Remember Michelle McCusker, who was fired from her job as a Catholic high school teacher for getting pregnant out of wedlock?
Feminists for Life has sided with McCusker, claiming that by firing her, the Catholic school was essentially encouraging abortion.
Serrin Foster, president of Feminists for Life, talks about McCusker at anti-abortion rallies, saying taking away a woman's job and income for being pregnant is anti-life."It is not pro-life to take away the resources and support that women need and deserve to bring children into this world," Foster says. "The appropriate response for the employer when they found out she was pregnant, is to say, 'Congratulations,' and, 'How can I help?'"
I agree. Has hell frozen over?
Don't worry-- I'm not rushing to join up with FFL, which doesn't take a position on contraception. I don't know if they've heard, but contraception tends to prevent unplanned pregnancies like McCusker's.
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This is why I was a member of FFL for a long time, until I swung back towards a prayerfully pro-choice stance last year. I liked the practicality and the commitment to women's lives that Foster, at her best, always makes so clear.
Hugo, I find the feminists for life to be totally impractical, with their ambivalent stance toward contraception and their misleading propaganda about abortion causing breast cancer and the crooked "abortion industry." I like the fact that they look to other ways to prevent abortion than guilt-tripping, but they seem to take a dim view of womens' choices. I actually talked about them in my Blog for Choice entry, if you'd like to hear more of my thoughts about the feminists for life.
What if this woman had been raped? Would the same consequences have been put in place? I agree with many of the comments that have been made about this story. Where is the punishment for men? In this "teacher handbook" does it spell out what is and is not acceptable? How frustrating. Things like this make me sad to be Catholic in this day and age.
I do agree with FFL's position on this issue, (ie, being in support of her pregnancy) but for different reasons.
FFL have done some cool stuff for pregnant women's rights; I'll say that.
I wonder if, at the same Catholic school there would be a termination penalty for a single man who was named in a paternity suit?