The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 74/No. 5      February 8, 2010

 
Protests back women’s
right to choose abortion
 
BY SUSAN LAMONT  
WASHINGTON—“Having choice is so important,” said Hayley Anderson, 16, standing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court January 22. “It would be terrifying if the government outlawed abortion.” She joined some 100 other supporters of women’s right to choose at a spirited picket line marking the 37th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which decriminalized abortion in the United States.

Many protesters were from college campuses in the area. Activists from the National Organization for Women (NOW), Planned Parenthood, the Feminist Majority Foundation, and others also participated.

“Women don’t have the same rights as men in this country,” said Emily Crevelling, 21, codirector of American University Students for Choice, which brought half a dozen members to the rally. “Women are treated like vessels to produce life, and not as individual human beings.”

The same day the annual so-called March for Life was also held here, drawing thousands from around the country. Many were bused in by churches and parochial schools. Groups of anti-abortionists tried to disrupt the pro-choice picket, provocatively setting up a sound stage in the middle of the pickets’ area, and sending in groups of teenagers sporting red tape over their mouths with “Life” written on it, to position themselves in the middle of the picket line, at times making it difficult to keep walking. The police meanwhile stood by and watched.

Undeterred, abortion rights supporters continued to picket and kept the volume up on their chants of “Pro-life, that’s a lie! You don’t care if women die!” and “Women’s rights are under attack! What do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

That same day some 150 people marched and rallied in San Francisco backing a woman’s right to choose abortion. The action, sponsored by the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights, countered the sixth annual “Walk for Life—West Coast” rally held by opponents of abortion rights, which drew thousands of people.

In Los Altos, California, 140 people also marched January 22 in defense of abortion rights. “Halfway through their march they were met by about 75 antichoice protesters,” reported Lenore Sheridan from San Jose, California. “There is an increased presence of antichoice picketers harassing women who use the Planned Parenthood clinics, which offer pediatric services in addition to abortion and other reproductive and health-care services.”

“Antichoice picketers harass everyone entering the clinics,” she said, “including those taking their children for shots, which really upsets the kids because they don’t understand the pictures on the signs or why they are being yelled at. Planned Parenthood in Santa Clara County is asking for more clinic escorts since there are usually more antichoice picketers between the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Easter.”

Carole Lesnick in San Francisco contributed to this article.  
 
 
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