600,000 tell U.S. government: 'Keep abortion safe and legal!

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WASHINGTON—It was the largest women's rights demonstration in American history. Led by a banner stating, "Keep abortion and birth control safe and legal," some 600,000 demonstrators packed the mile-long stretch between the Washington Monument and the Capitol for over four hours. The huge crowd which turned out for the April 9 march for Women's Equality/Women's Lives was spirited and confident. Chants of "We won't go back" and "What do we want? Choice! When do we want it? Always!" expressed the participants' determination to maintain this important democratic right.

Organizing for the march was sparked by the recent escalation of legal and extra-legal attacks on reproductive freedom. Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, this right has been chipped away through laws denying funding for poor women and imposing parentalconsent restrictions on young women. There have been 24 court challenges to Roe in the last 15 years. The last time the Supreme Court considered a Roe-related case, in 1987, the vote was five to four. Now the challenge to women's rights is even more urgent.

The Supreme Court is reviewing Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, which involves a Missouri law severely limiting access to abortion. The Justice Department has urged that this case be used to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The march was initiated by the National Organization for Women (NOW). Over 400 national labor, religious, women's, civil rights, and political organizations endorsed the event.

Labor organizations which had never taken a public stand on abortion-ranging from the United Mine Workers and the United Steelworkers of America to the Minnesota AFL-CIO and the Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor-supported the demonstration. Groups chartered buses, trains, and planes to bring people to Washington. The march clearly reflected the fact that the overwhelming majority of the American people support women's right to safe and legal abortions.

This sentiment was expressed vocally by the marchers as they filed past the many government buildings lining the parade route. They chanted: "Supreme Court, hear our voice, the majority is for choice!" Many demonstrators carried coat hangers to symbolize the women who will die or be maimed if abortion is declared illegal. As they passed a group of about 200 anti-choice pickets on the march route, the protesters chanted: "Right to Life, your name's a lie. You don't care if women die."

As the crowd assembled for a rally near the Capitol, NOW President Molly Yard told them, "Our voices will be heard. We're still coming to Washington. The avenue is full of people as far as the eye can see!" "We are here to say," Yard announced, "that American women will safeguard their constitutional rights to legal and safe birth control and abortion, and we will work to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. American women and girls will be free, and we will be equal to the men in this country."

Deen Leonard, representing the Association of Flight Attendants, described the Eastern Airlines strike to the rally.

Faye Weddleton, president of Planned Parenthood of America, lambasted Operation Rescue's claim to stand in the tradition of the civil rights movement. "Operation Rescue," she said, "has nothing to do with civil rights, just civil wrongs. We faced church bombings to win civil rights, and we will do whatever is necessary to win women's rights." Other speakers included Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Vice President Anna Padia, Planned Parenthood President Faye Wattleton, former NOW President Eleanor Smeal, Vermont Governor Madeline Kunin, Jesse Jackson, and numerous members of Congress and entertainment personalities.

All age groups march together Liz Ling, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the rally: "When a small group of us at MIT got together to organize for reproductive rights and to mobilize for April 9, we were afraid it would be like pulling teeth." Instead, she recalled, they received an "overwhelming response. People are proud to be supporters of women's rights."

A campus contingent included student delegations from over 500 colleges. Although these young people had come of age after abortion and birth control were legalized, they recognized that visible action is needed to maintain reproductive freedom. For most, it was their first national demonstration. Although most of the marchers women, a sizable number of men also took part. In many cases, entire families participated together.

Special labor and women-of-color contingents took part. A delegation of striking Eastern Airlines workers was well received by other marchers. Large contingents were organized by NOW, CLUW, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), and Planned Parenthood.

The fight continues Although most signs and chants related to abortion rights (since oral arguments on the Webster case slated for April 26 fueled the sense of urgency on this issue), there were also many signs supporting passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. March organizers emphasized the interconnection between these demands, explaining that women cannot possibly have equal rights unless they are able to choose when and if they will bear children.

Like the suffragists of the early 1900s, many demonstrators wore white clothing to express the continuity between the demand for women's right to vote and the demand for women's rights today. They explained that although the suffragists succeeded in winning certain democratic rights, the fight for women's rights continues.

Just as the suffragists organized 486 marches before winning the right to vote, today's supporters of women's rights cannot stop with the success of April 9. Instead, this must be a starting point for continuing visible pressure to force the government to back down on its assault on women's right to NARAL A letter Molly Yard sent to NOW members following the April 9 demonstration indicates the possibilities for involving supporters of reproductive rights in an ongoing campaign to secure these rights. In the letter, Yard states: "Our March for Women's Equality/Women's Lives was just the first step. ... We've put the Bush Administration, the United States Supreme Court, and the anti-choice, antiwomen's rights extremists on notice that you and I will not be denied, intimidated, or turned aside. That we will NEVER return to the dark days of illegal butchery instead of safe, legal abortion. That we will fight for our rights! "We are taking the unconventional-and critical-action of directly petitioning the U.S Supreme Court. We will rally at the Court on April 26, when Webster v. Reproductive Health Services is argued. "We've learned that 'Operation Rescue' is planning a national day of terrorism very soon. A day in which they plan to blockade women's health clinics all across the country, harass patients and staff, and generally try to prevent the legal operations of medical facilities. "To counter them, NOW is alerting its grassroots leadership across the country to ONSTITUTION AVEN protect the clinics by turning out massive numbers of pro-choice Americans. "We want to be there standing up for women in larger numbers than the anti-choice terrorists! We will organize and channel into action the tens of thousands of volunteers who have signed up on April 9 to stand up to 'Operation Rescue.' This is ous chance to put 'Operation Rescue' out of business. We will keep the clinics open! "We've tried this in Boston, Washington, and Los Angeles-and it works! "Soon the Supreme Court will begin deliberating the Webster case-and with it the fate of our constitutional right to abortion.... Members of Congress, and the Bush Administration are watching to see what we do ... and the anti-choice terrorists are launching yet another massive assault on women's health clinics from coast to coast. "You and I cannot—must not—let up. "We're in a battle that can't be won by a single demonstration. We must make a longterm commitment to the struggle for reproductive freedom of choice. And full equality for women."

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REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM

Physicians for Choice NTROL

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