Vol. 76/No. 27      July 23, 2012

At the National Organization for Women conference in Baltimore June 29-July 1 NOW activists passed out leaflets encouraging participation in the actions in Charlotte.

“I was part of defending the clinics in Charlotte as a student during a similar siege by Operation Save America in 2010,” Sarah Shanks, a campus organizer with Feminist Majority Foundation told the Militant. “NOW is working with us to get folks from Virginia and D.C. to go down. We are expecting hundreds.

“We will be organizing people to come out, hold a picket sign and maintain a peaceful presence in front of the clinics. We will stay there until they leave,” Shanks said.

“The clinic’s busiest time is Saturday morning and we expect the most activity outside the clinic on those two days, July 21 and 28,” Cindy Thomson, a Charlotte-based NOW activist told the Militant in a phone interview.

Local activists are working to help arrange housing. Those driving in from out of state may also be able to carpool.

The focus of these anti-women organizations today is on a state-by-state effort to restrict access to abortion through legislation and other efforts to tie clinics up in red tape. A recently passed law in Mississippi is aimed at closing the only abortion clinic in that state. A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of that law July 1. In Ohio, a campaign to get enough signatures to change the state constitution to declare that life begins when an egg is fertilized failed July 3.

To join the defense teams in Charlotte, contact charlotteclinicdefenders@gmail.com.  
 
 
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