March for Abortion Rights
 

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...abortion_dc_12

Mass Protest Decries Bush Abortion Policies

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protesters crowded the National Mall on Sunday to show support for abortion rights and opposition to Bush administration policies on women's health issues in one of the biggest demonstrations in U.S. history

There was no official crowd count, but organizers claimed more than 1 million people participated.

Pink- and purple-shirted protesters raised signs reading "Fight the Radical Right," "Keep Abortion Legal" and "U.S. Out Of My Uterus" and covered the Mall from the foot of Capitol Hill to the base of the Washington Monument.

Speakers ranged from actresses Whoopi Goldberg, Ashley Judd and Kathleen Turner to philanthropist Ted Turner, feminist icon Gloria Steinem and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (news - web sites).

Goldberg raised a wire coat hanger -- a symbol of illegal abortions in the days before the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling recognizing abortion rights -- and told the crowd, "We are one vote away from going back to this!"

She was referring to the nine-member high court, which has frequently decided abortion-related cases on a five-four vote.

The abortion issue was the centerpiece of the march's broad protest against the policies of President Bush (news - web sites), including his stance on funding international family planning. No U.S. funds may be used for any family planning agency that mentions abortion to patients.

"Vote That Smirk Out of Office," was a characteristically political placard targeting Bush, but Dorothy Smith, 76, of Eldridge, Missouri, carried an emblem she made herself -- a wire coat hanger draped with a sign reading "Never Again."

"I can remember when abortion was just as common as it is now, but it killed a lot of women," Smith said.

Major sponsors included stalwarts of the abortion rights movement -- NARAL Pro-Choice America, Feminist Majority, National Organization for Women (news - web sites), Planned Parenthood (news - web sites) Federation of America -- as well as the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites), the Black Women's Health Imperative and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

'OLD BROADS FOR CHOICE'

Some 1,400 groups attended the event, including an international contingent with marchers from 57 countries. There were medical students who carried signs saying they planned to be the next generation of abortion providers, and there was a Texas group marching behind a banner that read, "Old Broads for Choice."

As the march wound from the Mall toward the White House and then turned onto Pennsylvania Avenue and toward Capitol Hill, abortion rights groups encountered anti-abortion protesters.

These protesters carried posters showing photographs of fetuses at eight weeks gestation and signs reading "Abortion Kills Babies."

March organizers claimed double the turnout of the last big abortion rights march in 1992, which drew 500,000, according to the U.S. Park Police, who no longer gives official crowd counts. The biggest demonstration was an anti-Vietnam War rally in 1969, which drew 600,000. The largest gathering on the National Mall was the 1976 U.S. bicentennial celebration.

Though the march was billed as nonpartisan and included a contingent called Republicans for Choice, much of the day's rhetoric was plainly aimed at Bush, a Republican who opposes abortion in most cases.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) vowed on Friday to champion abortion rights if elected. He received the endorsement of Planned Parenthood's Action Fund, the organization's political fund-raising arm.

Neither Bush or Kerry attended the march, but U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites), a New York Democrat and former first lady, drew roars of approval when she exhorted the crowd to register to vote. Volunteers were on hand to register new voters.

Bush addressed an anti-abortion march in January, saying the effort to overturn the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade (news - web sites) ruling, which recognized a right to abortion, was "a noble cause."

*******

One of my friends went to the march with her mom, but I was unfortunately unable to attend. Did anyone else go to the march?

Also, the article failed to mention one of the signs I found most amusing - "Hey George, stay out of my Bush!" LOL

my boss's wife (who's also one of my mom's good friends) went. i think they said 55 busses and one acela train went from boston. i would have liked to go, but was unable to.

I didn't go but traffic was crazy around that area. It was hard to get to my house from the northern part of the city.

thats so awesome- i really wish i could have been there- when i go home- im going to try to get down to some of the protests in d.c. and nyc...

but in any case- i completely support them- taking away a woman's right to her own body is disgusting and no where near a "noble cause" it is controlling and dangerous... i love how men in government try to tell women how to live their lives- but then they try to take away welfare- etc- i would love to see them living on the streets and taking care of children they were forced to have... screw them:rolleyes:

the last time i checked my biology book- a fetus was not a human being... it was an embryo.. end of story... within a certain amount of time... abortions should be completely supported and legal- and every pro-life fanatic can keep out of it b/c its not their body...

ok..i'm done ranting.. sorry... but this argument really pisses me off... :mad:

My human physiology professor in college insisted on calling fetuses and embryos "parasites." It was amusing.

OK let's talk about something Womyn.

I saw some of the protester pictures.

There is no way in heck many (if not most) of them were straight.

It looked like every lesbian bar in town had just closed for the day.

There is no reason these womyn should be worried about abortion.

-Rudey

I now only support abortion, I'll cut acheck for someone that needs one.

I wonder how many posters here are still living off their parents like a parasite. Should we support the legal killing of them?

I take it you are pro life? Well it depends on how good looking they are I guess. Spare the hotties :p

the fact that we are alive has nothing to do with abortion- my parents chose to have me because they could- the issue of abortion is about having women's right to what they want with their bodies... pregnancy is a HUGE issue- would you rather have a girl kill her baby in a garbage bin with a plastic bag because she was absolutely terrified to get an abortion and didn't feel like she could go anywhere? i didn't think so...

i could argue all day and all night about this... what i think is what i think- and whaetver anyone else thinks- is just that... so i guess i give up b/c i don't have the energy- and i won't ever change anyone else's minds.... but just one question... have you ever gotten pregnant accidently or have you had a friend go through it?

Side question: is this a 100% percent womens issue? Its referred to by most posters as a 'woman's right to choose'; does that mean you dont support the father having equal say in the final decision? If not, should he have to pay child support?

Just a question, intended as flame proof, though will probably prove not to be...

Good question. These lesbians want men to pay for straight women and for the straight women to have the right to make all the decisions.

-Rudey

Rudey - no fair! I thought I'd come here to bleed...go back to the other thread! :p

Seriously, though, to Mr.Blonde's question:
I think the wording of your question is a bit off. Or, rahter, I think you are asking 2 different things.

1. Do I think the father should have a say in what happens to the fetus?
Personally, yes. But that's a whole other discussion (what if he doesn't pay for/support the child etc.)

2. Is the right to choose simply a woman's issue?
Yes in this case because it's not about whether or not you DECIDE to have an abortion but whether or not you can actually HAVE one (which is a medical procedure only women can have done). If the right to an abortion is taken away by law then neither the mother nor the father has a say. A woman MUST have the baby and therefore the baby MUST be taken care of - by child support from the father if he is not married to the mother. She has no choice in the matter and neither does he.

I went and it was truly awesome. No matter what you believe, taking part in a march on the nation's capital is an experience everyone should have! The count of people there was around 1.15 million, I cannot wait to relocate to DC on May 23rd because it is such a powerful place to be right now! Also, my mom got to march with me and that in itself was the best mother-daughter moment we have had!

I don't care much for activists of any kind...


...that said, I think men who do not pay child support sould have their tounges cut out...

Like when she stops taking the pill?

Mrs. DeltAlum's sister traveled from Ohio to participate.

While, the woman should tell her man/partners that she is on the pill, he should never assume that a) she's taking it,
and b) she's taking it regularly. Also, remember it's not 100% effective. Women still do get pregnant while being on the pill, even if they are following the instructons to a T (but it is rare).

These b-rods are taking over the world. They get pregnant intentionally to keep you if you're straight and then have their lesbian friends protest to support abortion to make it seem as if they ever wanted it.

-Rudey

This is where I disagree. A woman's right to do what she want's with her body is bs. There are a thousand things that are totally illegal to do with one's own body, whether you are male or female. I do not see how this one example out of many is always brougth up.

The bottom line is that 99% of those that chose to get an abortion do so for selfish reasons. They don't want the responsibilty, but do want to go around and have sex. The old cliche 'having your cake and eating it too'...maybe 1% make the decision to have an abortion for medical reasons.

I'm not against having sex by any means. However, if you make that decision-you had better be damn sure that you can accept all eventualities. Of course, in today's society that is way to much to expect of people.

My take on the issue....
 

Before abortion was legal in the US, women had it done. Poor women hurt themselves (and their future chance to have children) with hangers, and rich women had their fathers or mothers hire doctors on the side to do it safely. Remember Dirty Dancing? If a law passes making abortion illegal again, abortion won't stop. It won't stop at all! Especially among the wealthy, and especially since there are new drugs and techniques that can easily be brought in from other countires, and there is a work force of physicians and nurses who know how to perform surgical and medical abortions who believe that it is a morally acceptable choice. If such a law passes, poor women without access to resources (rural areas) will be the hardest hit. Millions of women will still have abortions, and they will be disporportionately rich.

Also... there is a lot of debate about when a person becomes a person. Some people don't think an embryo is a full human being, and some do. These differences in opinion are due to many factors, one of the larger being religion. Now! Since we have a country that mandates the seperation between church and state, I object to people imposing their religiously-bases beliefs upon others. What one person decides is therefore spiritual, and is between herself, the father, and her respective God.

And while I'm all for having the choice to have an abortion, actually having one is a totally different issue!

actually...
 

the march wasn't just about abortion, but addressed the larger issue of women's health. Unfortunately the "pro-life" and "pro-choice" arguments kind of drown everything else out, but the march wasn't just about abortion.

I was there as an observer, and I was really impressed with the diversity of the people there. Usually when I think of the stereotypical feminist, I think of an upper or middle class white woman; this was clearly not the case yesterday.

Let me clarify
 

The march was not called "The March for Abortion Rights", it was called the "March for Women's Lives", and last time I checked, even lesbians were women.

I went yesterday and I thought it was absolutely amazing. You march all day and you have no idea how many people are there, but when I saw the pictures today I amazed and proud to be part of that. It was really interesting to see some many different women rallying behind this cause. It's times like these that I'm glad that I live in DC.

Re: Let me clarify
 

Last I checked lesbian women can't produce sperm yet.

-Rudey

But they can still reproduce. So their reproductive rights count too.

Yes I supposed spontaneous combustion could occur.

-Rudey

I support a woman's right to choose.

But I'm not a fan of abortion. If it sounds confusing, well, for me, it is such a complex issue - reconciling my strong belief that women should control their bodies, but on the other hand hating the idea that an abortion might be necessary.

If those women feel threatened, and I don't think they should blame this on the President (his mother is for choice and Laura is quiet on the subject as well - what do you expect, they have uteruses like everyone else), then by all means get out and protest. But some of the stars are there to get on camera, pure and simple. And they sound dumb quite frankly. You almost feel embarassed for them.

There are legislators who would like to eliminate all procedures and partial birth abortion with its horrendous procedure has given them ammunition.

And finally, I do agree that these marches are heavily attended by those who prefer not to be with men anyway. If abortion was not an issue, they'd find another way to express their aversion to members of the opposite sex.
They are born with those feelings, but at times they seem to go out of their way - as if proving their sexual preference - to disparage men.
I LIKE MEN! :)

As someone who actually attended the rally, I just want to point out that the majority of the women there were not lesbians, not that even matters. They were women of all races, ages, income levels and sexual preferences marching. If you haven't personally attended one of those rallies, I just think that is a bad generalization to make about the pro-choice movement. A lot of heterosexual women care enough about their reproductive rights to gather together and make sure their message is heard, and I think that was demonstrated yesterday, despite which picture you might have seen.

I saw flannel, large keychains, and short haircuts.

-Rudey

No one even brought up that PoV as a reason. Although, I do find it funny when people use the 'Seperation between church and state' card because most of them don't even understand how to use that in an argument.

Millions of women having abortions is...perhaps a tad of an over-estimate. I mean millions...there are only around 4 million births a year, so that would mean without abortions there would be a birth rate 50%+.

Doing what is right is bitter medicine.

AlethiaSI and XOMichelle
 

AMEN SISTER! To you and XOMichelle!
In 1992, I was at the "March for Women's Lives" in Washington. I woulda KILLED to be there yesterday!


Still one of my favorite stickers:

Against Abortion? Then Don't Have One!

Since I was there with my girlfriend who DEFINITELY not a lesbian, I would have to say that the crowd was definitely not all lesbians.

Yeah see I'm calling BS on this.

I'm gay and can smell another gay 100 miles away and you baby boy are g-a-y!!!

-Rudey
--Some people really take a joke and kill it

Maybe some don't share your sense of humor?

Not all lebians are anti-men. Yes there are some who will despise men, but what people do is run with a stereotype.
That's what you have done.

Some can't add, some can't read, some can't laugh...we all have our faults but I'm willing to overlook them Deltie pie!

-Rudey

I dont know why and am especially disheartened to see women on here, insisting that marches advocating women's rights are heavily attended by lesbians. I live in DC and was on vacation during the march, but I would have LOVED to attend, and I know quite a few straight women who were there. As has been mentioned, it was an incredibly diverse crowd of over 500,000 men and women attending the march, an incredible turnout and an amazing show of public distress for what is happening in recent years regarding women's rights and freedom of choice. I dont see the humor at all in acting like women have to be interested only in women or hate men to want to express their opinions on women's rights. I like men too, but you know what? Women's rights are an important issue to me, and should be to EVERY woman. I wish I could have been there, it sounds absolutely amazing.

Maybe I am not seeing the humor because to me, it's not a funny issue. As has been mentioned, the goverment is trying to take away the right to decide what you can and can't do with your body. I personally am not a fan of abortion and would not choose one for myself, but I would never EVER believe that I have the right to tell another woman that she can't make that decision for herself, and I am personally disgusted with every person who thinks that they can.

Do you wear flannel?

-Rudey

hardy har rudey

It's hardy har har. You left out one har. Get it? Besides I have no idea what you seem to be implying because I just wanted to know if you were a lumberjack or liked flannel.

-Rudey