nds of discrimination: "We can't discriminate on things like size, development, lack of legal protection, lack of physical abilities. All must be treated with dignity, simply because they are human" (Vaughn 23).
Pro-life advocates contend that the early feminists, among them Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were opposed to abortion on the grounds that it violated the feminist ideals of nonviolence and inclusion. Christian groups suggest that if society becomes desensitized to the killing of fetuses, no underprivileged group is safe. A dangerous mindset will be encouraged that could result in widespread human rights violations. Thus Christian groups believe that outlawing abortion would fulfill God's mandate: "The means are clear: overturn the Supreme Court ruling that made abortions legal (Roe v. Wade), and enact a human-life amendment to the Constitution" (White 35).
At the core of the abortion issue for feminists is the quality of life for women. Pro-life advocates believe that society has the same moral obligations to the fetus as it does to the mother. Feminists vehemently disagree: "To equate a biologic process with full normative humanity is crass biologic reductionism, and such reductionism is never practiced in religious ethics except where women's lives and well-being are involved" (Cloyes 127).
Feminist scholars contend that the basis of the abortion controversy lies in the inherent misogynist attitudes of a male-dominated society. Males glorify the awesome power that they exert over nature, as evidenced by their ability to alter natural conditions in a variety ways, e.g., warfare and environmental degradation. When women attempt to shape and determine their own procreative power via abortion, men equate their actions with homicide or murder.
A recent survey of Catholic attitudes confirms the feminist viewpoint that cultural politics exerts an overwhelming influence on public opinion abo...