Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told pro-life advocates Monday evening that women who claim all women must be pro-abortion are “not real” feminists.
“You’ve heard it all before,” Haley said during her keynote address at the Susan B. Anthony List gala. “Pro-life women are traitors to their gender. If we truly care about women’s rights, we would support abortion rights.”
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, said it is “just wrong” for pro-abortion activists to criticize women who support life.
“We all have to be true to ourselves and to others,” she said, continuing:
Unfortunately, many on the left use the abortion debate to divide women and demand conformity. They do this in the name of feminism.
But that is not real feminism. The idea that women must adhere to a particular set of values is one of the most anti-women ideas in today’s culture. It is a rejection of the ideas of equality and tolerance that the women’s movement is supposed to be about.
Haley said that as governor, she often explained her pro-life position to those who disagreed with her, stating that being pro-life “is not about being for or against women.”
“It is about being for a baby’s right to live – the most basic right there is,” she said.
As U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Haley said she often visited places “where life has been incredibly cheapened, and it will always haunt me.”
“We should all step back and remember to be grateful, because on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America,” she said. “A place where life is valued and protected.”
Despite America’s stated values, however, the former South Carolina governor said leaders in this country are debating whether a baby who has survived an abortion has a right to live.
“Let that sink in for a minute,” she said. “It is something you might hear about in other parts of the world or something out of a horror movie. Not here. Not in America.”
Haley urged her listeners not to be afraid to discuss the pro-life cause because it is a personal or private matter.
“Well, of course it’s personal,” she asserted. “What can be more personal than the right to live? If we want to make a difference in the world, we have to embrace the personal and the uncomfortable.”