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."

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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...