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Entity discusses whether there is room for pro-lifer's in the feminist movement.

After Donald Trump’s inauguration, women across the nation are planning on making lots of noise in what is set to be one of America’s biggest protests. But they’re not doing it together because, apparently, you can’t be pro-life and feminist.

Pro-life group New Wave Feminists have been booted from the list of partners for the Women’s March on Washington. After receiving an influx of backlash, the Women’s March released a statement apologizing for the “error” they had made.

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Much of the criticism the Women’s March has received falls along the lines of how pro-life groups don’t belong in the “feminist” category because feminists believe that a woman’s body is a woman’s body is a woman’s body.

Where you stand on this issue obviously depends on what you believe the basic tenets of feminism are. But the biggest problem right now is that excluding pro-life groups like New Wave Feminists from a march where “all are welcome” is contradictory and disappointing.

The bigger picture is, as Bob Bland, one of the event’s co-chairs, articulates to The Atlantic, “intersectional feminism is the future of feminism and of this movement. We must not just talk about feminism as one issue, like access to reproductive healthcare.”

A photo posted by Women’s March (@womensmarch) on

But as pro-life groups like New Wave Feminists get excluded and shamed for wanting to join the movement, there is this disparaging notion of “you don’t belong here” being imposed upon women just looking for solidarity.

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According to Bland, many of the people she’s spoken to who identify as conservative or pro-life are more worried about other issues facing women than they are about abortion. In all the emails Women’s March has received – which Bland estimates to be nearly one million messages – women have shared their worries about cultural misogyny, education, health care and the opportunities available for the next generation of women. “There’s a lot more going on than one single issue,” Bland adds.

A photo posted by Women’s March (@womensmarch) on

There are bigger problems right now than just the unresolved differences between pro-life and pro-choice groups. But unfortunately, the movement meant to empower women seems to be teeming with contention.

Earlier this month, some white women have also felt unwanted at the event. Jennifer Willis, a 50-year-old wedding minister from South Carolina, tells The New York Times that she will no longer be bringing her daughters to the march because she read a post on the Facebook page that made her feel unwelcome.

The post, written by a black activist from Brooklyn, tells “white allies” to “listen more and talk less.” The post also argues, “You don’t just get to join because now you’re scared too. I was born scared.”

According to Willis, however, “This is a women’s march. We’re supposed to be allies in equal pay, marriage, adoption. Why is it now about, ‘White women don’t understand black women?'”

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A photo posted by Women’s March (@womensmarch) on

A movement meant to unify women is now posing the question: “What makes an authentic feminist?” And in doing so, it makes bold accusations to a collection of women that they’re not feminist enough because they’re pro-life.

But in an already divisive environment, there is no room for that statement to be true. There is no time to waste to be discussing whether or not someone’s decision to identify as a feminist is valid or whether someone can or “can’t be a feminist.”

It’s like saying that Christians aren’t holy enough because they support the LGBTQ community.
Or that a lesbian isn’t queer enough because she believes in a god.
Or that a mixed-race asian isn’t asian enough because she looks more caucasian.
Or that a woman isn’t woman enough because she can lift more than her male peers.

A photo posted by Women’s March (@womensmarch) on

As a group that seeks to “[recognize] that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country,” it must also recognize that pro-life women are part of that community.

“I know people want to say we don’t exist or we’re an oxymoron,” Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, president of New Wave Feminists, tells The Atlantic. “But we do exist and we are true feminists. We’re not just pro-lifers who are also feminists. We’re feminists first and foremost.”

In today’s political climate, should the women be highlighting the principles that separate them or trying to find ways to consolidate them? At this point, the latter of the two is probably the best option.

READ MORE: #WhyIMarch: Why More Men Should Join the Feminist Movement

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