Gloria Steinem: Can a Pro-Life Woman be a Feminist? Yes, But Only if You’re Pro-Abortion

Opinion   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 16, 2015   |   6:24PM   |   Washington, DC

Can a pro-life woman be a feminist? According to abortion activist Gloria Steinem, yes. But… only if you’re pro-abortion. Which, of course, defeats the whole purpose of being pro-life in the first place.

In a new interview, the longtime pro-abortion feminist has a rather odd take on whether pro-life women can be feminists. Here’s, verbatim, what she had to say:

Can a pro-life person still be a feminist? Absolutely she said, as long as they do not impose their belief on another woman.

“You can be a feminist and say, ‘I would never ever ever dream of having an abortion.’ But you can’t, I don’t think, be a feminist and say to another woman ‘I’m going to prevent you from having an abortion.’” She added that it is about a woman’s control of her own body and own mind.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary feminism is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.” How can Steneim be a feminist if she denies equal rights and opportunities to men and women before birth?

The oddball comment comes just days after Steinem said her own abortion allowed her to live her life.

Steinem appeared as a guest on PBS’ Tavis Smiley. During the show, Steinem praised abortion for giving her “my life” and bashed the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood’s practice of aborted baby parts. She blamed the “attack” on Planned Parenthood on everything from the “ultra-right wing” to “patriarchy” and a “long-term racist system.”

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Host Tavis Smiley hailed Steinem as a “feminist icon” and “renowned social activist” before asking about her newly published book, My Life on the Road.

From the beginning of the interview, Steinem recalled her own abortion as a young woman. Her life depended on the death of her unborn baby, she said – albeit phrased a bit differently.

“It gave me my life,” she insisted of the abortion. “I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to live my life otherwise.”

The unborn baby had no chance of living her life or controlling her body, but apparently that’s besides the point.

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