DE PERE, Wis. – Gloria Steinem, who reportedly helped to popularize the phrase, “if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament,” will be returning to speak at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., next semester.

A St. Norbert College press release reads in part: “Steinem, known internationally as a key historical figure and founder of the women’s movement was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 for her lifetime of social justice advocacy.”

In a 2013 interview in The Washington Post, Steinem reportedly stated, “Approximately one in three women in this country needs an abortion at some time in her life. It should be a part of reproductive rights.”

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Steinem has been publicly open about her own experience with abortion. According to a 2011 article in The Guardian, she said:

“It [abortion] is supposed to make us a bad person. But I must say, I never felt that. I used to sit and try and figure out how old the child would be, trying to make myself feel guilty. But I never could! I think the person who said: ‘Honey, if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament’ was right. Speaking for myself, I knew it was the first time I had taken responsibility for my own life. I wasn’t going to let things happen to me. I was going to direct my life, and therefore it felt positive. But still, I didn’t tell anyone. Because I knew that out there it wasn’t [positive].”

Steinem also used the “sacrament” quote in a 2006 interview with The Boston Globe.  According to Quote Investigator, Steinem and “prominent activist” Florynce Kennedy popularized the phrase.

Family Research Council’s Rob Schwarzwalder, in an article posted at LifeNews.com, says that Steinem helped to advance “abortion-on-demand [as much] as any single person in the last half century.”

The Cardinal Newman Society reached out to St. Norbert College, asking them to comment on the situation. College spokesman Mike Counter replied: “St. Norbert College, like virtually all institutions of higher education, has guests and speakers from all walks of life on campus. An important way for our students to hone their critical thinking skills is to be exposed to a wide variety of ideas and perspectives. Besides, just because someone is on our campus does not mean the college endorses every position that person might have.”

Counter also noted that this is not the first time Steinem had been invited to speak at St. Norbert; she made a previous appearance in 1996. The current event is set to take place on April 21, 2015.

Authored by Justin Petrisek
Originally published here by Catholic Education Daily, an online publication of The Cardinal Newman Society

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Published with permission