Clare Laxton is a pro-choice campaigner and works in the charity sector.
Generally not a week goes by without one article or another speculating on what is or isn’t within the realm of feminist (including this one actually). A couple of weeks ago the hot topic was whether Beyoncé was forfeiting her feminism by posing scantily-clad on the cover of GQ. Last year it was a big hoo-ha over whether Conservatives could be feminists (Harriet Harman MP thought not but a few female Conservative MPs, including Amber Rudd MP, took issue with that argument).
All of this commentary and interest got me thinking about my feminist beliefs and where the line in the sand was for me. Now don’t get me wrong, I think feminism should be as inclusive movement as possible – we should be fighting together against the exclusive patriarchal society we currently live in – but is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed in feminism?
In an effort to form a coherent argument on this I went back to what feminism is actually about – establishing equal politics, social and economic rights for women, all over the world, without exception. For me, this movement is centred around equality, respect for women and choice.
Choice is an important word here as not many classic definitions of feminism talk about choice – but it is vital if women are to be truly equal in society. As we recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of Roe vs Wade in the USA it really brought home to me how much we owe the feminist campaigners of the past and how much further we have to go until women truly have the right to exercise choice over their bodies freely and without judgement.
Supporting a woman’s right to choose is an inalienable facet of feminism. It should be feminism’s line in the sand.
Looking back through the history books and feminists’ many achievements, and the battles we continue to fight, securing reproductive rights and choice has always been a vital part of feminism. Having a choice when faced with pregnancy, and society supporting that choice, is a feminist way of thinking. We support women and respect them – there can be no other way.
Being pro-choice doesn’t necessarily mean that you would choose abortion for yourself. Being pro-choice is unquestioningly supporting a woman’s right to choose an abortion if she wants or needs one. Being pro-choice is respecting a woman’s right to make a decision about her own body and reproduction. Simple.
I have thought and thought about it and I simply cannot contemplate how someone who claims to be a feminist and supports the principles of equality and respect for women cannot be pro-choice. I am happy to have the debate about this, but as yet I cannot see how anti-choice principles (of forcing a woman to go through with a pregnancy if it is against her wishes) could be compatible with what I understand to be feminism.
So, on this 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade let us take time to thank those feminist campaigners who secured hard-won reproductive rights for us and think about the fights we still have to win – fights to secure equal and unqualified access to contraception and reproductive health services, in the UK and across the world.
Let’s respect women’s right to choose, continue to fight for equality and do it under the proud banner of feminism.