One million rally for women’s lives

by Rebecca Doran

On April 25, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., once again became the scene for a mass demonstration against attacks on human rights. According to the organizers, this march and rally, the March for Women’s Lives, drew an estimated 1.15 million pro-choice demonstrators from all over the world, making it the largest rally for women’s rights in the nation’s history.

Organizing for the monumental event was shared by seven national organizations: Black Women's Health Imperative, Feminist Majority, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood, told the marchers: "There is a war on choice. We didn't start it, but we are going to win it! They're not just after abortion rights. This is a full-throttle war on your very health—on your access to real sex education, birth control, medical privacy, and life-saving research." Feminist icon Gloria Steinem took it further by stating, ‘‘We are here to take back our country.''

Dr. Lorraine Cole, president of the Black Women’s Health Imperative, stressed to the crowd that "the reproductive health of Black women is in a state of crisis. Black women are suffering and dying too often, too soon and needlessly."

A major point made by speakers at this rally was that members of the pro-choice movement must take their message to the polls. With many leaders of the Democratic Party in attendance, the rally had a very pro-Democratic Party platform. Large numbers in the crowd carried signs for John Kerry.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) noted that the last time abortion-rights supporters rallied in Washington, the nation elected her husband to the presidency just six months later. ''We didn't have to march for 12 long years because we had a government that respected the rights of women,'' Clinton said. ''The only way we're going to be able to avoid having to march again and again and again is to elect John Kerry president.''

Clinton’s statement that massive numbers did not march for reproductive rights in Washington during her husband’s administration is correct; however, this fact can hardly be attributed to a government that respected the rights of women.

One can see that almost every one of the major pro-choice organizations in the country is a major contributor to the Democratic Party.

Accordingly, for the past decade they have consciously led the movement away from street demonstrations in order to concentrate on pro-Democratic electioneering efforts.

Despite these efforts, however, millions of women were still forced to hurdle obstacles during the Clinton administration in order to obtain safe and effective contraception, unbiased counseling, and sex education.

The Bush administration is indeed launching a full attack on the right to reproductive freedom. In a chauvinistic response to the March For Women’s Lives, a spokesperson for Bush stated, "The president believes we should work to build a culture of life in America. And regardless of where one stands on the issue of abortion, we can all work together to reduce the number of abortions through promotion of abstinence education programs, support for parental notification laws, and support for the ban on partial-birth abortions.''

However, the platform of the Democratic Party has not been significantly better on these issues. Nor is John Kerry’s position is entirely clear. He does state that, as a Catholic, his personal convictions are against abortion but he doesn’t think the government should intervene in such matters.

The historic March for Women’s Lives has pointed the way for an effective strategy for the pro-choice movement. This time, unlike after the mass march of 1992, we must not retreat. In order to defeat the attacks on women, we need to stay in the streets, and to redouble our efforts to mobilize millions of pro-choice women and men to join us.

This article first appeared in the May 2004 issue of Socialist Action newspaper.