Re: [Marxism] Keep Abortion Legal- A Most Important March This Sundayin D.C.

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

>    I would like to throw out the idea that might unite the
> "Choosers" and the "lifers," why couldn't there be a proposal that
> would give women the right to chose to have control of her choices,
> but also some support for those who CHOSE to not abort.  Just a
> thought.
>
> Lana

I doubt that the truly ideologically committed to anti-abortion
activism will come around to join pro-choicers, but young women --
especially young women of color -- are emphasizing a broader concept
of reproductive rights and freedoms, without losing sight of the
necessity of the right to abortion for women's self-determination:

*****   The New York Times, April 24, 2004
For Abortion Rights Cause, a New Diversity
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON

. . . As abortion rights advocates prepare for Sunday's event, which
they call the March for Women's Lives, veterans of the movement say
they have been striving to address a decline in support among women
under age 30. But young first-generation Americans and recent
immigrants, many of whom maintain connections to countries where
reproductive rights are part of a still-burgeoning struggle over
women's issues, are bringing new energy and broader perspectives to
the cause.

This weekend Ms. [Kalpana] Krishnamurthy [of the Third Wave
Foundation] will be joined in a youth-focused coalition by other new
leaders like Silvia Henriquez, 29, the daughter of Salvadoran
immigrants who is now director of the National Latina Institute for
Reproductive Health, and Crystal Plati, 30, born in Cyprus, raised in
Queens and now director of Choice USA, a multiethnic outreach
organization started by Gloria Steinem.

These young leaders are far from the only newcomers to the movement,
however. Of more than 1,400 groups that have signed up to send
delegations to the march, dozens are just starting to lend their
efforts, among them Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority and South
Asians for Choice, an organization founded last month by two recent
Brown University graduates who have organized 150 people to
participate in this weekend's activities.

Longtime abortion rights advocates lament what they view as a growing
complacency among women who have come of age in the 31 years since
the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade legalized the procedure.

"Women today assume rights," said Kate Michelman, president of Naral
Pro-Choice America. "They don't feel a sense of urgency."

New leaders acknowledge the challenge in mobilizing the post-Roe
generation. But they believe that their understanding of issues
concerning younger women among a variety of ethnic groups can help
the movement expand its reach.

The word "abortion" is spoken sparingly by the younger advocates, who
say it can restrict outreach and allow anti-abortion groups to wage a
single-issue debate. Many of these organizers, using terms like
"reproductive rights" and "reproductive justice," say their agenda
must include issues like comprehensive sex education, emergency
contraception, affordable prenatal care for low-income women and, for
immigrants, improved access to reproductive health care by providers
who speak their patients' native languages.

The youth-focused coalition in which Ms. Plati, Ms. Henriquez and Ms.
Krishnamurthy are participating will sponsor a workshop on Saturday
called the 10 in 10 Gathering, a reference, organizers say, to the
fact that while not all young women will have to confront a decision
about abortion, 10 in 10 will have to deal broadly with their sexual
health.

"When we define choice," Ms. Plati said, "it's about a woman's right
to decide if and when she will have sex, if and when she will get
pregnant, if and when she will carry a pregnancy to term, and if and
when she will raise a child."

Veteran abortion rights supporters generally welcome the new
diversity of thought, though some caution that the movement cannot
let down its guard on abortion specifically.

"These new issues reflect the reality of women's lives," said Ms.
Michelman, who has visited dozens of college campuses in recent
months to build support for the march. "But the fundamental right to
choose, as recognized in Roe, is really at great risk, and that could
change the reality very severely and suddenly. We have to maintain
focus on that."

That is an argument not lost on Leila Balali, a software engineer who
stopped by Naral Pro-Choice America's organizing center here this
week. Ms. Balali, 35, who was born and raised in Iran but has been in
the United States since 1986, said that although she would be unable
to attend the march, she wanted to help make posters as a show of
support.

"This shouldn't even be an issue in this country," she said. "Women
in this country need to realize that if they don't raise their
voices, slowly, slowly they may lose their voice."

<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/24/politics/24MARC.html>   *****
--
Yoshie

* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/>
* Calendars of Events in Columbus:
<http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>,
<http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/>
* Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
* Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
* Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>

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