
we can respect each others valuable opinions and
differences and make a real and lasting difference
for the greater good. I hope this letter will
put me a small step closer to personally achieving
that ideal.
Sincerely,
Amanda
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