Canadian women say: 'We're never going back!'

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Chants of "No new abortion law! We're never going back!" rang out across English Canada and Quebec as thousands took to the streets Oct. 14 in support of women's right to choose abortion. Oct. 14 is Persons Day, commemorating the date the Canadian Parliament declared women to be "persons."

In the largest coordinated campaign since the 1970 Abortion Caravan, actions occurred in 31 cities and towns. Over 4000 marched in Toronto. Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal each had demonstrations of 2000. A demonstration in Kingston numbered 1800.

Protests were also held in such smaller cities and towns as Moose Jaw, Grand Prairie, and Thunder Bay. In some towns it was the first progressive demonstration ever held. In Saskatoon, pro-choice demonstrators successfully fought off a violent attack by antichoice goons.

Reflecting the rapid growth of campus pro-choice groups, college and high school students formed large contingents. Both the Ontario Federation of Students and the Quebec Student Federation actively participated. Following the Toronto demonstration, high school students met to plan on-going activities.

Labor was also well represented in these protests. Both the president of the Metro Labor Council and the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) spoke at the Toronto demonstration. Leaders of some 40 national Canadian trade unions adjourned a meeting to participate in the Toronto action. Similarly, a meeting of federal NDP leadership candidates in Toronto recessed to participate in the march.

The response of onlookers showed the growing support for the demand to treat abortion as a medical matter, not a criminal one. In city after city, onlookers voiced their approval for the demonstrators' demands.

The Toronto Star reported that hundreds of passersby joined the march. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) based its coverage in the small town of Collinwood, Ontario. Person-on-the-street interviews in Collinwood indicated that abortion rights is no longer seen as a big city issue, but something affecting all women.

Anti-choice groups had vowed to capture media attention and popular sympathy by staging a hunger strike outside the riew session of Parliament. Instead, a pro-choice picket line garnered most of the attention as busloads of tourists stopped to voice their approval and pose for pictures with the pro-choice banners, thoroughly demoralizing the anti-choice protesters.

Attacks on clinics

Although Operation Rescue has increased the frequency of its clinic assaults, its numbers are dwindling. Their most recent tactic is for teenagers to chain themselves to the clinics, since under the Young Offenders Act they're not subject to as severe legal penalties as adults. In the latest attempted assault, pro-choice forces turned out in such large numbers that the Operation Rescue thugs were kept across the street from the clinic.

The breadth and size of the pro-choice mo bilizations have. increased the possibility that the Tory government will fail to push new legal restrictions through Parliament. Although the Tories are still promising a new law by Christmas, a rumored proposed new law met such widespread opposition that it was never introduced.

Even some members of the Tory cabinet threatened to resign rather than vote for the proposed restrictions. A CBC correspondent reported that pro-choice groups "called for a strong response and they got it."

Plans are underway to send a Canadian delegation to the Nov. 12 Washington rally. Discussions are being held to plan future Canadian pro-choice activities.

Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics spokesperson Cheri MacDonald explained to Socialist Action that it's been two years since the previous abortion law was ruled unconstitutional.

McDonald said, "The longer we go without an abortion law, the more obvious it is we don't need one. However, the situation with access is still abysmal outside Ontario and Quebec. We can either go forward and provide real access to abortion for all women or go backward and recriminalize it.

"The majority clearly supports the demand of the women's movement: No new abortion laws; treat abortion as a medical matter with funding provided under the provincial health plans."

in a group of highrise housing projects in Chicago. Police and National Guard units sealed off the surrounding area and went floor by floor ordering to have each door opened. Those that weren't were kicked in.

Anyone without IDs to prove they lived at that address were searched and thrown out. Armed guards stood watch for several days to check IDs; visitors were not allowed. Similar tactics are used in South Africa.

Drug raids in Latin America Domestic policy is not the only piece to this puzzle. Our foreign policy has been a series of contradictions and lies. Just before the pledge of support to eradicate Colombia of its cocaine production, the United States dropped support for the International Coffee Trade Agreement. This sent prices down for Colombia's number-one legal export, which will result in at least one-half-billion dollars revenue lost, along with many jobs.

We now have U.S. military advisers going on drug raids in Colombia without the consent of Congress. The secret memo which initially leaked this information also indicated that the United States is pressuring Bolivia and Peru to allow our military presence.

As the 1980s draw to a close, we have seen both alter egos of capitalism fail. Both liberals and conservatives in the halls of government have shown that their programs only grow out of exploitation-whether it be of minorities, underdeveloped nations, or the planet's natural resources.

The funds we need to help those who suffer lie in the bank accounts of the rich of this nation. A redistribution of wealth, new job training, free national health programs, and a new emphasis on education will go a long way toward ending the present course of destruction.

Jeffrey Goldman is a member of Greenpeace in San Francisco.