Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2017 Republican Feminists And Feminist Republicans: The eS arch For The eS nsible Center In Michigan-1968 To 1984 Ann Marie Wambeke Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Recommended Citation Wambeke, Ann Marie, "Republican Feminists And Feminist Republicans: The eS arch For The eS nsible Center In Michigan-1968 To 1984" (2017). Wayne State University Dissertations. 1752. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/1752 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. REPUBLICAN FEMINISTS AND FEMINIST REPUBLICANS: THE SEARCH FOR THE SENSIBLE CENTER IN MICHIGAN-1968 TO 1984 by ANN MARIE WAMBEKE DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2017 MAJOR: HISTORY Approved By: Dr. Liette Gidlow Date Dr. Elizabeth Faue Date Dr. Tracy Neumann Date Dr. Krista Brumley Date DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my two amazing grandsons, John Steven Mellen and Maxwell Ryle Bouton. My wish for both of you is that you develop a lifelong love of learning and a passion for the study of history. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have engaged in this long and wonderful journey without the support of others. To my friends and colleagues at Wayne State University. I would like you to know that you managed to make this entire process both intellectually rewarding and tremendously fun. Specific thanks go to the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Elizabeth Faue, Dr. Tracy Neumann and Dr. Krista Brumley, without whose support this entire endeavor would not have been possible. Dr. Liette Gidlow, what can I say? You stuck with me throughout, bolstering my flagging confidence, providing encouragement when I felt discouraged, questioning or pushing me when necessary, but always with the goal of making me think more critically and write more clearly and concisely. Your commitment to my project has made me a better historian. I will never forget your mentorship and friendship. I could not have finished this project, however, without the the love and support of my family. My children, Andrew and Jennifer Mellen, patiently put up with me when I was too busy with my own studies to help them with theirs. Both are now married to wonderful spouses, Lauren Mellen and Douglas Bouton, who have graciously inquired about my research as they have become a part of our iii family. Most importantly, I want to thank my husband, John Mellen, who has always been my biggest cheerleader. You will never know how much your love and support meant to me as I spent endless hours in libraries putting this dissertation together. Thank you all for making this amazing experience possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ii Acknowledgements iii List of Abbreviations vii Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 The Path to the Sensible Center: 1960 to 1970 39 Chapter 3 Gender and Partisanship in Political Coalitions: 1970 to 1980 80 Chapter 4 Republican Feminists Fight for the ERA: 1972 to 1979 123 Chapter 5 Republican Feminists and Reproductive Rights: 1970 to 1980 173 Chapter 6 IWY Conference and Republican Feminists: 1977 222 Chapter 7 The Sensible Center Becomes Irrelevant: 1980 to 1983 260 Chapter 8 Conclusion 302 Appendix-Timeline 316 References 320 Primary Sources 320 Manuscript Collections 320 Interviews and Statements 322 Documents 322 Books 324 v Secondary Sources 326 Abstract 337 Autobiographical Statement 339 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ERA Equal Rights Amendment HOW Happiness of Womanhood IWY International Women’s Year KKK Ku Klux Klan MARC Michigan Abortion Referendum Committee MMOPP Monitoring and Mobile Operation Partnership Program MRWC Michigan Republican Women’s Caucus MRWTF Michigan Republican Women’s Task Force MWPC Michigan Women’s Political Caucus NARAL National Abortion Rights Action League NCRC National Citizens’ Review Committee NOW National Organization of Women NWPC National Women’s Political Caucus RNC Republican National Committee RWFM Republican Women’s Federation of Michigan RWTF Republican Women’s Task Force STOP ERA Stop Taking our Privileges WEAL Women’s Equity Action League vii 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION “I speak as a woman and a mother . who was told she had one chance in a million of having a child. I had a therapeutic abortion 20 years ago in a Catholic hospital.”1 In 1969, Republican N. Lorraine Beebe, a first-term state senator from Dearborn, stood before the Michigan Senate, which was considering a bill to liberalize Michigan’s ban on abortion, and stunned her colleagues with that admission. Her medically necessary abortion, while traumatic, was safely performed in a hospital. She recognized, however, that many women who could not legally terminate their pregnancies suffered long-term medical and psychological difficulties, or even died, as a result of illegal, back-street abortions. Beebe believed that her male colleagues could not understand the gravity and the impact of the decision that they were about to make on behalf of women. By adding a female perspective to the debate, she represented all those women who were unable to obtain a legal abortion. She later emphasized that “only in dire circumstances will a woman ask for an abortion, and that only she, not her husband or doctor, only she . is the one who must live with this decision. Abortion is no 1 Barbara Holliday, “The Lady Said ‘Abortion,’ If You Want to Awaken Our State Senate, Try Lorraine Beebe’s Method,” Detroit Free Press Magazine, August 3, 1969. 2 joke, especially to a woman.”2 Thus, Beebe, as the only woman in the Senate, felt compelled to share her personal story with them.3 The legislature, sensing the gravity of the moment, gave her a standing ovation, but she did not convince them to decriminalize abortion in Michigan.4 The proposed legislation was defeated. Beebe paid a political and personal price for publicizing her pro-choice stand on abortion. In 1970, she was not reelected to the Michigan Senate. She attributed her loss to her gender and her public support for abortion.5 The morning after the election, she said, “I stood up and spoke for women . and I see my defeat as a slap against all women.”6 Her story, however, was a preview of events to come. Over the next fifteen years, as the women’s movement developed and the Republican Party took a conservative turn to the right, women who were both 2 Judy Jacob, “Dearborn’s Lady Senator Speaks Up on Abortion, Grapes and Problem Kids,” Detroit News, July 14, 1969. 3 Ibid. 4 Jim Neubacher, “Abortion: Up from the Underground,” Detroit News, n.d., Lorraine Beebe Scrapbook, N. Lorraine Beebe Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan (hereafter cited as Beebe Papers). 5 Stephen Dobyms, “Newcomer Defeats Mrs. Beebe: Dearborn Senator Blames Abortion Stand,” Detroit News, [November 4, 1970?], box 1, folder: Beebe-State Senate Election Campaigns 1966 and 1970, Beebe Papers; Willa Weddon, “Is Bias a Bar to Women Candidates?” Detroit Free Press, November 22, 1970. 6 Dobyms, “Newcomer Defeats Mrs. Beebe,” Detroit News. 3 Republicans and feminists found it increasingly difficult to reconcile these two parts of their lives. Ultimately they were forced to choose between two elements at the core of their identities: Am I a Republican? Or am I a feminist? Although it is sometimes overlooked and may be difficult to comprehend, the conflict between the Republican Party and feminism was not inevitable. Historically, women’s rights activists found that the Republican Party offered them more support in their fight for equality. In 1920, in response to the not-yet-ratified Nineteenth Amendment that provided women with the right to vote, the Republican National Party platform provided that “we welcome women into full participation in the affairs of government and the activities of the Republican Party. We earnestly hope that Republican legislatures in states which have not yet acted on the suffrage amendment will ratify the amendment, to the end that all of the women of the nation of voting age may participate in the election of 1920, which is so important to the welfare of the country.” 7 Pragmatically, Republicans recognized the potential power of women, who would ultimately constitute half of the expanded voting population. 7 “The Republican Party and Women: A Brief History,” Republican Women for I.W.Y., n.d., box 2, folder: International Women’s Year Houston Conference, 1977, Patricia Hill Burnett Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan (hereafter cited as Burnett Papers). 4 Despite these gestures, however, after 1920 the Republican Party, much like the Democratic Party, did little to promote the interests of women. In fact, the political parties became largely indifferent to women once they realized that female voters would not change the outcomes of elections because they did not vote in a bloc. While some women chose to become involved in party politics, the men in charge accepted women only on their terms, and assigned them the menial tasks that men refused to perform. These early political women did not gain any real power in the parties, although, according to political scientist Jo Freemen, women fared a little better in the Republican Party than the Democratic Party.8 With the advent of second wave feminism in the late 1960s, many of the women who worked with or in the Republican Party became Republican feminists. Because they sought gender equality, they believed that feminism and the party, with its longstanding commitment to individual rights and opportunities, could be easily integrated.