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IN the NAME of the MOTHER: GENDER and RELIGION in the CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER MOVEMENT by KIMBERLY CARTER KELLY (Under the Dire

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IN the NAME of the MOTHER: GENDER and RELIGION in the CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER MOVEMENT by KIMBERLY CARTER KELLY (Under the Dire IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHER: GENDER AND RELIGION IN THE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER MOVEMENT by KIMBERLY CARTER KELLY (Under the Direction of Linda Grant) ABSTRACT The crisis pregnancy center movement is understudied relative to other pro-life movements. Using data from 38 women and men research participants, 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork, and content analysis of primary movement documents, this dissertation explores how gender and religion intersect within the crisis pregnancy center movement. I analyze the history, formal frames, and strategies of the movement; the role of religious identity in sustaining the movement; and how gender prompts activists to act in ways that run counter to movement rhetoric. I focus on the perspectives of the activists in this movement, and explore how they perceive their work as an expression of their religious faith and personal beliefs regarding abortion. I ground the study in the literature on women in conservative social movements and religions, drawing from subcultural identity theory to analyze multiple levels of the movement. INDEX WORDS: Religion, Gender, Abortion, Social movements, Pro-life movement, Anti- abortion movement, Evangelical Christianity, Subcultural identity IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHER: GENDER AND RELIGION IN THE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER MOVEMENT by KIMBERLY CARTER KELLY B.A., University of West Georgia, 1998 M.A., University of West Georgia, 2000 M.A., University of West Georgia, 2003 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2009 © 2009 Kimberly Carter Kelly All Rights Reserved IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHER: GENDER AND RELIGION IN THE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER MOVEMENT by KIMBERLY CARTER KELLY Major Professor: Linda Grant Committee: Patricia Richards David Smilde Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2009 DEDICATION To Grant, who prompts me to rethink what I take for granted and thereby made this project and so much else possible. I love you, Buddy Bear. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are so many people to thank for their help and support in making this dissertation possible. First, my sincere thanks and appreciation go to the women and men who participated in this study. Their candor and openness in speaking to a researcher who shared neither their pro- life nor religious views is admirable, and the single most vital aspect of this particular project. While we may not agree on many important issues, I have learned a great deal from you all, and I hope I holistically represented your words and perspectives in this manuscript. I am very fortunate to have a large circle of supportive family and friends. Before I was old enough to know better, my parents, Jerry Kelly and Jane Carter Kelly, somehow managed to instill in me a rock solid belief that I could accomplish anything I was willing to work for. Somehow, and despite being a sociologist, the conviction stuck, giving me the determination to see through this 11 year stint. My parents have always supported and expressed pride in my academic endeavors. They babysat countless times, celebrated every academic milestone with me, and plied me with a lifetime supply of canned goods. My wonderful son, Grant Donham Kelly, is my motivation and my reality check (“Aren’t you Dr. Mommy yet?!!). My grandmother, Kathryn Carter, is always a model of spunk and sass. Anne McCord, my godmother, was always ready with the right words of gentle encouragement at the right time. My siblings, Meghan, Dan, Patrick, Kira, and Kaitlyn always had my back, whether it was emergency loans, emergency babysitting, or emergency cheerleading. Thanks, guys. While I’m not sure that mixing Guinness and whiskey together is actually the solution to anything per se, I appreciated the stress relief. Maddy, diva dog extraordinaire, has been my constant, if v unimpressed, companion. My family as a whole always made sure Grant and I had a support system. A graduate degree is more of a family effort than an individual accomplishment, and this moment belongs to them as surely as it does to me. I also relied on a very close circle of friends during graduate school. You all have my thanks and a permanent place in my heart. Jeremy Shain, this one’s for you. For verily I say unto thee…and in the spring Jeremy did take a lover. There. I fulfilled a 10-year-old promise to a dear friend who has always been so generous to me. Patsy Fostvedt, that piece of Papa John’s pizza with which you barged into my dorm room was only one of many times you’ve had my back in the last 17 years, despite my habit of not checking my voicemail and periodically acting like a “fruit loop.” Shannon Kelly, who knew a friendship born in the scattered remains of Waffle House hash browns could see us through seven degrees and a whole bunch o’ unholy mess? Jeremy, Ad-Pats, and Shannon, I hope you know how much I’ve leaned on you and how many chapter titles we’ve accumulated. Huh, it’s like we all have a path or something… Eric Earl Chastain, you always know when to nod thoughtfully and stroke the bald patches in your beard, and better yet, when to laugh with me and when to laugh at me. Kyle Christopher Lennon, I don’t want to hear any more complaints about my thesis dedication. Thanks for keeping a broke grad student periodically inebriated. Too bad you never took any of my advice during our outings. I was right. Jen Winfield Ciafone, thanks for the caffeine, wine, babysitting, Closet by Jake, snickers at Starbucks, and sympathetic ear. Your generosity made it easy for me to accept the help I needed. Nichole Arnault, you always know when to fork out a generous helping of snark. To Miranda Pollard and Colleen McDermott, our long evenings of television and debate will forever be very dear memories of these years (Stewart/Colbert 2012!!). Thanks for rolling with the omnipresent bedtime rumpus and occasionally stepping in for a grumpy, overscheduled, vi single mom. It takes a village and you two are my favorite village people, judging by your socks…I’m just sayin’. There are several people in my M.A. and doctoral programs to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. Subrina Dake, April Brown, Barbara Ross, and Rebecca Brooks provided invaluable administrative and technological assistance during my time at UGA. Kathy Lou always knew the answer to everything. Steve Goodson, historian, department chair, and resident smartass, always kept it real. If I am ever tempted to think too highly of myself, MacDaddy G is always there to remind me of a certain Orwellian slip or my disastrous first guest lecture. Laughing at yourself is a valuable skill, particularly if your friends have good memories. Clay Ouzts is the most brilliant classroom teacher I have ever had the pleasure to witness, and his talents first prompted me to consider being a professor myself at the age of 19. Jane McCandless was a steadfast ally when I needed it most. I initially stumbled upon the idea for this project in Linda Renzulli’s methods seminar. I mentioned a study of a hidden pro-life movement as a pie-in-the-sky, impossible idea. When her face lit up and she pounced on that purple water bottle, I got the first inkling I might be onto something. Thank you to Linda R. for her enthusiasm and encouragement, for this project and at many other steps along the way. Patricia Richards and David Smilde, committee members and generous brainstormers, provided expertise and guidance on this project. Patricia has a knack for using simple words like “grrr,” “bah” and “!!!” in ways that reassure me I’m on the right track as a feminist scholar. David prompted me to connect feminist perspectives with more traditional sociological approaches and always offered helpful suggestions for doing so. Both Patricia and David pushed me to expand the scope of this project, confident that it had greater relevance for sociology than I had dared to hope. While all remaining shortcomings are solely my responsibility, this dissertation is much stronger as a result of their insights. vii I’m not sure how to sum up Linda Grant’s contribution to this project, or my graduate education in general. Linda is a selfless mentor and a tireless advocate. She is quietly reassuring and wickedly subversive – a true second wave warrior and a role model for surviving and thriving in the academy. Linda shepherded me around professional meetings, introduced me to everyone, and always treated me as a colleague instead of a student. She took on projects solely to help me learn to be a researcher, and enthusiastically dived into the world of reproductive politics when my research interests began to develop in that direction. She challenged me countless times throughout this dissertation to dig deeper into the material and to confidently assert my conclusions. Her door is always open and the many women and men she mentored throughout the years are a testament to her wisdom and generosity. She took it for granted I could do this, and inch by inch I began to believe her. Linda, really – you freakin’ rock. Thanks. Finally, I would like to thank the University of Georgia for its generous support during my doctoral program. I was the recipient of a 2004-2006 University-Wide Graduate School Fellowship, a 2008 Dean’s Award, the 2008-2009 Dianne C. Davison Award, and a 2008-2009 Graduate School Doctoral Research Assistantship, all of which were critical to completing this research project.
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