ABSTRACT
Rich spoke about the "cultural chauvinism" of North American feminism which "feeds itself on racism." In issue of off our backs, Susan Sherman quotes Milo Vargas, Nicaraguan chief counsel, as saying, We cannot pass a law on abortion without preparing the people. Jennifer Hull, in the same issue, records that "Maria Lillian Torres, director of the Children's Hospital cites unsafe abortion as one of the three major causes of maternal death in Nicaragua." The presentation by Rich marks a dramatic departure. As a leading theoretician of the lesbian feminist movement, she has previously analyzed the sexual coercion of women into motherhood as a central theme of culture. Hull's illegal abortion statistics from Nicaragua illustrate that women in all cultures do whatever they can to resist unwanted pregnancy. To say that Nicaraguan women are not ready for abortion when they are currently endangering their lives to get abortions ignores reality.
