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NEWS & LETTERS, June-July 2006Memphis battles misogynist fanaticsMemphis, Tenn.--After the passage of the draconian anti-abortion law in South Dakota that would deny a woman an abortion even if her health was in danger and after Bush's two extreme right-wing ideologue appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Memphis Women's Action Coalition (WAC) decided to have an action here, in the South, to show women's determination to keep abortion legal and safe, and to safeguard our right to legal and available birth control. Memphis Regional Planned Parenthood, News and Letters Committees, the Memphis Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Memphis Freethought Alliance, signed on with WAC to sponsor our rally, which was held downtown in front of the Shelby County Courthouse as symbolic of our anger over Bush's appointment of far-right judges throughout the judiciary. Had the weather not been HORRIBLE, with thunderstorms right up to the time of the rally, we would have had three times the 85 dedicated people who came, determined to make our voices heard. Several came from as far away as Nashville and Arkansas. Barry Chase from Planned Parenthood spoke of the travesty the Bush administration visited on the morning after pill, refusing to sell it over the counter despite its proven safety; Mary Frank from the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health spoke of women's actual experience getting abortions in Memphis, debunking the myth of so-called "post-abortion syndrome," and other lies told by fanatics; Pat Holland from Nashville NOW told of Bush's war on women, nationally and internationally; Terry Moon from News and Letters Committees spoke of the effort to devalue women, treat us as less than human, and that abortion rights means reproductive justice; and Maya from WAC spoke about the huge April 2004 March for Women's Lives, and women's determination to keep abortion safe, legal, and accessible. We also presented a skit with a "Liar," representing phony abortion clinics that tell women abortion causes breast cancer, depression, and is dangerous; and Truth, who set the record straight. We read testimony from women who had had abortions before the procedure was legal. The talks were well received, with the predominantly young crowd breaking in with applause and foot-stomping. Despite such minor setbacks as no press coverage, we left with high hopes that WAC would grow from the experience; and with plans for more actions in the near future. --WACer * * * The Christian Fundamentalist Center for Bio-Ethical Reform sent its Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) to the University of Memphis campus recently, we think because of the Women’s Action Coalition’s (WAC) extensive publicity for a reproductive freedom rally to be held later in the month. GAP set up a circle of larger-than-life, explicit photos of supposedly aborted fetuses next to Jewish Holocaust and Rwandan genocide victims, and African-American victims of lynching. They drew people into discussions and lied about abortion. They had been invited by two right-wing campus groups, but none of their demonstrators were students. Student Members of WAC and News and Letters Committees joined the Planned Parenthood campus group VOX in holding signs and handing out literature. However, no other signs were allowed, since most of the campus is not a "free speech zone." The number of our demonstrators fluctuated between four and twenty-four as students, professors and other school employees, joined us. We countered the propaganda students had just heard from GAP members, including the lie that Planned Parenthood is involved in eugenics. Contrary to GAP’s objective, the absurdity of their metaphors and signs appalled most passersby, and worked against them. Many people thanked us for being there and took flyers for our rally. --Artemis and Brown |
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