News Flash #3: Remember Roe!

The recent Newsweek article, titled “Remember Roe! How Can the Next Generation Defend Abortion Rights When they Don't Think Abortion Rights Need Defending?” caused quite the stir amongst activist blogs and leading young feminists when it hit the internet last Friday. The article, written by contributor Sarah Kliff, details the alleged disinterest that the younger generation has towards defending abortion-rights and suggests possible consequences the movement might encounter if this trend continues. However, the number of outraged commentaries and responses that were sparked by Kliff’s article and that have since overtaken the feminist online-space throughout the past week perhaps suggest a different situation. In fact, the recent debate over abortion and its role in the new health care reform bill is one that has been widely discussed at all ages. And while a level of activism amongst the younger generation may not parallel that of the baby-boomers’ decades ago, it is difficult to claim that the number of young, pro-choice, and politically active Americans is severely lacking.

Kliff first begins her article by profiling the feminist activists who belonged to the “postmenopausal militia.” She describes this group as “a generation of baby-boomer activists now well into their 50s who grew up in an era of backroom abortions and fought passionately for legalization” (Kliff). Amongst these activists is NARAL president Nancy Keenan along with other leading members of major abortion-rights groups such as Planned Parenthood and the National Organization for Women. And while these women fiercely fought to legalize abortion, Kliff suggests that the “lack of passion among the post-Roe generation” has proven to be quite worrisome for these older activists who plan on retiring within the next decade and thus fear for the future of the movement.

To support her argument, Kliff largely references recent NARAL research that documents the “intensity” of young voters with regards to abortion. The study of 700 young adults found that “more than half (51%) of young voters who opposed abortion rights considered it a ‘very important’ voting issue, compared with just 26% of abortion-rights supporters” (Kliff). Kliff uses these findings to suggest that intensity of young, pro-life activists is waning while young supporters of the pro-life movement are moving forward with great strength. Kliff’s assertion, however, is not a new complaint: for years, older generations who had to fight daily for their rights see the future generation as taking these accomplishments for granted and becoming complacent with a right which may not necessarily always be a guarantee. But while older generations may view this to be the case, it is still quite clear that our youth still remains opinionated on the issue of abortion. Recent figures suggest that as many as 61% of young people support legal abortion in “all” or “most cases.” Additionally, the backlash amongst younger activists to Kliff’s article similarly demonstrates the passion that still exists in younger generations today.

Many online forums, blogs, and commentary sites erupted in outrage last Friday after Newsweek posted Kliff’s article online. In one young feminist’s response – titled “The Newsweek Article: Reflections by a Young Prochoice Activist” – Elise from Kansas addresses the comments made by Kliff which “disparage [her] generation's involvement in the pro-choice movement” (Higgins). Elise writes:

My peers and I are full-time feminists. We're planting pro-choice gardens at the University of Northern Kentucky and throwing Sextivals at the University of Kansas. We're working with organizations like Choice USA that lift up the voices of young people. We're volunteering for local, statewide and national organizations. And we're blowing up the Internet with the tools and information to create change. There are thousands of us working hard for the movement every day. How disappointing to find that those in positions that we will surely take someday doubt our passion (Higgins).

The numerous posts similar to Elise’s not only prompted Nancy Keenan to release her own statement in response to the article, but Newsweek also included an addendum to the original piece which included reactions from several of the leading blogs. While reading through some of the responses, it becomes clear that “passion” is not what is lacking amongst the younger generation. In fact, “NOW’s Erin Matson who started an online petition to demand that Newsweek interview younger pro-choice leaders, wrote that she was ‘shaking with anger’” (Dailey). Additionally, all of the outrage appropriately directed me back to a previous blog-post I had written in response to Inga Muscio’s piece, “Abortion, Vacuum Cleaners and the Power Within.” Not only did I question whether Muscio was deranged, but I wrote the following:

Muscio is ultimately trying to suggest that the debate and issues surrounding abortion today cannot be viewed through the binary of pro-life/pro-choice. It is true that often the issues needed to be dealt with regarding abortion are pushed to the side, but Muscio seems to be stating that this large problem is a result of the pro-choice system itself and not, as I believe, due to the fact that currently there is no pro-choice system; the ‘choice’ is still regarded as heavily under threat to this day and many people who perhaps would otherwise be fighting for an overhaul of current abortion procedures are instead fighting just to keep this right of women a right.

As someone who considers herself to be a supporter of women’s rights (although not always an active one) and moderately aware, my previous comments made me realize that even amongst us in the younger generation who are not working on the front line, there still exists a level of “passion” that cannot be denied.

What I believe Kliff meant to suggest in her article (although the point was unfortunately lost within the several unfounded comments) is that “For a generation of women who have grown up without knowing the reality of back-alley abortions or total reproductive restrictions, the fight for abortion rights, while important, seems less urgent” (Daily). Over at Jezebel, the point is clearly illustrated by one user’s comments: “While I am unequivocally pro-choice, I've never, ever felt that my right to choice was actively being threatened, and I'm sure that's part of the reason I've never participated in a pro-choice organization” (Daily). However, this tendency is not one that is solely unique to the reproductive rights movements. Political figure and commentators continue to critique the failure of the youth – particularly on university campuses – to voice their opinions and debate about the validity of war. Yet, as many have suggested, the previous incentive (i.e. the draft) for young adults to voice their opinions simply does not exist in the same way today as it did then. Consequently, I think what will prove most important to the future of the pro-life movement is the ability of the older generations to understand that we have grown up in a different time that has considered abortion to always be a right. Instead of dwelling on our understandable inability to fully sympathize with the struggle that many baby-boomer activists endured, it would be more useful to harness the curiosity, interest, and passion of the younger generation in order to protect these current rights rather than simply state that there remains no one for them to pass the torch on to.


Works Cited:

Daily, Kate. "Remember Roe? Young Activists Say They've Never Forgotten." Newsweek (April 20, 2010).

Higgins, Elise. "The Newsweek Article: Reflections by a Young Prochoice Activist." RH Reality Check (April 20, 2010).

Kliff, Sarah. “Remember Roe! How Can the Next Generation Defend Abortion Rights When they Don't Think Abortion Rights Need Defending?” Newsweek (April 16, 2010).