Thousands gather 4 women's rights rally

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Registered: 03-18-2000
Thousands gather 4 women's rights rally
8
Sun, 04-25-2004 - 1:23pm

Tens of thousands of women gathered for an abortion-rights rally Sunday as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told several hundred of them the issue is about women gaining full equality.


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/04/25/abortion.protest.ap/index.html


At a pre-rally breakfast, Clinton said the Bush administration is "filled with people" who view the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling by the Supreme Court "the worst abomination of constitutional law."


"This administration is filled with people who disparage sexual harassment laws, who claim the pay gap between women and men is phony ... who consider Roe v. Wade the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history," said Clinton, D-New York.


Several hundred women, joined by a scattering of men, attended the breakfast. Rally organizers hoped the day's protest would draw more people than the estimated 500,000 who demonstrated for abortion rights in 1992.


By midmorning, tens of thousands of marches had already come to the Mall, many carrying brightly colored signs. "It's your choice, not theirs," said one placard.


More than 100 opponents of abortion rights assembled along a portion of the parade route. Among them were women who had had abortions and regretted it; they dressed in black.


Tabitha Warnica, 36, of Phoenix, said she had two abortions when she was young. "We don't have a choice. God is the only one who can decide," she said.


The larger rally, which focused on protecting women's reproductive rights, included men and women from across the country. Joining them were activists from nearly 60 countries including Denmark, Germany and Kenya.


"In our country, it's so important to feel solidarity with the rest of the world on women's rights," said Helena Pinto, president of UMAR, an abortion rights group in Portugal, where legal abortion is limited.


As the list of sponsors, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, attests, abortion rights in the United States is the rallying point but not the only issue at stake for these protesters. Organizers have were fighting, too, for birth control, sex education and better health care for women worldwide.


"We believe it's important to be that broad-based and diverse because the threats to reproductive rights are that broad-based and diverse," said Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.


International delegations joined the rally to protest U.S. policies they say harm women abroad, particularly in developing countries.


In the park across from the White House on Saturday, dozens carrying flags of different countries heard speeches about the state of women's reproductive health worldwide, including how the so-called "global gag-rule" has hurt family planning services. Under the rule, which President Bush reinstated when he took office, non-governmental organizations overseas that promote or perform abortions are ineligible for U.S government money.


"Since the global gag rule is affecting family planning worldwide, this is also our cause," said Catherina Hinz of the German Foundation for World Population, based in Hanover.


The rally, said National Organization for Women President Kim Gandy, will "demonstrate that these policies are having an impact on women all over the world."







 




 








    



    



 


story.dc.rally.jpg

cl-Libraone~

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 04-25-2004 - 5:49pm

I've been watching it all afternoon on C-Span.


Elaine

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Registered: 03-18-2000
Mon, 04-26-2004 - 7:40am

Update: Abortion-rights supporters marched in the hundreds of thousands Sunday, galvanized by what they see as an erosion of reproductive freedoms under President Bush and policies that hurt women worldwide."<


>"Speaking beyond the masses to policy-makers, Francis Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice declared, "You will hear our pro-choice voices ringing in your ears until such time that you permit all women to make our own reproductive choices."<


>"Women joined the protest from across the nation and from nearly 60 countries, asserting that damage from Bush's policies is spreading far beyond U.S. shores through measures such as the ban on federal money for family-planning groups that promote or perform abortions abroad."<


Carole Mehlman, 68, came from Tampa, Florida, to support a cause that has motivated her to march for 30 years, as long as abortion has been legal.


"I just had to be here to fight for the next generation and the generation after that," she said. "We cannot let them take over our bodies, our health care, our lives."


Advocates said abortion rights are being weakened at the margins through federal and state restrictions and will be at risk of reversal at the core if Bush gets a second term.


"Know your power and use it," Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, House Democratic leader, exhorted the masses. "It is your choice, not the politicians'."


And feminist Gloria Steinem accused Bush of squandering international good will and taking positions so socially conservative that he seems -- according to Steinem -- to be in league with the likes of Muslim extremists or the Vatican.


Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, referring to the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, said the administration is "filled with people who ... consider Roe v. Wade the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history." "<


>""The march is about the totality of women's lives and the right to make decision about our lives," she said."<


Quotes from..........


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/04/25/abortion.protest.ap/index.html

cl-Libraone~

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2003
Mon, 04-26-2004 - 10:09am
>>The Mall is a mile long from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and it's a block wide from Madison Drive on one side to Jefferson Drive on the other. The entire space is packed with people, shoulder to shoulder. <<

Not just the mall - there were people all over the city as well. Time this with IMF/World Bank protests on Saturday and Earth Day activities on Thursday and this city was an absolute nightmare. I've never seen so many cops in my life.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 4:46pm
hi everyone!!

i was able to attend the march, and let me just say... IT WAS AMAZING!! on so many occasions i was left speechless, and i was continually in disbelief at the size of the crowd, and the excitement everyone carried with them. all the news stories say the estimated crowd was less than a million, but the march organizers did a count for themselves so that everyone could be accounted for, and counted AT LEAST 1,125,000 people!!! that is more than any other march/rally IN HISTORY!!! how amazing is that???

i was marching with the FMLA group from my university, and saw many other students (which was very cool), mothers marching with their daughters/grandaughters, and men. LOL, speaking of which, there was a man holding a sign that said "Keep YOur Laws out of My Uterus!"... so funny, i had to take a picture!! Other posters like "My Body, My Choice", "P*ssy Power! YOU're not the boss of me!", "My Body is not your Property", and "Roe v. Wade--Never Go Back!". on the bus i traveled with (im from ohio), there was an 86-year old man, who worked at an abortion clinic, who was traveling with us. i thought that was so incredible, and that he was participating in an amazing thing!

I just think it's ironic that Shrub decided to spend the weekend at Camp David. Speaking of which, i saw a great sign that said "If men could have abortions, it would be a sacrament." How true. It also fails me why Bush cannot see the logic behind Pro-Choice, and the WOMAN'S right to choose. I think if one of his daughters became pregnant, and was unprepared for it, or if it was the product of a rape, I think Bush would instantly change his tone. When dealing with matters that dont hit home with you, its easy to remain distant and to have a "dont-care" attittude. Yet when it happens to someon you know or love, then it becomes a real and true issue. Pro Choice is the only Choice!

Dont forget to tell the FDA: ITS ABOUT TIME! Go to overthecounterEC.org to show your support in the Emergency Contraception issue!

~Mandy
Take Care! ~Mandy
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 5:08pm
Oh, and don't forget about the people would have liked to attend but couldn't......


38 Million Not Expected at DC Abortion Rights Rally

(2004-04-21) -- Although several hundred thousand abortion rights supporters are expected to march in Washington D.C. this coming Sunday, a spokesman for a major special interest group said its members would not attend the rally.

The American Association of Aborted People (AAAP), a political inaction committee, said none of its 38 million members would participate in the protest march.

"Since the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, our ranks have swelled by about 1.4 million per year," said the unnamed AAAP spokesman. "So, we should be at the center of any debate about abortion. Unfortunately, none of our members could tear themselves away to attend the rally. But we'll be there in spirit, if not in body."


http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/001682.html

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 5:13pm

Hi Mandy!


Here's the clickable link..............


http://www.feministcampus.org/act/prescribechoice/


Thank you for your first hand account of the march.


Welcome to the "In the News" board.

cl-Libraone~

 


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Avatar for independentgrrrl
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 04-27-2004 - 6:07pm
Or this...

'Final Generation' of Abortion Advocates Rallies in DC

(2004-04-25) -- Calling themselves the "final generation" of abortion advocates, hundreds of thousands of women today packed the Mall in Washington D.C. to defend their right to prevent their views on abortion from being passed on to their children.

"It was too late for me," one unnamed speaker told the throng of pro-abortion protestors. "I had my children before the 1973 Roe v. Wade court ruling. I tried to bring them up right--you know, teaching them that this world is a horrible place to bring children into. My legacy has been passed on to them. Thanks to my efforts, they don't have to pass on anything to anybody."

Hillary Clinton Electrifies Crowd

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NYArk, reminded the largely-female gathering of the important connection between abortion and voting, noting that 50 million eligible women failed to cast ballots during the last presidential election.

"Historically, pregnant women have felt helpless and that feeling carries over into other areas of their lives--like politics," said Mrs. Clinton, as her daughter, Chelsea, looked on. "Abortion empowers women to make life and death choices. Once you've made a decision to stop a beating heart, other choices--like whom to vote for--don't seem nearly so intimidating."

Pelosi Echoes "I Have a Dream" Speech

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a speech reminiscent of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., told the crowd that she had a dream that racial tensions in America would fade because blacks have three times the abortion rate of whites.

"Reducing the population of racial minorities is probably the most effective way of reducing tension among the races," said Mrs. Pelosi. "As the population of black children stabilizes, then declines, whites will feel less threatened. Perhaps the most encouraging thing a white politician can do for African-American women is to say, 'Sister, it's your right to abort your children. I affirm you.'"

http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/001686.html

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Thu, 04-29-2004 - 11:24am

Thanks for posting this!