Many Women in Sen. Gillibrand's Children's Book Were Against Abortion

She joins a line of celebrities and politicians — like Chelsea Clinton and her book "She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World" — who are producing liberally-bent feminist books for young readers.

Though still coy about her presidential aspirations, Gillibrand went from her midterm re-election victory into a vigorous media campaign, preaching that she feels “called” to restore America to its “moral compass.” Her book is part of her appeal to voters to join her as she fights for “core values” like “reproductive rights” (she has a 100 percent rating from NARAL).

This outreach was abundantly evident in a recent campaign stop/book signing at the brand-new storefront of Lingua Franca, on Bleecker Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Founded by celebrity web entrepreneur Rachelle Hruska MacPherson, Lingua Franca is a brand of cashmere sweaters sporting hand-stitched feminist slogans, inspired by resistance to the election of President Trump. Sweaters are $380 a piece; $100 from each sweater goes to a long list of charities — including Planned Parenthood and NARAL. Hollywood is nuts about the trend, with celebrities wearing the sweaters to award shows and posing in them for publicity shots (like Candice Bergen, whose sweater declared “I miss barack”).

In collaboration with Gillibrand, Lingua Franca launched a "Bold and Brave" sweater collection, with phrases from the book like “speak the truth” and “your voice matters.” Girls and their moms lined up to purchase book and sweater combos at Gillibrand’s promotional event at Lingua Franca’s store.

I wonder though — will these girls ever learn that many if not most of the women in Gillibrand’s book were outspokenly against abortion, and probably could not have imagined a world where abortion is considered a valid form of birth control?

That’s not the history Gillibrand wants to impress upon young minds. Her appeal would be less effective if they learned the truth that the majority of Americans back then considered abortion a grave injustice. The current reality, that America is split down the middle over abortion (a recent Gallup poll found 48 percent pro-life, 48 percent pro-choice) was brought up in the Q and A. A young woman said her relatives in Nebraska were lifelong Republicans — not because of President Trump, but because of their opposition to abortion. How can she persuade them that Democrats have the better plan for America?

Gillibrand’s answer: “I would just speak from your heart. The difference might be that your focus is on every child for their entire life — that’s it’s not just about when they are born but in fact about their whole lives. … Maybe you should reach out to them on your shared values: that we both actually believe in the golden rule, that you should treat others the way you want to be treated.”

Gillibrand continued: “to the extent that these are very religious people [the questioner had not mentioned religion] I would urge them to really follow the Gospel on its entire message and not just one piece … because I do think what the Republicans are offering is against the Gospel. I would really talk to them about their faith ... if that’s the one issue. I would talk to them about their whole faith.”

Gillibrand is now, as abortion activist Lizz Winstead dubbed herself, an abortion evangelist.

Other names in "Bold and Brave" include African American women like Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman who devoted their lives to fighting slavery and injustice. In an interesting historical parallel to Gillibrand’s misuse of the Gospel, as the abolition movement grew in our nation, proponents of slavery went from calling it a necessary evil to declaring it a positive good, and then preached its religious justification — ironically, comparing it to marriage. In her dissertation, “Proslavery Christianity after Emancipation,” Historian Elizabeth L. Jemison explains: “Biblical justification had imbedded slavery in a set of orderly domestic hierarchies.” The “power of slave owners over slaves paralleled the power of husbands over wives and of parents over children.”

Towards the close of "Bold and Brave" Gillibrand emotes about the January 2017 “pussy hat” Women’s March: It is “the march that Alice Paul dreamed up more than one hundred years ago.” Problem is, Alice Paul believed abortion was "the ultimate exploitation of women,” and Elizabeth Cady Stanton said “When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.”

There is nothing bold or brave in hijacking history to make abortion attractive to young girls.

Maria McFadden Maffucci is the editor of the Human Life Review, www.humanlifereview.com, a quarterly journal devoted to the defense of human life, founded in 1974 by her father, James P. McFadden, Associate Publisher of National Review. She is President of the Human Life Foundation, based in midtown Manhattan, which publishes the Review and supports pregnancy resource centers. Mrs. Maffucci’s articles and editorials have appeared in the Human Life Review, First Things, National Review Online, National Review, Verily, and Crux. A Holy Cross graduate with a BA in Philosophy, she is married to Robert E. Maffucci, and the mother of three children. Her interests include exploring opportunities for individuals with special needs. To read more of her reports — Click Here Now.