Credit...Celeste Sloman for The New York Times

Where Does the Abortion Rights Movement Go Next?

Gloria Steinem reflects on the draft majority opinion leak, democratic backsliding and her life in the public eye.

It was a baptism, of sorts.

On a March night in 1969, Gloria Steinem entered Washington Square United Methodist Church as a reporter. For a few hours, she listened to women stand up in the church basement and speak the most radical thing they could: the truth about their bodies, their pregnancies and their abortions.

It was years before Roe v. Wade would make abortion access a right. And in a dim room, in what historians say was very likely the first public forum of its kind in American history, these women were outing themselves as criminals.

A few hours later, Ms. Steinem emerged reborn. That night, she said, she began a new life as an “active feminist.”

Her activism would later become the subject of biographies, documentaries, a comic book, two films and a play. Over the course of 50 years, she has helped usher the idea of feminism out of the radical fringe and into the mainstream, normalizing conversations about abortion access that were once confined to church basements.

So how did it feel to see the movement to which she has dedicated her life take such a striking blow? In The Daily Newsletter, she discusses the leaked draft majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, where the abortion rights movement should go next and the state of feminism more broadly.

This interview has been condensed and lightly edited.

Where were you when you heard the news about the draft majority opinion leaking?

At my desk, answering email. Nothing extraordinary. Then I began to get calls from reporters about it.

You said this moment felt “new and angering and ancient.” What feels new about it to you?

The idea that this fundamental human right of reproductive freedom and justice could be restricted again. This is a struggle in my life that has been going on since the 1950s. And the first speak out that I remember about abortion and reproductive freedom was in 1969. It seems repetitive and cruel, but also somewhat inevitable, since patriarchy, by definition, is about controlling women’s bodies. And we are still in something of a patriarchy, as we can see by who is in the White House, who is in Congress, who is in state legislatures. And it’s something of a racial patriarchy too.

Have you always been worried about the growing backlash against Roe?

It’s more broad than Roe. Unless each individual person has decision making power over our own bodies, men and women, we’re not living in a democracy.

Do you think this draft opinion is a sign of “democratic backsliding?”

Authoritarian movements tend to start by restricting women because we have wombs. Hitler, after he was elected, declared abortion a crime against the state.

Feminism was once a radical idea. Now, a majority of American women identify as feminists. What has been most heartening to you about that shift?

One thing that is not frequently credited is that women of color have always been far more likely to support the women’s movement and equal rights for women than white women have. The first poll in the 1970s asked, “Do you support women’s liberation?” Support was about twice as likely among Black women as among white women. And I believe there is more recognition of that now.

Some say feminism has always demanded intersectionality.

I think you’re right, exactly. And part of the problem has always been the coverage. The women’s movement was assumed to be mainly white or to have white leaders. So it’s nice that we have the word intersectional now, but the trouble with that word is people don’t know what it means, you have to define it.

And do you think there is a more accessible way of communicating that idea?

Feminism includes all women. Or it isn’t feminism.

What would you say to someone who said that they identified both as anti-abortion rights and also as a feminist?

I would say to them: Feminism will protect your right not to have an abortion, just as it protects the right of a woman who wishes to have an abortion to do so in safety. Reproductive freedom means what it says. It means the right to have or not to have children.

So you’re comfortable with anti-abortion activists identifying as feminists?

It depends if those anti-abortion activists are trying to deprive other women of the right to reproductive freedom. That’s different than if they are defending their own right.

And on the other end of the spectrum, do you welcome the efforts of younger feminists to make the movement even more radical and inclusive, especially with transgender rights?

Of course, I’ll be there cheering them on and raising money and doing whatever I can. In general, younger feminists are ahead. They’re more thoughtful and sensitive to forms of discrimination online, for instance, that I am less likely to see.

And how would you respond to those that argue that the current moment actually calls for multiple feminisms, “feminisms in the plural,” as Amia Srinivasan has described it?

Fine. It’s up to to each woman and each group how they experience and define feminism. I’m not going to dictate speech. I just am heartened by the degree to which feminist ideals have spread, including among men.

Do you think there is too much ideological infighting within modern feminism?

I would say that we are 100% more supportive of each other than people in political parties.

There’s just such a pleasure in seeing a woman being able to use her talents and do well, you know? And then when I see a policewoman directing traffic, for example, I always just wave at her and say thank you.

Then there is, of course, the broader critique of modern feminism: that it has become diluted by its universality and even co-opted by capitalist forces. How would you respond?

Feminism is not a public relations tactic. It’s a human rights revolution.

Do you feel like the abortion rights movement today has the same level of coherence or leadership as it did 50 years ago?

It is way, way, way, way more coherent. We were creating our own movement from the bottom up. We did not have entire medical systems, for instance, in the state of New York and other states devoted to providing reproductive freedom. We had “Jane,” an underground network for providing abortion services when it was still illegal. We don’t have to do that anymore.

What political action would you say is imperative for feminists to undertake today?

We’re not here to judge each other. We’re just trying to help each other do the best we can. But feminism, and just a belief in simple equality, affects everything we do. It affects who we vote for. It affects the kind of education we give our children. It affects the family because the family is our first experience of hierarchy or the lack of hierarchy. The democracy of the family is what builds a main source of the democracy of the country.

You once quoted Susan B. Anthony saying, “Our job is not to make young women grateful. It’s to make them ungrateful.” What do you hope that you’ve made young women ungrateful for?

Anything less than full equality, opportunity, ability to pursue their dreams.

I think we have made progress. I mean, at the end of the ’60s, when there was the very first abortion speak-out, to my knowledge, anyway, here in New York City, just women standing up and telling the stories of their abortions was revolutionary. That has changed a lot.

The need for abortion has also diminished. It was once roughly one in three American women needed an abortion at some time in her life. The abortion rate is now roughly 13 out of 1,000 women annually. The necessity of abortion has diminished because of the morning after pill. And also because more men are sharing responsibility for contraception.

The ongoing antagonism toward abortion is about controlling women and also about racism.

When you think about the number of men who now feel responsible for contraception, do you view that as a triumph of your work as well?

Ha. Well, it’s not like at my age I think of this every day. But of course.

Where does the abortion rights movement go from here?

Wherever we [expletive] well please. Don’t print that.

Are you sure I can’t print that? I’d really like to print that.

OK well. You’ll have to use dashes.

I’ll try to get it through editing. But as activists go wherever they well please, are there certain tactics for activism that you think might be more effective than others?

I’m sure there are, but I trust the individuals who are having the experience to pick the more helpful tactic. It’s not for me to judge. It’s for the people in the situation to decide.

Your life has been very scrutinized. Some famous women have recently been getting a chance to renarrate and reclaim their stories. Is there anything about the public perception of you that you’d like to change?

I devoutly wish that I had more frequent companionship in the public eye. A movement should not be represented by only a few.

Are there any specific women who you think deserve more credit than they’ve gotten?

Of course. Kathy Najimy is a wonderful activist and spokesperson. Paula Giddings, who wrote one of the most crucial books, “When and Where I Enter.” And Beverly Guy-Sheftall.

There are so many great women.

Lauren Jackson is a journalist based in London. More about Lauren Jackson

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