Monument to Pro-Life

Edie at Annotated Life wrote:

Edwards' sculpture [...] conveys woman's prison. Spears did not even pose for this “Monument,” which is not a monument to her, or woman, or even the sacrifice of a great deal of a woman's liberty to motherhood. It is a monument to “pro-life,” the sovereignty of a single male cell within a woman's body. It is a monument to vessel-hood. The idealized role of woman under Christian fundamentalism is one of ignorance, pliancy, and subservience; the bearskin rug is fitting décor for such a primitive existence.

More (including pictures of the sculpture)...

Right on, sister, right on. As a socialist, this sort analysis is a dead-on exposure of the fundamentalism which feeds reactionary poltics. "Pro-Life" is nothing but. It is simply a code for the subordination of women under men. Notice how many pro-lifers are also pro-war. If their concern was truely for life, then they would also be anti-war (and anti-death penalty for that matter). This is almost never the case. These folks often also call for fewer social services (which kills the poor), "free-market" economics (which kills the poor) and are against civil rights (which kills the poor and Black).

As socialists we must resist the temptation to accept the terms of debate set forth by the Christian right regarding reporductive freedom. We must retake the moral high ground and expose their hypocricy for what it is. Too many young Western women today have grown up in a world where they enjoy the fruits of the feminist struggle during the 1960s and 1970s. They do not know the danger they face nor why they must remain militant. Thankfully the Conservative right wing is doing everything in their power to remind them. This sculpture should serve as a wake up call that pro-life means subjugating women to the role of sex-slave and child bearer. A better world is possible for women...

I encourage anyone who has not read The Handmaid's Tale to do so. Only when we have a socialist government which represents all people will we be free of the counter-revolutionary tactics of the Conservative right wing.

Socialists Fight for Womens Rights

The Socialist government of Portugal was blocked in an effort to extend the reproductive freedom of women, but the struggle against the reactionaries carries on.

LISBON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Portugal's constitutional court rejected on Friday a decision by parliament to hold a referendum on abortion this year, saying it could be held at the earliest at the end of next year, Lusa news agency reported.

The court decided that the referendum could not go ahead on Nov. 27 as the ruling Socialists wanted because of a rejection of the vote by President Jorge Sampaio earlier this year.

The Socialist government, which came to power early in 2005, promised in its election manifesto to hold a referendum on abortion in this deeply Catholic country, one of the few in Europe to still ban abortions.

[...]

The Family Planning Association has estimated there are 20,000 to 40,000 illegal abortions a year in Portugal.

As with most in the "Right to Choose" crowd, I am not a huge fan of abortion for its own sake, but and firmly and staunchly in favor of reproductive rights for women. Any other position simply plays into the hands of traditional forces that view women as property to be controlled.