'Pro-Life Feminists' — A ventriloquial poem
Suffragist Alice Duer Miller used ventriloquism of anti-suffragist positions in her New York Tribune suffrage poetry column Are Women People? and in her 1915 book "Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times.” Back in 2012, after reading Alice Duer Miller’s poetry, writer Lili Loofbourow wrote that “the time has come to write singsongy poems about John Boehner's stand on abortion, because nothing makes the opposition look as vacuous and morally bankrupt than putting their arguments in rhyme.” Such poetry is needed as much now as it was in Miller’s time. We don't have to be great poets to give it our best shot.
The following is a ventriloquial poem, inspired by Victoria Browne's excellent paper, “Anti-abortion feminism: How is this even a thing?”
“Pro-Life Feminists” — A ventriloquial poem
Come close now, our dear sisters.
Come close. Stay sweet. Be still.
We must tell you what to think
Of the abortion pill.
We are pro-life feminists.
We care about your rights.
Listen closely. Let us be
Your saviors, your White knights.
The abortion pill is bad.
Please trust all that we say.
To do what’s best for you, we
Must take your choice away.
Our pro-life utopia
Can’t happen without you.
Your choice must be sacrificed
For our dreams to come true.
Not wanting to be pregnant,
The selfish woman will
Exercise autonomy
With the abortion pill.
The selfish woman will
Believe that her choice was right,
But autonomy must come
Last to our pro-life might.
Progress will never happen
Without a birth or two.
‘Raising Kids on a Shoestring’ —
Here’s a brochure for you.
Choice will not empower you.
Birth is so much greater.
You must give birth. Yes, you must!
You will thank us later.
Only pro-life feminists
Know what is good and true:
Taking your choices away
will empower you.
We are pro-life feminists.
We care about your rights.
Listen closely. Let us be
Your saviors, your White knights.
Brain dead and backwards is my best way to describe this.