Surrounded by dozens of pink crosses along the stage of the University of Wyoming Education building auditorium Tuesday night, Kristin Hawkins spoke about anti-abortion feminist perspectives to honor aborted lives, she said.
The talk drew protestors, similar to controversy over Dennis Prager’s lecture on campus last year, though Hawkins’ talk was not as publicized nor did it draw as large of an audience.
Hawkins is the president of Students for Life of America, an anti-abortion organization geared toward the younger generations. UW Students for Life of America President Bridget Delany introduced Hawkins’ talk, “Lies Feminists Tell,” about the modern feminist narrative surrounding abortion and what it means to be a “pro-life” feminist.
“This is about the failure of mainstream feminism and the lies we are told by mainstream feminists,” said Hawkins. “I know the stigmas on me tonight might be controversial, but I am more than willing and open to speaking to that.”
Many people within the anti-abortion movement, or at least in the Students for Life organization, Hawkins said, actually have had abortions themselves and choose to speak out against abortion due to their own experiences with unplanned pregnancy.
Identifying as a feminist can complicate that activism.
“In college when someone asked me if I was a feminist I would say ‘hell yeah,’” said Hawkins. “I knew I was equal to my male classmates — I was better. I was valedictorian of my high school and college. Yet now when I get asked that question I don’t know if I want that label associated with myself or even if I fit that ideal anymore.”
Hawkins addressed five “lies” told by modern day feminists: the idea that that sex comes without consequence, chemical contraceptives are necessary, when those contraceptives fail an abortion is necessary if a woman wants to achieve her goals and that abortion is without risks.
The fifth “lie” she countered was that the Equal Rights Amendment guaranteeing equal rights to all citizens regardless of sex needs to be passed and adopted into law. Her argument is that the rights of women should not come before the right to life of all humans.
“I, like many women, believe in demanding equality for all human beings,” said Hawkins. “Women should have the right to vote, fulfill their family and career goals and so much more. If I were today to identify myself as a feminist the mainstream feminist leaders would say that I am not welcome because of the organization that I run, all over one issue, because I believe that abortions are a fundamental human rights violation.”
Hawkins also argued that because of the modern day “hook up culture” sex has become so trivialized that it means nothing and has caused an sexually transmitted disease epidemic while ignoring the natural potential consequences of being sexually active.
The organizations she leads seeks to abolish abortion by changing cultural norms through recruitment and training, according to the Students of Life of America’s website.Hawkins then began her career at Students for Life in 2006, where she was recruited to launch a larger growth for the Students for Life organization, after graduating from Bethany College in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
