“Women are expected to support choice—simply because we are women.”

These were just some of the pointed remarks Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made as keynote speaker for the Susan B. Anthony List’s 12th annual Campaign for Life Gala on June 3 at Washington, D.C.’s Andrew Mellon Auditorium.

The Susan B. Anthony List works to promote pro-life women leaders as it advances its core mission to “end abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives.”

“Unfortunately, many on the left use the abortion debate to divide women and demand conformity,” Haley added. “They do this in the name of feminism.”

Haley said in her speech that women who favor on-demand abortion up to birth and infanticide are invoking false feminism when they ostracize pro-life women:


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.

She criticized this brand of feminism that supports only women who agree with their pro-choice stance.

“That’s just wrong,” Haley said. “We all have to be true to ourselves and to others.”

Haley refuted the notion that being a Republican means one must be pro-life, arguing that pro-life principles come from personal experiences like her husband’s time spent in the foster care system.

I often think about what would have happened if Michael hadn’t been so lucky … if his biological mother had chosen a different path … if his adoptive parents hadn’t been so compassionate …

She encouraged and thanked the audience for using their voices to fight for children, adding that being pro-life is not about being for or against women; it’s about being for a child’s right to live.

“Whoever destroys a single life has destroyed the whole world, and whoever saves a single life has saved the whole world,” Haley said, referencing an old Talmudic saying.

In closing, she praised the Susan B. Anthony List for engaging more than 700,000 pro-life Americans to teach and inform others about the right-to-life topics.