Seasons of Grace
This morning in the East Room of the White House, pro-abortion feminist Gloria Steinem received the highest honor which the President can bestow upon an individual who is not a member of the U.S. military. She was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
What is amazing, I guess, is that I can still be amazed by the abortion president’s actions.
Steinem described her own abortion in London at age 22 as “a pivotal and constructive experience.” She later wrote:
“It [abortion] is supposed to make us a bad person. But I must say, I never felt that. I used to sit and try and figure out how old the child would be, trying to make myself feel guilty. But I never could! I think the person who said: ‘Honey, if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament’ was right. Speaking for myself, I knew it was the first time I had taken responsibility for my own life. I wasn’t going to let things happen to me. I was going to direct my life, and therefore it felt positive. But still, I didn’t tell anyone. Because I knew that out there it wasn’t [positive].”
Interviewed this week by the Washington Post, Steinem maintained her staunch pro-abortion advocacy:
It shouldn’t be an issue. Approximately one in three women in this country needs an abortion at some time in her life. It should be a part of reproductive rights. We want to diminish the number. Nobody wants to get up in the morning and think, “I want to have a surgical procedure.” But the problem is that there’s a fervent and well-financed minority that believes that all sexuality that can’t end in conception is wrong and immoral.
Most of Gloria Steinem’s life energy has focused on the issue of women’s equality—which, to her, was inextricably linked to women’s right to kill their children in utero. Steinem is co-founder of the feminist magazine Ms., and co-founder or board member of prominent feminist organizations including the National Women’s Political Caucus and Choice USA, a reproductive rights lobby group. She has spoken against female genital mutilation and against male circumcision. She is a strong advocate for same-sex marriage, which—like contraception and abortion—separates the sexual act from pregnancy.
In presenting the Medal of Freedom to the 16 awardees today, President Obama said:
“The Presidential Medal of Freedom goes to men and women who have dedicated their own lives to enriching ours. This year’s honorees have been blessed with extraordinary talent, but what sets them apart is their gift for sharing that talent with the world. It will be my honor to present them with a token of our nation’s gratitude.”
Presidential Medal of Honor winners are drawn from many areas including the arts, business, education, humanitarianism, philosophy, politics and government, religion, science, space exploration, sports, and more. In receiving the award today, Steinem joins an esteemed list of hundreds of recipients who have been so honored: people like Norman Rockwell, Lucille Ball, John Steinbeck, Bob Dylan, Henry Ford II, Benjamin Carson, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Mother Teresa, Chicago Archbishop Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Norman Vincent Peale, and many other dignitaries.
Apparently, for this president, dedicating one’s life to promoting abortion is reason enough to celebrate and honor an individual with this most prestigious award.
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Oh, by the way, one other recipient of the award this year is another woman whose work I’ve criticized this week: Oprah Winfrey.
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