BY ESTELLE DEBATES
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - Several young people here have come on board to attend the Young Feminist Summit being held April 11-13 in Washington D.C. The summit is sponsored by the National Organization for Women (NOW). The latest issue of the NOW National Times has a front page article featuring the conference and organizers project around 1,000 will attend.

Interest in the summit has been heightened by the bipartisan steps in Congress and the White House to criminalize intact dilation and extraction abortion, which comes on the heels of the recent bombings of women's clinics in Atlanta, Georgia, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. If the legislation now being discussed in Congress is passed, it would be the first time any type of abortion would be made illegal in the United States since 1973.

A recent "Festival of Ideas" at West Virginia University in Morgantown included several lectures by prominent feminists on the state of the women's liberation movement today. Speakers included Naomi Wolfe, Rebecca Walker, and Candice Gingrich. Hundreds attended these lectures, and the discussion reflected a desire on the part of many young men and women to defend the gains of the women's movement.

Young Socialists member Diana Newberry spoke in these discussions about the summit being a place where young fighters can discuss where these attacks are coming from and how to organize to defend women's rights. In just a few weeks several youth have decided they want to attend and help build a sizable contingent from West Virginia.

The Morgantown chapter of NOW has offered to work with young women who want to go and need financial assistance for travel, the $35 conference registration fee, and hotel expenses. The chapter is planning a meeting to help get things organized. In addition Rebecca Walker told the audience at her lecture that the Third Wave Fund would help get a couple of West Virginians to the conference. A professor from the Women's Studies Department at WVU said she will work at getting support from the department for conference participants.

A similar response is taking place around the county. Where initiatives are being taken, young fighters clearly welcome the chance to meet and work with others who want to build this summit. Opportunities to build the gathering exist on high school and college campuses and at protest actions against attacks on democratic rights.

Information about the Young Feminist Summit is available by contacting NOW at 202-331-0066 extension 362. Fax 202-785- 8576. E-mail: conference@now.org Web: http:\www.now.org/foundation or write Young Feminist Summit. NOW Foundation, 1000 16th St., NW Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036.  
 
 
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