Today (February 15th) marks the grand opening of the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace and Museum, in Rochester, NY.
Anthony was a leading figure in the women's rights movement, famously arrested in 1872 for the crime of voting.
Anthony also considered abortion a strike against women's rights....
According to About.com (owned by the New York Times Co.), Anthony, "believed, as did many of the feminists of her era, that only the achievement of women's equality and freedom would end the need for abortion. Anthony used her anti-abortion writings as yet another argument for women's rights."
Today's feminists cannot stand that part of Susan B. Anthony's history.
While some dispute Anthony was even pro-life at all, most say her pro-life belief should be placed in context: "Comparisons between contemporary and 19th century debates over abortion are meaningless because of the different cultural contexts, [Gloria] Feldt [former Planned Parenthood president] added." Yadda yadda.
Yet pro-lifers have prevailed against revisionist history. Most of us, for instance, have heard of the Susan B. Anthony List a PAC dedicated to electing pro-life women to Congress, obviously invoking the famous feminist's name.
And it was a pro-lifer who bought Anthony's birthplace, insuring the pro-life part of Anthony's persona wouldn't be scrubbed from her bio. Carol Crossed is a member of Feminists Choosing Life of NY (formerly Feminists for Life of NY), the group controlling SBABM's board.
This has caused liberal feminists to get their corsets wound in a knot, to the point of protesting in front of SBABM and launching a counter website.
Still, abortion will be a very small component of the museum. According to The Berkshire Eagle:
When asked if this meant the Museum would be a platform for an anti-abortion agenda, Crossed said, "The pro-life views expressed in Anthony's newspaper, The Revolution, will not be excluded from the exhibition. This vision represented a very small part of Anthony's life, and while it will be presented, it will not be an overwhelming theme of the birthplace. Anthony's own anti-abortion stance is mentioned in just one of the museum's 10 exhibits."
Still, it'll be there.
Contact: Jill Stanek
Source: jillstanek.com
Publish Date: February 15, 2010
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