The death of conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly sparked an outpouring of reaction Monday.
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Phyllis Schlafly, whose grass-roots campaigns against communism, abortion, and the Equal Rights Amendment galvanized conservatives for nearly two generations and helped reshape American politics, died Monday.
Phyllis Schlafly, who spent her adult life encouraging the American courts, legislature, and public to oppress women, among others, died tonight, not a moment too soon. “Her focus from her earliest days until her final ones was protecting the family, which she understood as the building block of life”, noted the post on her Facebook page. For better or for worse, American politics wouldn’t be anything like what it is without her. With her unique blend of originality, hard work, humor, toughness, and perseverance, Phyllis Schlafly had an enormous impact on politics that could last forever.
According to The New York Times, one conservative who helped finance conservative causes dubbed her the “first lady of the conservative movement”.
Following the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, numerous volunteers Phyllis trained became leaders in the organization that was named Eagle Forum. Trump says he was “honored to spend time with her”.
“They were never able to show women would get any benefit out of it”, she told the AP in 2007. It was inspiring to watch in action a woman whose range of knowledge and interests were exceeded only by her determination to win on scores of conservative causes.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was also among the very first to respond to Schlafly’s passing. For more than 30 years she also wrote a weekly syndicated newspaper column.
Thanks to her unceasing agitation when all seemed stacked against her, we don’t have an Equal Rights Amendment in our Constitution that would have made radical feminism the supreme law of the land. The political activist started her career in the 1950s, joining the right-wing in their witch hunt against Communism. When she spoke to cadets at The Citadel, she advised them not to get into serious relationships with feminists: “You’ve got to find out if your girlfriend is a feminist, before you go too far with it. She organized the “STOP ERA” campaign where STOP stood for ‘Stop Taking Our Privileges”.
She frequently criticized immigration reform and the Obama administration and wrote more than 25 books. “It’s her family’s loss, her friends’ loss and the kingdom of heaven’s gain”. Earlier this year, she famously endorsed Donald Trump for POTUS. She has always advocated traditional gender roles and opposed equal rights. In addition to her 1952 Congressional run, she ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of the National Federation of Republican Women. She told Breitbart News on Monday night that Schlafly was one of her personal heroes and mentors, who “inspired millions to the fight against abortion and the disastrous Equal Rights Amendment which would have made abortion a constitutional right”.
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The biography said their children are John, an attorney; Bruce, an orthopedic surgeon; Roger, a software developer (California); Liza Forshaw, an attorney; Andy, an attorney in New Jersey; and Anne Cori, a businesswoman (Kitchen Conservatory in Clayton, Missouri).
