women and anti-abortion activism

325 Pages·2017·4.4 MB·English

University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Theses and Dissertations
Summer 2011
The violent transformation of a social movement :
women and anti-abortion activism
Karissa Ann Haugeberg
University of Iowa
Copyright 2011 Karissa A. Haugeberg
This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1333
Recommended Citation
Haugeberg, Karissa Ann. "The violent transformation of a social movement : women and anti-abortion activism." PhD (Doctor of
Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2011.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.yp0cfs5k
Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd
Part of theHistory Commons
THE VIOLENT TRANSFORMATION OF A SOCIAL MOVEMENT: WOMEN AND
ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISM
by
Karissa Ann Haugeberg
An Abstract
Of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in History
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
1

July 2011
Thesis Supervisors: Associate Professor Johanna Schoen
Professor Linda K. Kerber
1
ABSTRACT

My dissertation explores women’s activism in the anti-abortion movement in the
United States, from the 1960s through the close of the twentieth century. I study the
transformation of the movement, from its origins in the Catholic Church in the 1960s, to
the influx of evangelical Christians into the movement in the early 1980s. My primary
sources include organizational records, personal papers, newspapers, legal documents, and
oral histories. I analyze women’s roles within the movement and the religious contexts that
influenced their ideology and informed their choice of tactics.
Anti-abortion activism provided a forum for many religiously conservative women
to engage in public debates, shape public policy, and protest publicly. First, I examine the
relationships between women who established national anti-abortion organizations with
those women who participated in grassroots activism. I suggest that evangelical Protestant
women were more likely to hold leadership positions in the mainstream movement because
most leaders in the evangelical grassroots wing of the movement enforced a patriarchal
organizational structure. On the other hand, progressive Catholic women had considerably
more influence in the grassroots organizations they formed apart from the Roman Catholic
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Church.
Second, I address how women responded to the rise of the New Right and the
subsequent influx of evangelical Christians into the movement. I trace the history of
violence in the history and suggest that women had prepared the movement to accept the
radicalism of evangelical Christians by the 1980s. By focusing on women, I seek to reveal
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the contradictions between religiously conservative ideas about proper gender roles that
many women in the movement espoused and the actual work they performed as activists.
Abstract Approved: __________________________________
Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Title and Department
___________________________________
Date
___________________________________
Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Title and Department
___________________________________
Date

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THE VIOLENT TRANSFORMATION OF A SOCIAL MOVEMENT: WOMEN AND
ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISM
by
Karissa Ann Haugeberg
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in History
in the Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
1
July 2011
Thesis Supervisors: Associate Professor Johanna Schoen
Professor Linda K. Kerber
Copyright by
KARISSA ANN HAUGEBERG
2011
All Rights Reserved
2
Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
_______________________
PH.D. THESIS
_______________
This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of
Karissa Ann Haugeberg
has been approved by the Examining Committee
for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy
degree in History at the July 2011 graduation.
Thesis Committee: ___________________________________
Johanna Schoen, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Linda K. Kerber, Thesis Supervisor
___________________________________
Elizabeth Heineman
___________________________________
Douglas C. Baynton
___________________________________
Erica Prussing
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank the teachers, professors, and colleagues who recommended
books, read drafts of the dissertation, and convinced me that I had a story to tell. At the
University of North Dakota, Jeanne Anderegg, Anne Kelsch, Sheryl O’Donnell, and
Sharon Carson, offered history and literature courses that enabled me to think like a
historian. Thank you Elizabeth Heineman, Douglas Baynton, Erica Prussing, and Colin
Gordon for reading the dissertation and providing me with useful comments.
Linda K. Kerber’s scholarship inspired me to study women’s history. Her
mentorship has enabled me to observe how one can be simultaneously skeptical and
collegial, provide wise counsel and be a careful listener, and offer novel ways of thinking
while acknowledging the influence of others. Johanna Schoen suggested I consider writing
a dissertation about women in the anti-abortion movement. She directed me to rich
archival sources, asked good questions, and encouraged me to abandon unnecessary words.
I am a better writer because of her.
Myrna Shaneyfelt and Monica Migliorino Miller kindly agreed to be interviewed for
this dissertation. I thank them for helping me to understand the types of work they
performed as the movement grew over the course of the twentieth century. I am grateful to
Juli Loesch Wiley for granting me permission to use her image in this dissertation. I would
also like to thank Ann Scheidler from the Pro-Life Action Network for scanning several
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dozen photographs and giving me permission to include them in this dissertation.
I am grateful to the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, the Sallie Bingham Library at
Duke University, and the family of Laurence LaFore for travel grants that enabled me to
conduct archival research. Writing fellowships from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
and the Graduate College at the University of Iowa freed me from my teaching duties and
permitted me to devote my attention to writing and revising the dissertation. I thank
Clarence E. Cousins (who honored his mother, Ada Louise Ballard, by naming the
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fellowship after her), and the families of Marcus Bach and Carl E. Seashore for
bequeathing money to enable graduate students to complete their dissertations.
I was fortunate to have studied and worked alongside many smart and curious
friends at the University of Iowa, including Christy Clark, Charissa Threat, Sharon
Romeo, Janet Weaver, Justus Hartzok, Angela Keysor, Michael Bortscheller, Matt Conn,
Katherine Massoth, Susan Stanfield, Sylvea Hollis, Bethany Otremba, Heather Cooper,
Jake Hall, Anna Flaming, Noaquia Callahan, and Jesil Pujara. Caroline Campbell listened
to my half-formed arguments and helped me to think about gender in new ways; she was
kind when I was frustrated, organized when I was befuddled, and calm when I was harried.
Kathryn Stewart always knew when I needed a break and Michael Hevel always knew when
I needed a nudge to get back to work. Sharon Lake’s enthusiasm for the study of history
and her careful attention to grammar and word choices helped me to become a better
writer. At the Iowa Women’s Archives, Kären Mason, Janet Weaver, and Sharon Lake
encouraged me to think about the subjectivity of archival work and helped me to
appreciate individuals who donate their intimate records to archives.
Thank you to the indefatigable Scott McKenzie for keeping my refrigerator stocked
with vegetables, supporting me when I fretted about the job market, and staying up to
accompany me on lovely walks after I worked late into the night. I couldn’t ask for a better
partner. Finally, to my parents, Lowell and Kay Haugeberg, I am grateful to you for
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supporting me emotionally, financially, and intellectually. Thank you for discussing current
events at the dining room table, thank you for encouraging Brent and me to read, and
thank you for being so kind.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

INTRODUCTION: INSERTING WOMEN INTO THE HISOTRY OF THE U.S.
ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT 1

A Note about Terminology: Anti-Abortion and Pro-Life 5
The Criminalization of Abortion in the Nineteenth Century 6

CHAPTER ONE. THE EMERGENCE OF THE MODERN ANTI-ABORTION
MOVEMENT 18

Religious Support for Abortion Reform 23
Changing Public Attitudes about Abortion Laws 25
Case Study: The Fight against Abortion Reform in Iowa 36
Litigating Abortion Rights 42

CHAPTER TWO. MARJORY MECKLENBURG: ORGANIZING THE
NATIONAL ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT, 1968-1982 51

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life 53
History of the National Right to Life Committee 56
Going on Record: The Human Life Amendment and Partisan Politics 70
The Transformation of Federal Family Planning Policy 88
Target: Title X 93
The Transformation of Teenage Sexual Healthcare Policy:
The “Squeal Rule” 97
Target: Sex Education 104
Conclusion 106 4

CHAPTER THREE. “WE RANGE FROM MARXIST TO MORAL MAJORITY”
GRASSROOTS CATHOLIC ACTIVISM AND
THE POLITICS OF ABORTION 113

The Tactics of Progressive Anti-Abortion Activists 117
Pro-Life Feminism 120
Tensions within the Left 129
Turning-Point for Progressive Anti-Abortion Activists 134
We Will Stand Up 137
Operation Rescue 148
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