Prominent Feminist Scholar Defends Abortion Rights

Those who oppose legalized abortion are willing to sacrifice women's rights, a prominent feminist scholar told more than 40 students last night.

Barbara Ehrenreich, a writer and chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, said the legalization of abortion should not depend on the rights of the fetus but on the rights of the woman.

"We women will not achieve our own personhood until we have the right to have an abortion without fear, stigma or discrimination," Ehrenreich said.

Ehrenreich said that, as one of 22 million women who have had abortions since the procedure was made legal in 1973, she felt extremely relieved because she was able to abort.

"We are not miserable guilt-ridden wrecks," she said.

Ehrenreich emphasized that antiabortionists have been solely interested in preserving fetuses, rather than the women who bear them.

"There's been an attempt to push women out of the debate," Ehrenreich said. "Abortion really is a women's issue."

At the speech, sponsored by the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) as a prelude to this Sunday's March on Washington for abortion rights, Ehrenreich addressed what she said were myths held by anti-abortion activists.

The first was that abortions are psychologically damaging to women. Ehrenreich said, "None of the studies have shown evidence of such an effect."

Ehrenreich said another misconception was that abortions challenge traditional American values.

"Abortions were legally practiced during revolutionary times," she said. "The only major innovation has been the estrogen-based birth control pill."

Ehrenreich said another fallacy is that the issue of abortion rights can be resolved when scientists are able to determine when a human life begins.

"Science will never be able to solve this question," she said. "It is not a biological question but a human, social decision."