Every election cycle, the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House is barraged with inquiries about the Susan B. Anthony List*. “The List” is a PAC, a political action committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates. We have no affiliation with “The List”, and we find their use of Susan B. Anthony’s name in support of their agenda to be misleading, deceptive, and damaging to Anthony’s legacy.
For decades, “The List” has been supporting candidates who promise to: 1. Defund Planned Parenthood, 2. Appoint only “pro-life” judges, and 3. Support overturning Roe v. Wade.
In the past, we have responded to inquiries about “The List” by clarifying the historical record about what Susan B. Anthony said or didn’t say about abortion (she said very little). Our website contains several articles that cover this in depth. (see below)
However, with the recent leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion in regard to Roe v. Wade, “The List” is getting media attention as they anticipate a victory for their anti-woman, anti-democracy agenda. They proclaim in their mission statement: “If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature and in Congress.”
But Roe v. Wade is not just about abortion access or reproductive choice; that is another deception.
What is at stake is perhaps the most essential of our inalienable human rights: the right of an individual to make critical decisions about her (or his) own physical body in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Susan B. Anthony, in her own words, stood for “woman’s right to control of her own person.”
If this right is compromised so profoundly, all other human rights are fragile: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and even the freedom to elect a government of the people, by the people, for ALL the people. Susan B. Anthony fought her whole life to secure these inalienable rights, and this fight is as relevant as ever.
To suggest that Susan B. Anthony would support government intervention in a woman’s decision about a pregnancy is abhorrent. To associate Susan B. Anthony’s name with any action that would criminalize a woman’s right to make decisions affecting her body, health, and welfare is a bizarre and dangerous distortion of Anthony’s life and work.
As the organization that has preserved Susan B. Anthony’s National Historic Landmark home and interpreted her life and work for more than 75 years, the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House goes on record in opposition to The List and their misappropriation of her name. We stand with Susan B. Anthony for a woman’s right to control of her own person.
Deborah L. Hughes
President & CEO
National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
*The Susan B. Anthony List rebranded as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in June 2022.
Pertinent Website Articles:
https://susanb.org/misrepresenting-susan-b-anthony-on-abortion/
https://susanb.org/were-not-that-susan-b-anthony/
https://susanb.org/anthony-museum-raises-concern-over-continued-misuse-of-anthonys-name-and-legacy/
https://susanb.org/rochester-icon-defamed/
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