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Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2000; 11 a.m. EDT

The abortion debate has historically been a hot election year topic. This year, however, the two major parties have down played the issue. Where do Democrats and Republicans stand on abortion and how have their platforms changed over the years? What can we expect in the near future with up to four Supreme Court seats open during the next president's term?

Serrin Foster is the president of Feminists for Life of America -- an organization whose stated mission is to develop alternatives to abortion for pregnant women. Ms. Foster serves on the advisory boards of the Ivy League Coalition for Life and American Collegians for Life and has been recognized by Marquis Who's Who in America and Who's Who of American Women. She was live online on Wednesday, August 16, at 11 a.m. EDT. The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Free Media: Good morning, Ms. Foster, and welcome. Can you talk a little bit about Feminists for Life, and how your group got started?

Serrin Foster: Feminists for Life continues a 200-year tradition of pro-life feminism, which began with Mary Wollstone Craft. She wrote in 1792, "A Vindication of the Rights of Women." In this book, she not only championed the rights of women, but also condemned abortion and infanticide. in this country, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton continued her efforts to empower women. They worked to gain our right to vote, our right to assemble and speak freely, keep their children if they were divorced, inherit if they were married. They also fought for the rights of women to enter college. Less well known was their work to make abortion illegal. The early American feminists worked in an uneasy alliance with the male-dominated medical profession and the media to outlaw abortion. They believed that abortion violated the basic tenets of feminism, which included non violence, non discrimination and justice for all.

So the same women who fought for the rights of slaves to be free, fought for the rights of women to vote, also fought for our right to life. They emphasized systematically eliminating the problems that women faced by addressing the root causes. Mattie Brinkerhoff wrote in Susan B. Anthony's "Revolution" in 1869, "When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society -- so when a women destroys the life of her unborn child, it is evidence that either by education or circumstances, she has been greatly wronged."

Today, Feminists for Life continues where the early American feminists left off by addressing the root causes of abortion and other problems women face.

Arlington, Va.: Why do you think so many women refuse to call themselves "feminists," whether they're talking about abortion or some other issue?

Serrin Foster: Unfortunately, "feminism" has become a bad word, and the perceptions attributed to feminism are fairly negative. People who are pro-life obviously don't like the fact that many people who are self-proclaimed feminists support abortion. There's a perception that feminists are angry women, and we need to remember that in the 1960s and '70s, there were some good reasons to be angry -- women were not hired, promoted or paid what they were worth. A woman in a secretarial position for 20 years would be asked to train someone her son's age for a job that paid four times as much. Unfortunately, the women's movement of the '70s accepted the proposal by Larry Lader and Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who founded NARAL. They proposed to the leadership of NOW that if women wanted to achieve equality in the workplace, if we wanted to be hired, paid and promoted like a man, then we shouldn't bother our employers with maternity leave, maternity benefits in health care, the time a woman would take off for child care. Most employers at the time believed that women could not function in the workplace. So these two men from NARAL convinced the leadership of NOW that the way to achieve equality in the workplace was to control one's fertility. Unfortunately, we will never achieve equality in the workplace by passing as men. Our equality does not come at the expense of anyone else -- especially our children. For the past 27 years, women have proved that we can make it in a man's world. Now it's time to prove that we can make it as women -- by recognizing the fact that women have children and are the primary caretakers.

Washington, D.C.: What does it mean to you to be a feminist?

Serrin Foster: When I went to college in the 1970s, women had very few choices about their career paths. We could be nurses, secretaries, teachers, waitresses or stewardesses, and then become a mom. I felt those choices were fairly limiting. It was very exciting for me to attend college at a time when the Equal Rights Amendment was being championed by NOW. I believed the cries for equality and non-violence. Then I heard the abortion discussion begin. These concepts conflicted with one another, and I felt all alone. I knew that I was a feminist, and I knew that I was pro-life. I understood why women felt driven to abortion because of lack of emotional support and lack of financial resources. But I believed that women should demand better than abortion, because we deserve it.

Washington, D.C.: Does your group stand outside clinics and protest?

Serrin Foster: No. Feminists for Life is concentrating our efforts on college campuses. One out of five women who has an abortion is in college. A former board member had experienced an unplanned pregnancy while in college. She had just broken up with her boyfriend and wasn't going back, and discovered that she was pregnant. She looked around her campus and saw that there was housing being built for basketball players, but realized that there was no family housing. Child care was more than $5,000 a year, and there was no maternity coverage in their student health care. This is common. Under the stress, she miscarried. I started thinking about how often we see someone who's visibly pregnant or a parent on campus, and I ask students, have you ever seen a visibly pregnant student on campus. And while most students know someone who has had an unplanned pregnancy while in college, rarely does one see a pregnant or parenting student while on campus.

The lack of resources on campus is contributing toward the lack of choices for women on campus. We decided to go to people on both sides of the abortion debate and work to address the root causes of what drives women to abortion. We asked doctors who perform abortions as well as pro-life OB-GYNs, pro-life and pro-choice students and faculty, administrators, counselors and clinic staff to work with us to address the needs of women and pregnant and parenting students. A wonderful thing happened. People on both sides of the debate were willing to address this issue, and I have been traveling the country raising this question of women's resources on campus. Pro-life students as well as pro-choice protesters have emerged united to address the basic needs of pregnant and parenting students.

Planned Parenthood has called our college outreach program "the newest and most challenging concept in anti-choice campus organizing" and say that FFL "could have a profound impact" on college campuses "as well as Planned Parenthood's public education and advocacy efforts." They ask their staff to report our advertising campaign to the clinic defense and research team. This was disheartening because we reached out to people on the other side of the debate to create a program that would meet the needs of pregnant and parenting students who feel that they have no choice.

New York, N.Y.: Do you agree that organizations like Planned Parenthood serve a valuable function besides abortion services? What about the poor women who go there for health care and tests and still have to deal with people outside with signs calling them baby killers? Some women go for regular screening tests and still have to pass through metal detectors at the door? Isn't the anti-abortion movement discouraging poor women from getting health care?

Serrin Foster: Good question. Feminists for Life has no position on contraception and family planning, and our members represent the spectrum of opinions on contraception. Beyond that, women are also going to Planned Parenthood for regular checkups, and we do not have a problem with women getting regular medical care. I do believe in the right to free speech. However, it is important for pro-lifers who engage in public demonstration to reconsider how they approach women. Rather than calling people names, it would be better to offer free help -- which is being done. For example, one woman set up an adoption center in front of a Planned Parenthood in Virginia. Planned Parenthood had no problem with it. She had balloons and a very happy sign -- my husband and I would like to adopt your baby -- she was infertile. She had pictures of her home and a stroller ready, demonstrating her eagerness to adopt. Those approaches, along with other offers to help, are constructive. Name calling is not.

Violence is unfortunately part of our society now, and whether you're talking about guns in schools, bombs aimed at abortion clinics or abortion, we want to eliminate all forms of violence. The other thing I think it's important to recognize is that the most notorious instances of violence against clinics have been committed by individuals with a long history of mental illness. Until we address the needs of people like Salvi, whose parents tried to seek hospitalization, we're going to have situations named not only at abortion clinics, but every part of society, like the Unabomber attacking corporations who were not supportive of the environment.

If you'd like to help Feminists for Life, whether you're pro-life or pro-choice, check out our Web site: http://www.feministsforlife.org. Join us, or send a kit to campus to help promote resources for pregnant and parenting students. We're going to unveil a new ad campaign for the upcoming school year soon.

Free Media: That was our last question for Serrin Foster.

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