The Women’s March on Washington has booted a pro-life women’s group after complaints by prominent progressive feminists on social media.
On Sunday, a pro-life feminist group, New Wave Feminists, announced that the march organizers officially granted them partnership status and that they’ll be marching on January 21st. “Super pumped to rep prolife feminism at the Women’s March on Washington alongside Life Matters Journal and many other badass Prolife feminists,” the group’s post on Facebook read.
The participation by the Texas-based group was noticed after The Atlantic wrote a story on Monday titled “These Pro-Lifers Are Headed to the Women’s March on Washington”. According to the article, “For their part, the [march] organizers say pro-lifers will be welcome to march on January 21st.”
New Wave Feminists briefly appeared on the official Women’s March on Washington Partners’ list, yet several hours later after The Atlantic article was published, the group was removed.
Indeed, the news that a pro-life group was welcomed to the march had caused fury on social media by prominent feminists. “Horrified that the @womensmarch has partnered w/an anti-choice org. Plse reconsider – inclusivity is not about bolstering those who harm us,” tweeted Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti.
“We need to stop the myth that feminism is simply ‘anything a woman does.’ Feminism is a movement for justice – abortion access is central,” she added.
Another vocal feminist in the media, Jaclyn Friedman, wrote: “What kind of bullshit is this, @womensmarch?!? Anti-abortion = anti-woman. It’s also against your own platform!”
Lauren Oyler, Broadly contributing editor, shared a similar sentiment, writing “You’re not a feminist (or at all smart) if you don’t support safe and legal access to abortion for all women.”
Meanwhile, Citizen Radio co-host Allison Kilkenny issued a demand to the women’s march organizers: “drop these fools.”
The pro-life feminist group confirmed on Facebook that the march organizers reconsidered their partnership. “It appears the Women’s March on Washington’ has pulled us as a partner,” the group said.
It added: “Just yesterday we were together. But it’s okay boo…. we understand not everyone’s strong enough to stand up to the haters. Luckily, we’ve had some practice. Either way, see ya Saturday!”
