www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, May 2004Women make history in massive rallyWashington, D.C.--The massive turnout for the April 25 March for Women’s Lives even stunned the sponsors as busloads of women--students, Latinas, Asians, grandmothers with their daughters and their daughters’ daughters--poured out of buses, cars, and subways, so many that the mall in front of the Capitol could not contain them. It was probably the largest march in U.S. history, happening in one of America’s most retrogressive times. Organizers estimated that 1.2 million people--most of them women--were present. Even a mainstream media conservative estimate was 800,000. This demonstration was much more diverse than the one in 1992. Besides a large showing of women from Central and Latin America and Asia, the NAACP marched with reproductive rights activists for the first time. Women from at least 60 countries, many where abortion is illegal and who know that means women die, came to say that we in the U.S. cannot go back. Many connections were made by speakers and participants: between poor women who die due to lack of Medicaid funding for abortion and poor women who die due to lack of health insurance; that Bush’s global gag rule is responsible for the deaths of thousands of women in other countries; Queer rights activists held signs saying "Queer Rights are Reproductive Rights." Many who demonstrated against the International Monetary Fund the day before came to the march, and Planned Parenthood estimated that one third there were under the age of 35, a statistic that bodes well for the continuation of the movement. Signs were everywhere. Popular were Planned Parenthood’s demanding sex education and over-the-counter emergency contraception. The National Federation of Abortion Providers’ demanded funding for abortion for poor women. But it is the homemade signs that tell the tale. Marchers held signs identifying themselves as Muslims, Catholics (including nuns), Episcopalians, and Pagans. Thousands of signs were critical of George Bush: "Republicans Demonize, Oppress, and Kill Women," "Bush Out of Iraq," "Bush out of the White House," and "Bush and Osama Are Anti-Choice." Youth held signs reading: "For Our Future, For Our Freedom, For Our Movement YOUTH ARE PRO-CHOICE." One sign read "No Forced Sterilization," and the graphic of a coat hanger with a slash through it was seen everywhere. That graphic caught the mood of the crowd, a fierce determination not to go back to the days of back-alley butcher abortions, as well as outrage over the ground that has already been lost. We denounced the loss of abortion rights for poor women, mourned together those teenagers who died because of parental control laws. Signs displayed a comfort with sexuality that horrifies the religious right: "The Only Bush I Trust is My Own" and "Vagina is Not a Dirty Word," in response to those who tried to censor "The Vagina Monologues." "No Trespassing" signs had pictures of uteruses or silhouettes of a woman, and one woman dressed as a giant vagina. About 50 religious right adherents--all white--showed up. They stood on the sidewalk along a small part of the parade. We often stood next to, or in front of them, covering their signs with ours and drowning out their chants with our own. Some had written with chalk on the asphalt bizarre lies such as: women who have abortions are more likely to suffer mental and eating disorders, stay in abusive relationships, and "become a burden to society." A fanatic in military fatigues gave the lie to the anti-abortionists' claim that they are "pro-life." His very large sign praised Jim Kopp, the man who murdered abortion provider Dr. Bernard Slepian. Some women fanatics’ signs said, "I Regret My Abortion." A pro-choice marcher spoke for many of us by yelling back, "That doesn’t mean that other women regret theirs!" One critique of this magnificent march is of the many politicians there, especially John Kerry supporters, who want to ride this huge wave of energy and try to channel it into a narrow definition of politics, that is, all we need is to elect Kerry. One can always vote for Kerry, or rather vote against Bush, but to reduce this historic demonstration to electoral politics is a crime. The depth and breadth, the size and militancy of this demonstration reveal a revitalized, youthful, vibrant, multi-ethnic, multi-racial women’s movement, determined to transform our present oppressive reality. --Adele and Brown |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
