Women at Roe v. Wade rallies say: 'On to April 5!'

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SOCIALIST ACTION FEBRUARY 1992 5 On Jan. 22, the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, pro-choice rallies, picket lines, and "human billboards" were organized around the coun try. Women and their supporters used these activities to get out the call for the April 5 March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C.

The march, initiated by the National Organization for Women (NOW), is expected to be the largest demonstration ever in defense of women's reproductive freedom.

The U.S. Supreme Court fired the opening shot for the year with the announcement that it will consider the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the restrictive Pennsylvania law. The Court's announcement raises the prospect of the complete reversal of Roe v. Wade. The law requires parental consent, a 24-hour waiting period, spousal notification, and "counseling" on the abortion procedure and alternatives.

As a recent letter from the NOW leadership states, organizers expect the April 5 march to be "the largest outpouring of support for the constitutional right of women to reproductive freedom in history. The Washington politicos must see us, hear us, and feel the thunder of our steps when we march for reproductive rights. Our massive numbers and our mobilized majority are our best hope to protect and restore the right of all women to birth control and legal abortion."

The letter to NOW activists also points out that "44 million women, including women in the military, young women, poor women—who are disproportionately women of color-have already had their rights to abortion restricted or denied. Consequently, this march and mass rally must focus not only on maintaining the rights we've already won, but will demand that the rights of all women be restored."

On April 5, marchers will assemble at 10 a.m. at the Ellipse, and they will step off at 12 noon. At the Global Feminist conference held in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9-12, NOW president Patricia Ireland urged international participation in the march.

In preparation for the April 5 rally, NOW chapters in the Baltimore area have reserved buses to attend. In Boston, 2000 braved the cold to attend a march and indoor rally sponsored by the Coalition for Choice. Participants received a leaflet for an initial planning meeting for April 5 to be held on Feb. 3.

In Chicago, 300 stood and marched in the rain at a rally called by the Emergency Clinic Defense Coalition. Local NOW chapters also sponsored actions, including a picket of the Democratic Party headquarters in Oak Park, Ill., on Jan. 25.

In St. Paul, Minn., approximately 250 women and their supportersorganized by NOW, NARAL, and student groups—filled the State Capitol rotunda on Jan. 19 and heard about April 5.

Last month, Rosemary Dempsey, editor of the National NOW Times, toured college campuses in Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to build support for April 5. Speaking to students in Cincinnati, Dempsey called for a million people to march on Washington. Student in order to assure ratification in a few out states.

The problem with this strategy soon became horrifyingly apparent. The very same candidates elected by the blood and sweat of countless women on their promise to support the ERA turned around, once in office, and voted the Amendment down. They were more loyal to the Democratic and Republican arms of the capitalist system than to the people who elected them to office.

The only explanation that makes sense for the betrayal is this: The capitalist system profits directly from the unequal treatment of women and and oppressed nationalities. The less wages women make, the greater the profit for the capitalists. The division between male and female workers is enormously effective in keeping both their wages depressed and their ability to unite and fight for a better wage impaired.

For half a century, likewise, the labor movement has been working to elect their Democratic Party "friends" to Congress. In the 1950s, the Democrats garnered votes on the promise to oppose the Taft-Hartley Bill. Yet even when the Democrats had a solid Congressional majority, this promise was not kept.

Only when workers organized their own powerthrough their unions, on the job, and in the street—were significant advances made for workers' rights to a decent standard of living and working conditions.

The electoral policy of supporting one party against the other is bankrupt because the both capitalist parties are hostile to the rights of women and working people as a whole.

Someday, when working people have broken away from capitalist politics-asusual and form their own labor party of men and women of all colors and nationalities, then an electoral strategy could, as an adjunct to other forms of independent tion, and welfare.

As the NOW leadership stated, "Our massive numbers and our mobilized majority are our best hope to protect and restore the right of all women to birth control and legal abortion." For more information on April 5, call the NOW national headquarters at (202) 331-0066.

KEE ABORTON SARE EGAL 4909033 struggle, be meaningful.

It is true, as Toledo affirmed, that the courts refuse to redress women's grievances, and it is also true that the rights codified in Roe v. Wade have been steadily chipped away since the mid-1970s. But it is wrong to try to pin the hopes of women on an electoral strategy to solve these real problems.

Electoral politics will only be a viable tactic when a party is organized that is truly independent of the capitalists and solely dependent on the working class.

The New Party being set up by NOW at this time hardly looks like such an independent party. How could it be when NOW is supporting the likes of rich Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for the U.S. Senate?

In fact, support for "friends" like these is probably what leads NOW leaders like Elizabeth Toledo to talk about possible compromises in a bill that hasn't even been proposed yet!

The only possible answer is the independent mobilization of women and men who support women's rights. This means street mobilizations that are organized to galvanize public opinion and raise the stakes for those in power if they dare to oppose the pro-choice majority (now over two-thirds of the population!). Mobilizations that are used as campaign rallies for Democrats or Republicans would blunt the effectiveness of their rallies' message.

Abortion rights will be a central issue in U.S. electoral politics in 1992, especially if hundreds of thousands march on Washington, D.C., on April 5. But the only way to insure that pro-choice activists stay mobilized beyond April 5-go back to their communities and win even greater public support—is to refuse to lull them with false hopes and promises-false because they urge them to put their faith in the enemies of women's rights.