Injecting conservative values into the cultural mainstream is a battle, especially for women’s issues in popular, female-geared media like magazines. Liberal ideology has attracted the female presidential vote—and the female magazine—for years. For most of these crusaders and publications, “women’s issues” comes down to one issue: abortion.
As freshman Representative Ann Marie Buerkle (R–NY) told the Conservative Women’s Network last Thursday, for liberal women, “It’s not about women’s rights; it’s about maintaining and pushing abortion rights.”
It’s hard to argue with that when the nation’s most popular women’s magazines—Glamour, Marie Claire, Vogue, etc.—all assume their readers to be pro-abortion without question.
In this month’s Marie Claire [print edition], one page directs readers to a list of congresswomen the magazine deems to be against health care for women. It’s a list of every conservative woman in Congress who voted to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives massive federal funding and manages the largest abortion operation in the country .
In April, the same magazine published an empathetic interview with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, who accused the new Congress of “rolling back access to women’s health care at a time when women are more in need than any other moment in my lifetime.”
The reason the new Congress has focused on Planned Parenthood is because of its growing entanglement with abortion and its involvement with controversies over issues like statutory rape reporting.
To the liberal feminists in mainstream media, a conservative woman’s opinion can’t possibly be legitimate. Unfortunately, those outlets often carry the loudest megaphones for women’s issues in elections – and seem to have little regard for those who identify as pro-life.
Buerkle came in close contact with a few members of that outspoken demographic during her campaign in a historically liberal New York district. Outside the office one day, a group of women carrying NOW (National Organization for Women) signs picketed her for participating in the pro-life movement.
Ideally, a feminist group would be excited to see a woman making political strides in what’s typically been a man’s field. But for these protesters, the ability to kill unborn babies was more important than anything else.
“I’m a nurse, I’m an attorney, I had six kids, and I’m running for Congress—what else do you want?” said an incredulous Buerkle.
It’s obvious that Marie Claire, NOW, and other feminist entities are only pro-women when it comes to women who support their radical ideology. They cloak the abortion issue in the mantle of “health care,” but it’s clear the main concern is access to abortion on demand.
Buerkle noted that conservative women have many stereotypes to overcome since the radical feminist movement is culturally perceived to care most about women. That perception is a mainstream lie that conservatives battle everyday when tackling issues close to their hearts, like health care for women.
While conservative, pro-life women are focused on the array of health care issues beyond abortion, liberals remain indentured to this one legal ability to choose death for their unborn children. Buerkle said it was telling that the debate in March on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year came down to taxpayer funding of abortion. The left is so committed to abortion that they were even willing to halt funds to American troops overseas in order to underwrite its most prominent U.S. provider. This is what conservative women are up against.
Watch Buerkle’s speech here: