Rachel MacNair
Encyclopedia
Rachel M. MacNair is an American
sociologist and psychologist who holds a consistent life ethic
, and works against killing. A Quaker
, she is an activist against abortion
and war. She has written against the culture of violence and the eating of meat
. An expert on veteran
psychology, she coined the term "Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress" (PITS), a form of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that may result from the action of killing. She edited Working for Peace: A Handbook of Practical Psychology.
MacNair served for ten years as the president of Feminists for Life
, an anti-abortion organization, and she founded the Susan B. Anthony List
to help elect pro-life
politicians. She is a director of the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis.
for her class at Paseo High School
in Kansas City, Missouri
. In the 1970s, MacNair was active in the anti-nuclear movement. In June 1978 she earned a bachelor of arts degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Earlham College
in Richmond, Indiana
, graduating with honors.
After a career in political activism, she entered a doctoral degree program at the University of Missouri–Kansas City
in 1996. During her studies she was awarded an Arthur Mag Graduate Fellowship for outstanding scholarship, and a Chancellor's Special Merit Award in 1997, and a Chancellor's Interdisciplinary Fellowship in 1998. She earned a doctorate degree in Sociology and Psychology in December 1999, writing her dissertation: Symptom pattern differences for Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress in veterans: Probing the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study.
to merge anti-abortion and anti-nuclear activism into a consistent life ethic
. In 1987, the Prolifers for Survival changed into the Seamless Garment Network, and later still became known as Consistent Life.
on East 47th Street in Kansas City. After ten years as leader, she stepped down in June 1994.
was catalyzed in March 1992 when MacNair watched a 60 Minutes
television documentary profiling IBM
-heiress Ellen Malcolm
and the successful campaign-funding activities of her pro-Democratic Party
, pro-choice group EMILY's List
. MacNair wished to counter EMILY's List by providing early campaign funds to pro-life women candidates. Led by FFL and MacNair, 15 pro-life groups formed an umbrella organization, the National Women's Coalition for Life (NWCL), which adopted a joint pro-life statement on April 3, 1992.
Also inspired by EMILY's List, in 1992 the WISH List
was formed to promote pro-choice candidates who were members of the opposing Republican Party
. In November 1992 after many of the pro-choice candidates won their races to create the "Year of the Woman
", MacNair announced the formation of the SBA List, describing its purpose as endorsing and supporting women candidates who held pro-life beliefs, without regard to party affiliation. MacNair determined to challenge the EMILY's List and the WISH List notion that the top female politicians were primarily pro-choice. She named Kansas governor Joan Finney
and Louisiana Representative Lindy Boggs
as examples of ideal pro-life politicians—liberal women, not candidates holding right-wing
beliefs. The NWCL sponsored the SBA List with $2,485 to create it as a political action committee
(PAC). The PAC paperwork was initiated on February 4, 1993, listing MacNair as the first secretary; the group operated out of MacNair's office in Kansas City.
MacNair was committed but not skilled at leading the SBA List. Founding board member Susan Gibbs, later the communications director for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
, said "None of us had political experience. None of us had PAC experience. We just had a passion for being pro-life." Shortly after its founding, experienced political activists Marjorie Dannenfelser and then Jane Abraham
were brought on board, changing the aim of the group away from liberal candidates, and MacNair refocused on her role at FFL.
(PTSD) that may affect those such as soldiers, police and doctors who participate in killing. Thomas L. Murtaugh, Ph.D., the Project Officer, National Center for PTSD, said that MacNair's research was "groundbreaking". In August 2000, MacNair joined PTSD therapist William Chamberlain and Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman
(the author of On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
) in a panel discussion about PTSD at a convention of the American Psychiatric Association
. In 2002 she published a book: Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress: The Psychological Consequences of Killing.
In July 2004, The New Yorker quoted MacNair regarding PITS; following this, the Los Angeles Times cited her as an expert on veteran psychology. In October 2004, director David O. Russell
shot footage of MacNair speaking about PTSD and PITS for his documentary Soldiers Pay
. Co-director Juan Carlos Zaldívar
said, "She made really interesting contributions that we think are valid and should be part of the conversation of PTSD today."
and about the practices of vegetarianism
and veganism
.
, and is currently a member of the Penn Valley Meeting in Kansas City. In the 1970s and 1980s, MacNair was arrested seven times for protesting nuclear weapons, five times for protesting nuclear power plants, and five times for protesting abortion clinics. She is the mother of a son conceived in 1984 by anonymous artificial insemination
. She lives in her childhood home in Kansas City, Missouri.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sociologist and psychologist who holds a consistent life ethic
Consistent Life Ethic
The consistent life ethic, or the consistent ethic of life, was a term coined in 1983 by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin to express an ethical, religious, and political ideology based on the premise that all human life was sacred and should be protected by law. The ideology opposes legal abortion,...
, and works against killing. A Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, she is an activist against abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and war. She has written against the culture of violence and the eating of meat
Ethics of eating meat
In many societies, controversy and debate have arisen over the ethics of eating animals. Ethical objections are generally divided into opposition to the act of killing in general, and opposition to certain agricultural practices surrounding the production of meat...
. An expert on veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
psychology, she coined the term "Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress" (PITS), a form of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that may result from the action of killing. She edited Working for Peace: A Handbook of Practical Psychology.
MacNair served for ten years as the president of Feminists for Life
Feminists for Life
Feminists for Life of America is a non-profit, pro-life feminist, non-governmental organization . Established in 1972 and now based in Alexandria, Virginia, the organization describes itself as "shaped by the core feminist values of justice, nondiscrimination, and nonviolence." FFL is dedicated...
, an anti-abortion organization, and she founded the Susan B. Anthony List
Susan B. Anthony List
The Susan B. Anthony List, or simply SBA List, is a 501 non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S. by supporting pro-life politicians, primarily women, through its SBA List Candidate Fund political action committee...
to help elect pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
politicians. She is a director of the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis.
Education
MacNair was the valedictorianValedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
for her class at Paseo High School
Paseo Academy
Paseo Academy, also referred to as Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts, and sometimes as Paseo High School is a magnet performing arts high school located at 4747 Flora in Kansas City, Missouri...
in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. In the 1970s, MacNair was active in the anti-nuclear movement. In June 1978 she earned a bachelor of arts degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from Earlham College
Earlham College
Earlham College is a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. It was founded in 1847 by Quakers and has approximately 1,200 students.The president is John David Dawson...
in Richmond, Indiana
Richmond, Indiana
Richmond is a city largely within Wayne Township, Wayne County, in east central Indiana, United States, which borders Ohio. The city also includes the Richmond Municipal Airport, which is in Boston Township and separated from the rest of the city...
, graduating with honors.
After a career in political activism, she entered a doctoral degree program at the University of Missouri–Kansas City
University of Missouri–Kansas City
The University of Missouri–Kansas City is a public university located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It is a branch of the University of Missouri System. Its main campus is in Kansas City's Rockhill neighborhood east of the Country Club Plaza...
in 1996. During her studies she was awarded an Arthur Mag Graduate Fellowship for outstanding scholarship, and a Chancellor's Special Merit Award in 1997, and a Chancellor's Interdisciplinary Fellowship in 1998. She earned a doctorate degree in Sociology and Psychology in December 1999, writing her dissertation: Symptom pattern differences for Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress in veterans: Probing the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study.
Anti-abortion
In 1979, MacNair joined Prolifers for Survival, a group formed by Juli LoeschJuli Loesch
Julianne Loesch is a pro-life activist and former media coordinator for Operation Rescue in Atlanta, Georgia....
to merge anti-abortion and anti-nuclear activism into a consistent life ethic
Consistent Life Ethic
The consistent life ethic, or the consistent ethic of life, was a term coined in 1983 by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin to express an ethical, religious, and political ideology based on the premise that all human life was sacred and should be protected by law. The ideology opposes legal abortion,...
. In 1987, the Prolifers for Survival changed into the Seamless Garment Network, and later still became known as Consistent Life.
Feminists for Life
In June 1984 while she was pregnant with her only child, MacNair began serving as president of Feminists for Life of America (FFL). She participated in more than 100 radio interviews and appeared as a speaker in front of college audiences. She told a reporter, "Abortion is the result of male domination. The main problem has always been that men set the terms for sex. Women need to have the power to set those terms. Abortion just sweeps that problem under the rug. It allows men to continue to be virtually free of responsibility for the results of their sexual activity." MacNair worked mostly alone in her position, operating FFL out of an office inside a crisis pregnancy centerCrisis pregnancy center
A crisis pregnancy center , sometimes called a pregnancy resource center , is a non-profit organization established to counsel pregnant women against having an abortion....
on East 47th Street in Kansas City. After ten years as leader, she stepped down in June 1994.
Susan B. Anthony List
The formation of the Susan B. Anthony ListSusan B. Anthony List
The Susan B. Anthony List, or simply SBA List, is a 501 non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S. by supporting pro-life politicians, primarily women, through its SBA List Candidate Fund political action committee...
was catalyzed in March 1992 when MacNair watched a 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
television documentary profiling IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
-heiress Ellen Malcolm
Ellen Malcolm
Ellen R. Malcolm is an activist who has had a long career in American politics, particularly in political fundraising. She is an heiress of one of the founders of IBM....
and the successful campaign-funding activities of her pro-Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, pro-choice group EMILY's List
EMILY's List
EMILY's List is a political action committee in the United States that aims to help elect female candidates to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1984....
. MacNair wished to counter EMILY's List by providing early campaign funds to pro-life women candidates. Led by FFL and MacNair, 15 pro-life groups formed an umbrella organization, the National Women's Coalition for Life (NWCL), which adopted a joint pro-life statement on April 3, 1992.
Also inspired by EMILY's List, in 1992 the WISH List
The Wish List (political organization)
The Wish List is a political action committee devoted to electing pro-choice Republican women to the House of Representatives and Senate. The Wish List was founded in 1992. The acronym "WISH" stands for Women In the Senate and House. It can be considered a counterpart to another organization:...
was formed to promote pro-choice candidates who were members of the opposing Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. In November 1992 after many of the pro-choice candidates won their races to create the "Year of the Woman
Year of the Woman
The Year of the Woman was a popular label attached to 1992 after the election of a number of female Senators in the United States.The hotly contested Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas involving the allegations of Anita Hill raised the question of the dominance...
", MacNair announced the formation of the SBA List, describing its purpose as endorsing and supporting women candidates who held pro-life beliefs, without regard to party affiliation. MacNair determined to challenge the EMILY's List and the WISH List notion that the top female politicians were primarily pro-choice. She named Kansas governor Joan Finney
Joan Finney
Joan Finney , served as the 42nd Governor of Kansas from 1991 to 1995.She was born Joan Marie McInroy in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Leonard and Mary Sands McInroy. She graduated from high school in Manhattan, Kansas in 1942. In 1957, she married Spencer Finney, Jr...
and Louisiana Representative Lindy Boggs
Lindy Boggs
Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs, usually known as Lindy Boggs , is a United States political figure who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as ambassador to the Vatican. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana...
as examples of ideal pro-life politicians—liberal women, not candidates holding right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
beliefs. The NWCL sponsored the SBA List with $2,485 to create it as a political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
(PAC). The PAC paperwork was initiated on February 4, 1993, listing MacNair as the first secretary; the group operated out of MacNair's office in Kansas City.
MacNair was committed but not skilled at leading the SBA List. Founding board member Susan Gibbs, later the communications director for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the District of Columbia and Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and Saint Mary's counties in the state of Maryland....
, said "None of us had political experience. None of us had PAC experience. We just had a passion for being pro-life." Shortly after its founding, experienced political activists Marjorie Dannenfelser and then Jane Abraham
Jane Abraham
Jane Abraham is an American political activist. She has been serving as Vice Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party since 2006. She is married to Spencer Abraham, former United States Senator from Michigan and former United States Secretary of Energy under President George W. Bush.Abraham...
were brought on board, changing the aim of the group away from liberal candidates, and MacNair refocused on her role at FFL.
Psychology of killing
MacNair's doctoral research was on the psychology of killing. She studied soldiers, torturers, executioners, policemen, abortionists, veterinarians, bullfighters and Nazi records. She pored over the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, analyzed the nearly 1700 questionnaires in a new manner, and found that soldiers who reported having killed someone were more likely to suffer psychological harm. She coined the term "Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress" (PITS), a form of post-traumatic stress disorderPost-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
(PTSD) that may affect those such as soldiers, police and doctors who participate in killing. Thomas L. Murtaugh, Ph.D., the Project Officer, National Center for PTSD, said that MacNair's research was "groundbreaking". In August 2000, MacNair joined PTSD therapist William Chamberlain and Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman
Dave Grossman (author)
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman is an author who has specialized in the study of the psychology of killing, which has been termed 'killology'.In February 1998 Grossman retired from the military as Professor of Military Science at Arkansas State University...
(the author of On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society is a book by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman exploring the psychology of the act of killing and the military and law enforcement establishments' attempt to understand and deal with the consequences of killing.The book is heavily based...
) in a panel discussion about PTSD at a convention of the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
. In 2002 she published a book: Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress: The Psychological Consequences of Killing.
In July 2004, The New Yorker quoted MacNair regarding PITS; following this, the Los Angeles Times cited her as an expert on veteran psychology. In October 2004, director David O. Russell
David O. Russell
David Owen Russell is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work, and is notorious for his explosive confrontations with cast members.-Early life:...
shot footage of MacNair speaking about PTSD and PITS for his documentary Soldiers Pay
Soldiers Pay
Soldiers Pay is a 2004 documentary film by David O. Russell. It takes its name from Soldiers' Pay, a novel by William Faulkner....
. Co-director Juan Carlos Zaldívar
Juan Carlos Zaldívar
Juan Carlos Zaldívar is a filmmaker and video artist who was born in Cuba. He has lived in the United states of America since 1980. His directing credits include "90 Miles", which aired nationally on PBS/"P.O.V.", and was featured in the book Mining the Home Movie: Excavations in Histories and...
said, "She made really interesting contributions that we think are valid and should be part of the conversation of PTSD today."
Vegetarianism
MacNair is against the killing of animals for food. She became a vegetarian at age 16. She has written about the ethics of eating meatEthics of eating meat
In many societies, controversy and debate have arisen over the ethics of eating animals. Ethical objections are generally divided into opposition to the act of killing in general, and opposition to certain agricultural practices surrounding the production of meat...
and about the practices of vegetarianism
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
and veganism
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
.
Personal life
At age 14 MacNair became a member of the Religious Society of FriendsReligious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, and is currently a member of the Penn Valley Meeting in Kansas City. In the 1970s and 1980s, MacNair was arrested seven times for protesting nuclear weapons, five times for protesting nuclear power plants, and five times for protesting abortion clinics. She is the mother of a son conceived in 1984 by anonymous artificial insemination
Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...
. She lives in her childhood home in Kansas City, Missouri.