海角大神

Juliet Miller has no qualms calling herself both pro-life and a feminist.

Years of soul searching, she says, led her to decide that she could not morally support abortion. Yet her women鈥檚 studies degree also guaranteed that she would always be an advocate for women鈥檚 rights: 鈥淚 think that to be feminist is to be invested in issues that affect women and to want women to be able to flourish,鈥� Ms. Miller says.

So when she learned that an anti-abortion rights group had this week been dropped from the list of official partners for the Women鈥檚 March on Washington 鈥� a solidarity protest set for the day after President Trump鈥檚 inauguration 鈥� Miller was disappointed.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a little bit unfair to people who are pro-life and maybe have a bit of a different ideology than the typical feminist, to tell them that they don鈥檛 get to be feminists, that they don鈥檛 count,鈥� says Miller, now studying nursing at Arizona State University in Phoenix. 鈥淚t sends a really powerful and polarizing message.鈥�

The Women鈥檚 March, in its mission, invites people of all beliefs and backgrounds to raise their voices on a range of issues, including civil rights, workers鈥� rights, and environmental justice.

But the event is also a platform for reproductive freedom. Advocates of choice, fearing a conservative Supreme Court under Mr. Trump, have once more drawn the issue to the fore of the feminist movement. Already, they say, states鈥� recent efforts to shut down abortion clinics 鈥� which often provide key reproductive health services to poor women and women of color 鈥� have restricted access to those services, risking women鈥檚 lives.

Many feminists say there is no disentangling reproductive rights from other human rights. To advocate against abortion is to both cut off access to basic health care and impose a personal choice on others, they say. Both fly in the face of fundamental feminist principles: that women have the right to equal opportunity and to make their own decisions about their lives and bodies.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 advocate women鈥檚 rights as human rights and also forcibly advocate blocking women from health care,鈥� says Terry O鈥橬eill, executive director of the National Organization for Women, a feminist activist group.

But for those who, like Miller, consider themselves advocates for women鈥檚 rights and against abortion, the focus on choice raises questions about inclusivity. It draws attention to elements within the feminist movement that align with the liberal left, they say, and alienates potential allies with alternate political and moral beliefs.

This, at a time when 鈥� advocates of all stripes say 鈥� solidarity among different groups is more important than ever.

鈥淭he assumption is if you鈥檙e not part of this march, you鈥檙e somehow anti-environment, anti-reproductive rights, anti-everything,鈥� says Sabrina Schaeffer, executive director of the Independent Women鈥檚 Forum, a conservative nonprofit. 鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating to many, because it suggests that we all have to be lock-step on a certain perspective.鈥�

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Though Miller has always believed abortion was immoral, she didn鈥檛 always advocate against it.

In college, she called herself pro-choice because, she says, 鈥淚 realized that asking a woman who is pregnant and unprepared to have a child to continue that pregnancy is asking a very, very tall order of her.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a place to be punitive,鈥� Miller adds. 鈥淎 lot of times, people who are pro-life will say, 鈥業t鈥檚 your fault, so deal with it.鈥� That鈥檚 not fair, not compassionate.鈥�

Over time, however, Miller realized she believed that the fetus, at some point in utero, becomes a human being entitled to protections from the government, in the same way that the woman鈥檚 right to autonomy deserves protection. After struggling with her conscience, Miller landed on the side of opposing abortion, she says. She believes there should be exceptions in cases when the mother鈥檚 life is at stake or when a medical professional says the mother is in danger of severe psychiatric trauma, which could include rape.

Her position often makes her an anomaly among her mostly liberal friends.

鈥淎 lot of people, when they find out I鈥檓 pro-life, that鈥檚 what defines me to them,鈥� says Miller, who refuses to affiliate herself with any political party. 鈥淚t becomes impossible to convince them that I care about women, and autonomy, and all these things that I really care about.鈥�

Many feminists say they have nothing against people who oppose abortion. The problem, they say, is when those same people work to prevent other women from accessing abortion 鈥� and by extension, the comprehensive care that abortion clinics often provide, especially to the poor and marginalized.

鈥淚 am happy to recognize and honor that label they put on themselves unless and until they start trying to block women from abortion care,鈥� says Ms. O鈥橬eill. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not pro-life, that鈥檚 just forcing your beliefs on people.鈥�

Some say that those who feel excluded from the feminist movement fail to understand its role in the crucial interplay among social justice issues. A woman鈥檚 ability to support a family and make independent decisions, for instance, is inextricably linked to the right to a fair wage, which in turn is linked to the economic injustice facing communities of color. That injustice plays out in the quality of the environments in which they live, and their treatment at the hands of authorities.

鈥淣obody lives single-issue lives,鈥� says Britni de la Cretaz, a Boston-based freelance writer, mother of two, and avowed radical leftist. 鈥淭he goal of feminism for me is to end this systemic oppression of folks that are marginalized.鈥�

From that perspective, the Women鈥檚 March 鈥� with its focus on immigrants, those with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, and communities of color 鈥� 鈥渋s incredibly inclusive,鈥� Ms. de la Cretaz says.

It may feel exclusive to groups and individuals who are part of the status quo and used to having society orient around them, she says. But if those people are sincere about their intent to fight for human rights, then they would realize they have a responsibility to reach out to the marginalized, de la Cretaz says.

鈥淔or me, as a white woman, it鈥檚 been a deliberate attempt to learn and expand my understanding of feminism and the world by actively seeking out conversations from people who have different experiences than I do,鈥� she says.

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Conflicting views on issues and strategies are a natural feature of any crusade. The key to forging ahead, some say, is to recognize that different people and groups will always play different roles.

鈥淲e have these tensions in every movement,鈥� says Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, vice president for the social policy and politics program at the centrist think tank Third Way in Washington. 鈥淵ou need a time for people to agree on things and shore each other up and strengthen their message, and you need a time for opening that tent much wider and bringing in people who agree with you on small things.鈥�

鈥淵ou need people in different places in order to take one step forward and pull the rest of the country behind you,鈥� adds Alice Dranger, an actor, feminist, and abortion-rights supporter who lives in Los Angeles. 鈥淚 think you need to compromise, but I also think you need someone 鈥� on the outside, saying, 鈥業t鈥檚 not enough.鈥� 鈥�

De la Cretaz in Boston is among those who say the Women鈥檚 March organizers did right by taking New Wave Feminists off their partners鈥� list. But she says it鈥檚 unlikely the group would be barred from marching in Washington 鈥� which New Wave Feminists founder Destiny Herndon-de la Rosa has said she still plans to do.

鈥淕ood for them,鈥� says Ms. Hatalsky. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for people who are called outsiders in a movement to continue to stick around. Movements aren鈥檛 ever going to change unless people continue to identify who are not part of that base.鈥�