National Feminist Leader Warns Voters: ‘Nothing Should Be Taken for Granted’

As the country grapples with ever-stricter abortion laws and vocal anti-abortion, right-wing decision-makers, one thing has been made abundantly clear: It was never about the baby.

“It was always about control over women’s reproductive rights and systems,” said Kathy Spillar, editor of Ms. magazine and executive director and cofounder of the Feminist Majority Foundation, a national organization working for women’s equality. “They’re saying the quiet part out loud now.” 

Spillar will speak at the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee’s (SBWPC) 23rd Presidents’ Circle Luncheon on March 8. She will focus on the outlook of upcoming elections, particularly through the lens of reproductive rights. “There is no question,” she said, “that women will prioritize a candidate’s stance on abortion as they head to the polls.” 

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 and removed the federally protected right to abortion, many states passed near-total bans on abortion, with some restricting access even in the case of medical emergencies. 

Even in California, where abortion is protected in the state constitution, the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court can still restrict access in cases of mifepristone, the abortion pill, for example. “Nothing should be taken for granted,” Spillar cautioned.

In other states, women experiencing life-threatening complications in pregnancy have been denied critical healthcare because of strict abortion bans. Research shows that a nationwide abortion ban would increase the number of maternal deaths in the U.S. by 24 percent (39 percent for Black women).

To complicate matters more, in a recent case involving in vitro fertilization, a court in Alabama ruled that fertilized eggs are, in effect, children, who have the same rights as living, breathing kids. 

“Essentially, they have now applied legal personhood to fertilized eggs, and so every miscarriage could potentially be a crime scene,” Spillar said, adding that the decision threatens access to contraception, including birth control and Plan B. 

“And these people don’t rely on science — these are religious arguments.”

With tightening restrictions on reproductive care nationwide and potential ballot measures to secure abortion rights in five other state constitutions, Spillar believes feminists, and especially young women, have the potential to be the margin of difference in upcoming elections. 

The Feminist Majority Foundation commissioned a poll last fall asking voters whether they support a person’s right to make their own reproductive decisions, without government interference, and 74 percent said yes. “That’s huge,” Spillar said. “Candidates who campaign on this position have a real opportunity to move ahead in this election.”

The SBWPC Presidents’ Circle Luncheon will take place on Friday, March 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Cabrillo Arts Pavilion. Buy tickets here.