Historic Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
July 23 - August 25, 2013
BAsics 3:22
You cannot break all the chains, except one. You cannot say you want to be free of exploitation and oppression, except you want to keep the oppression of women by men. You can’t say you want to liberate humanity yet keep one half of the people enslaved to the other half. The oppression of women is completely bound up with the division of society into masters and slaves, exploiters and exploited, and the ending of all such conditions is impossible without the complete liberation of women. All this is why women have a tremendous role to play not only in making revolution but in making sure there is all-the-way revolution. The fury of women can and must be fully unleashed as a mighty force for proletarian revolution.
Bob Avakian
Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
For more about BA, click here.
Download poster of BAsics 3:22
Call to Action
END PORNOGRAPHY AND PATRIARCHY: THE ENSLAVEMENT AND DEGRADATION OF WOMEN!
We are told that "equality for women has been won" and that "there are no limits to what girls can achieve." BULLSHIT!
Every 15 seconds a woman is beaten. Every day three to four women are killed by their partners. One out of four female college students will be raped or sexually assaulted while in college.
In recent years, pornography has become increasingly violent, cruel, degrading towards women; women are referred to as “cumdumpsters” and “fuckbuckets”; the “money shot” (ejaculation in a woman’s face) is standard; humiliating cruelty—like violent “ass-to-mouth” penetration—is normalized, and racist bigotry is sexualized. Meanwhile, the broader culture has been pornified: pole dancing is taught at gyms, “sexting” is a national phenomenon among teens, and the strip club is the accepted backdrop to “male bonding.” All this is tied in with, and reinforces, the trafficking of millions of women and girls as literal chattel in the international sex industry.
This is NOT society becoming more comfortable with sex....
Kick-off rally in San Francisco, July 23
Kick-off rally in New York City, July 23
From the RCP's "A Declaration: For Women's Liberation and the Emancipation of All Humanity":
WE DECLARE: NO MORE!
Women need emancipation. Women need liberation from thousands of years of tradition’s chains. This is a declaration that stands on the clear recognition that for humanity as a whole to advance, half of humanity must be lifted from centuries of being condemned to being the property of men and pitilessly exploited, demeaned and degraded in a thousand ways.
Women are not breeders. Women are not lesser beings. Women are not objects created for the sexual pleasure of men. Women are human beings capable of participating fully and equally in every realm of human endeavor. When women are held down, all of humanity is held back. Women must win liberation, and they can only be liberated through the revolutionary transformation of the world and the emancipation of all of humanity, and through being a powerful motive force in that revolution.
Also available as downloadable PDF.
The assault on women’s right and need to simply be able to determine whether or not to have a child has reached a fever pitch in the United States. Too many of those who do uphold this basic right have been put on the defensive and will barely talk about the fundamental issue at the heart of this assault—the lives and future of women. Some even fear saying the word “abortion,” let alone upholding it as a basic right. In the face of this, Stop Patriarchy has taken the offensive and has organized the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, traveling to states that have passed draconian restrictions and to some that have literally one abortion clinic remaining in the entire state. As Sunsara Taylor put it:
“It is no exaggeration to make the analogy between this Abortion Rights Freedom Ride taking on the fight against female enslavement and the original Freedom Rides which challenged the brutal regime of the Jim Crow South. Forced motherhood IS female enslavement.”
Women and men from many different perspectives have joined this ride directly or in other ways, including financially, come to its support. The Revolutionary Communist Party fully supports and commends these efforts as fulfilling a great need and calls on all those who do not want to see women enslaved to their reproduction to recognize and act on this great need.
Follow the Progress of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, Join its Efforts, Support it Financially.
Fight the Power, and Transform the People, for Revolution
Get into and spread the word about revcom.us!
- ABOUT THE
ABORTION
RIGHTS
FREEDOM RIDE
SCHEDULE
AND MAP
ABORTION
ON DEMAND
STATEMENT
A FETUS
IS NOT
A BABY!
PRESS
12/30-
PHOTOS
AND
VIDEOS
8/29 - STATEMENTS
AND
TESTIMONIALS
9/15
REPORTS
10/21
The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride:
This summer, from July 23-August 25, after kick-off rallies in New York and San Francisco, caravans are traveling from both coasts, rallying and gathering support along the way, arriving in North Dakota before August 1 when new laws are set to shut down the last abortion clinic in the state. Then, down to Wichita where those who courageously re-opened the clinic of Dr. George Tiller following his assassination by an anti-abortion gunman are facing serious, and escalating threats. On to Jackson, Mississippi where a temporary court injunction is the only thing keeping the last remaining clinic in the state open. And, making many stops in between. (See the routes in the "Schedule and Map" tab.) All along the way, they plan to take on this nationwide reactionary assault on women’s rights, erect visual displays that tell the truth about abortion and birth control, collect and amplify women's abortion stories in order to break the silence, defend the clinics and providers most under attack, and meet with people to build lasting organization to DEFEAT this whole war on women.
Sunsara Taylor and David Gunn described the aims of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride as threefold:
“...one, we must move beyond localized fights and launch a national counter-offensive;
"two, we must radically reset the political, moral, and ideological terms of this fight so that millions understand that this fight is about women's liberation or women's enslavement;
"lastly, and of paramount importance, we must call forth the mass independent political resistance that is necessary to defeat this war on women.”
(Read the full statement here.)
The success of this Abortion Rights Freedom Ride is something that everyone who cares about women’s future has a stake in. Everyone must find the ways to support this effort and everyone reading this and everyone they know can do something to strengthen this impact.
Revolution Interview with Sunsara Taylor
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
From both coasts, and through the middle of the country
Sunsara Taylor talks about the plans for the Abortion on Demand and Without Apology Freedom Ride set to begin in July, the emergency situation threatening abortion rights, where the oppression of women comes from, why unleashing the fury of women is essential to revolution as a whole, and other crucial questions.
Abortion Rights Are at a Crossroads:
This Is NOT a Time to Lay Low—It Is Time for Massive Uncompromising Struggle!
From Sunsara Taylor and David Gunn Jr.: "Across the country, people are waking up to the state of emergency facing the right to abortion... If we do not reverse this trajectory now, we will condemn future generations of women and girls to forced motherhood, to lives of open enslavement, terror, and life-crushing shame..."
Letter from Prisoner:
Defending the Right to Abortion, and Transforming People for Revolution
...after reading one of the recent issues of Revolution geared toward the abolishment of patriarchism, and promoting Abortion on Demand, this brother came up to me and said He feels that line to be morally Incorrect. He says he feels this way not only because he's a Christian, but the fact that a potential life is being murdered doesn't sit well with him. He said that a woman should be more responsible and keep her legs closed if she doesn't want to have a baby.... Now, at this point I really want to go upside his HEAD. I actually felt a slight rage come over my entire body..... keeping my cool, and being flexible, I kindly ask the brother if he at least felt that a woman should have the right to choose to terminate their pregnancy or not?...
Read more
What Is It Actually Going to Take to Stop This War on Women?
Posted August 12, 2013. From a speech by a Revolution Club member at the August 3 rally in Fargo, North Dakota, as part of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride.
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride:
Filling a Great Need
Timeline and Approach to Make This a Success
by Sunsara Taylor | July 4, 2013: With under three weeks to go until the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride is sent off in two major rallies on July 23 in SF and NYC and then hits the road for a month (traveling all the way to North Dakota and then winding south to culminate in Jackson, Mississippi), it is important that revolutionaries and others who do not want to see women enslaved to their reproduction recognize and act on the great need this freedom ride is filling.
Two Concentrations of the Fight Over Abortion Rights Loom in November
Everyone Who Supports Abortion Rights Must Rally in Mississippi and Albuquerque
Posted October 13, 2013. by Sunsara Taylor and Rigel Kane. Right now, there are two key places in the U.S. where the nationwide battle over abortion is most concentrated: November 2-6, the last abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi will be under siege from Operation Save America, an extreme violence-inciting, woman-hating Christian fascist organization; on November 19, a vote will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that could ban abortions after 20 weeks. Read more
IF WOMEN ARE NOT FREE, THEN NO ONE IS FREE
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride: Summer 2013
Taking on the emergency of the war against women
Posted August 25, 2013. After kickoff rallies in New York and San Francisco, the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride set out from both coasts to take the offensive and turn the tide against the nationwide reactionary assault on women’s right to abortion. Read more
DID YOU KNOW...
...this year there are over 300 measures introduced to further restrict abortion and shut down clinics?
...97% of rural counties have no abortion provider?
...FIVE states have only ONE abortion clinic?
...over 80% of clinics that provide abortions have experienced violence, threats, harassment?
...EIGHT abortion providers and staff have been KILLED?
Reproductive rights are in a state of emergency.
Watch the video of Abortion Rights Freedom Ride rally in Fargo, North Dakota!
Be part of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride from wherever you are:
» Check this page daily and the Stop Patriarchy blog for regular updates;
» Get the word out to all your friends and followers on social media
» Let people know why YOU support the Ride
» Organize fund-raising parties where people can share blog posts and video messages from the on-the-road Freedom Riders
» Reach out to people you know along the route and ask them to provide housing and other support to the Freedom Riders.
The hopes and futures of millions of women are at stake!
Sign up to Join in the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride this summer!
Donate to StopPatriarchy.org:
Contact Stop Patriarchy:
StopPatriarchy.org
StopPatriarchy@gmail.com
StopPatriarchy.tumblr.com
@StopPatriarchy
facebook.com/StopPatriarchy
A Fetus is Not a Child
Abortion is Not Murder
Women are Not Incubators
Where Is It Going and When Will It Be There?
The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride is traversing the entire country—from both coasts all the way to North Dakota and then all the way south to Jackson, Mississippi and then back home to both coasts. It will be stopping in Salt Lake City, Utah; Jackson, Wyoming; Bozeman, Montana; Bismarck, North Dakota; Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Fargo, North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Bellevue, Nebraska; Wichita, Kansas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Jackson, Mississippi.
Within this there are four main focuses of the ride:
Sign up to Join in the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride this summer!
Contact Stop Patriarchy:
StopPatriarchy@gmail.com
StopPatriarchy.tumblr.com
@StopPatriarchy
facebook.com/StopPatriarchy
Abortion On Demand and Without Apology!
For Every Woman in Every State
The Reversal of Abortion and Birth Control Rights
Must Stop Now!
This statement was initiated by StopPatriarchy.org. Sign the Statement HERE.
Abortion is an issue that divides this country. This is no accident. How one thinks and feels about abortion flows fundamentally from how one views women.
We recognize that women are full human beings who must have the right – through unrestricted and unstigmatized access to birth control and abortion – to decide for themselves when and whether they will have children. We reject the view that a woman's highest purpose and fundamental “duty” is to bear children, even those she does not want or cannot care for.
For decades, a movement which calls itself “pro-life” has unleashed violence against abortion providers, shamed and humiliated women, and relentlessly restricted access to abortion, especially for poor women.
Over 80% of abortion clinics have experienced violence, threats, or harassment; eight doctors and staff have been murdered. Today, 97% of rural counties have no abortion provider. One in four poor women who seeks an abortion cannot afford it and is forced to have a child she does not want. Five states have only one abortion clinic left.
This assault has intensified, not slowed, under the Presidency of Obama. 2011 and 2012 saw record new legal restrictions on abortion. Already this year, 278 bills have been introduced to further restrict abortion, including laws set to go into effect that would shut down the last clinic in North Dakota on August 1. Added to this, the Obama administration fought relentlessly to keep emergency contraception ("Morning After Pill") off the shelves and out of the hands of the women and girls who desperately need it.
Reproductive rights are in a state of emergency.
If this direction is not reversed, women face being returned to the situation that prevailed for millennia – until only very recently – being forced to subordinate their dreams in order to have children against their will, or to risk their lives to avoid this. We are headed towards a situation like that in El Salvador where women face long imprisonment for abortion and where nurses and doctors must either turn women in or risk being imprisoned themselves.
This assault on the right to choose abortion is not driven by “concern for babies” or women. The fact is, this “pro-life” movement stands unanimous in its opposition to birth control and comprehensive sex education, the most effective means of preventing unwanted pregnancies. Republican leaders in this movement have fanned hatred of women by shaming women who have sex, belittling the monstrous crime of rape, and in other ways.
The truth is: Fetuses are NOT babies. Abortion is NOT murder. Women are NOT incubators.
For too long, millions have watched in alarm as yesterday's outrageous and unthinkable attack has become today's “compromise position” and tomorrow's limit of what can be imagined. This dynamic must be broken. The political leaders of the Democratic Party cannot be relied on to do this. While posing as the last bastion of defense against these attacks, these “leaders” have in fact seriously undermined reproductive rights by seeking “common ground” with fascists and religious fanatics, by ceding the moral high ground, by severing abortion from women's emancipation and by refusing to stand up when abortion providers are murdered.
We must rely on ourselves. We call on people everywhere to:
- defend abortion providers who are under attack
- speak openly and positively about abortion, including their own
- mobilize mass protest against every new attack wherever it takes place
- Finally, and most importantly, find the ways to come together to wage a determined fight to defeat this entire war on women
This July and August, there will be an abortion rights caravan traveling across this country to many places where attacks are most severe, including being in North Dakota on August 1st when new laws are set to go into effect that would criminalize abortion after six weeks and shut down the last clinic in the state. We support this action as well as other efforts across the country to defend abortion providers and defeat similar laws in other states. We pledge to resist and call on all who care about freedom, justice, and women's lives to do the same!Forced motherhood is female enslavement.
Abortion On Demand and Without Apology!
High School Youth at Kick-off Rally in New York, July 23, 2013. Photo: Special to Revolution
Join with...
- Sara Erdreich (Author, Generation Roe: Inside the Future of the Pro-Choice Movement)
- Zenaida Mendez (President of New York State National Organization for Women - NOW)
- Diana E.H. Russell (Feminist Author, Researcher & Radical Activist on sexual violence @ abuse of women & girls)
- Kathleen Barry (phD, Feminist Human Rights Activist, Writer Sociologist, Professor Emeritus, Penn State University)
- Diane Derzis (owner, Jackson Women’s Health - Mississippi’s last remaining abortion provider)
- Janeane Garafalo (comedian)
- David Gunn Jr. (son of David Gunn, the first abortion doctor to be assassinated)
- Merle Hoffman (President/CEO, Choices Women’s Medical Center)
- Sikivu Hutchinson (author, Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics & Values Wars)
- PZ Myers (biologist, Pharyngula blog)
- Willie J. Parker, M.D. (Reproductive Health Services, Montgomery, AL)
- Jessica Mason Pieklo (Senior Legal Analyst, RH Reality Check*)
- War on Women (the band)
- Linda W. Prine, M.D. (Reproductive Health Access Project*)
- Stephanie Teel (musician)
- Kathryn Riss (Pastor)
- Sunsara Taylor (writer, Revolution Newspaper and initiator of StopPatriarchy.org)
* For identification purposes only
In front of Supreme Court January 2013, 40th Anniversary of Roe v Wade
A Fetus Is Not A Baby!
Updated August 13, 2013
A Fetus Cannot Feel Pain, but a Woman Denied the Right to Abortion Suffers Intolerable Pain
What Is an Abortion and
Why Women Must Have the Right to Choose
Life Cannot and Should Not Always Be Preserved
by A.S.K.
Is it true that a fetus is a form of life? Of course it is. It is made up of live cells, it is growing and processing energy, it has the capacity to mature and reproduce, it has a genetic system and so on.
Will an abortion destroy this form of life? Yes, absolutely.
Well then, isn’t an abortion killing another human being? No, absolutely not.
A fetus is not yet a human being. It is more like a seed or a sprout of a human being. It is "alive," but that is also true of all the other cells in a woman’s body. It has no life of its own yet. It is not yet a separate life from the life of the woman in whose uterus it is.
Just because something has the characteristics of "life" doesn’t mean people should necessarily preserve it. This is an obvious truth. Think about it: People routinely terminate "life" for what is seen as a greater good. We do this every time we eat—all the fruits, vegetables, and meats come from live plants and animals killed for our nourishment. People end "life" every time we cut a tree for firewood, every time we take antibiotics to kill off the live disease organisms which are making us sick, or even every time we kill other human beings in self-defense or to prevent them from causing other human beings to suffer and die.
From Revolution, #239, July 17, 2011
Click the image to see full-size, or right click here to Download PDF.
Press Releases
From StopPatriarchy.org, posted August 17, 2013—Actor Mark Ruffalo Sends Support to Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, Rallying Aug. 17 at Only Clinic in Mississippi
On the eve of the national rally Aug. 17 at the Jackson Women's Health Organization, the only remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi, the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride received a statement from actor Mark Ruffalo in which he reveals that his mother had had a traumatic illegal abortion when she was very young. Read the full press release
From StopPatriarchy.org, posted August 16, 2013—Gloria Steinem Sends Support to Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, Rallying Aug. 17 at Only Clinic in Mississippi
On the eve of a national rally at Jackson Women's Health Organization in Jackson, Mississippi—the only remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi—the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride received a statement from Gloria Steinem. Read the full press release
From StopPatriarchy.org, posted August 15, 2013—Freedom Riders Head to Jackson as Abortion Rights at Critical Juncture: Battle over Mississippi’s Last Clinic Concentrates State of Abortion Rights Nationally
The Jackson Women's Health Organization is the last abortion clinic in Mississippi, open only through court order. As a clinic escort states, it is the "last resort" for women who go there from all over the state (Full statement below). With anti-abortion forces claiming legislative victories nationwide, using ever more bold anti-women rhetoric, and actively seeking to undermine and intimidate this 15-state Abortion Rights Freedom Ride as it enters the ‘heartland,’ this state and this clinic concentrate the emergency situation for abortion rights around the country. Read the full press release
Press and Media Coverage
Updated December 30, 2013
"In July, pro-choice activists with the group Stop Patriarchy embarked on a cross-country abortion rights freedom ride....From the looks of things, they've only just begun."
"The Top 5 Moments in 2013's War on Women,"
The Progressive, December 23, 2013
The Freedom Ride received significant attention from both local and national media outlets, with the central message of "Abortion on Demand & Without Apology" front and center in much of the coverage. Click here for a compilation of the coverage. (Posted 9/21/13)
Radio
Your Call: KALW. Rose Aguilar gives the gist of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, and then asks the question, "What is the most effective message for abortion rights protestors?" David Gunn, Jr., Liza Fuentes, Charlotte Taft, and Deb Hauser discuss and callers weigh in. http://www.kalw.org/post/today-your-call-what-most-effective-message-abortion-rights-supporters
Davey D of Hard Knock Radio on KPFA interviews Sunsara Taylor and three more of the Abortion Rights Freedom Riders as they set out July 23 to defend the hopes and futures of millions of women.
Listen here
Michael Slate, KPFK, Interviews Abortion Rights Freedom Riders from the Road
August 9, 2013: Sunsara Taylor: Reporting from Wichita
August 2, 2013: Sunsara Taylor: Reporting from North Dakota
July 26, 2013: Sunsara and Riley in Ohio: On the stakes of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
Fran Luck on WBAI Joy of Resistance: Sunsara Taylor appeared on the Joy of Resistance "multinational feminist radio" show to talk about the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride—the needed response to the state of emergency around abortion rights. The audio includes an interview and exchange with Terry O'Neil of NOW.
Click to listen or right-click to download.
Women's Magazine (KPFA Radio):
August 12, 2013: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/94261
August 5, 2013: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/94053
Television
WLOX-13 TV
Abortion activists rally at Jackson clinic, August 17, 2013
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/23163530/abortion-activists-rally-at-jackson-clinic
Clarion Ledger
Rally supporting Mississippi's lone abortion clinic, August 17, 2013
http://www.clarionledger.com/videonetwork/2614024977001/Rally-supporting-Mississippi-s-lone-abortion-clinic
WDay News Channel 6 Outside Cass County Courthouse in Fargo, North Dakota, during and after the hearing on the injunction against the law that would shut down Red River Clinic, the last abortion provider in North Dakota.
July 31, 2013
http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/84755/group/News/
http://bcove.me/brosdbj4
Fargo Forum News: InForumTV “The Current": http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/407721/
ABC6 WDay News, Fargo:
http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/84626/publisher_ID/29/
KVRR Fox, Fargo:
http://www.kvrr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21543&Itemid=57
Democracy Now Friday July 26: "Pro-Choice Activists Launch Cross-Country Abortion Rights Freedom Ride". Summary at http://www.democracynow.org/2013/7/26/headlines#72614 .
Rachel Maddow: Rachel Maddow speaks with Tammi Kromenaker, owner of the last abortion clinic in North Dakota. Towards the end, they speak about the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride. July 22, 2013 http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow-show/52549301
Progress Illinois: Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Tour Comes To Chicago, July 27, 2013. Video of speech by Sunsara Taylor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSGQsJrv3NI
Online and Print Media
Vice Magazine Interview with Sunsara Taylor: The Abortion Freedom Riders by Natalie Elliott (September 5, 2013)
http://www.vice.com/read/the-abortion-freedom-riders
Boston Globe (AP): 2014 trial set for challenge of Miss. abortion law Emily Wagster Pettus on August 16, 2013)
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2013/08/16/trial-set-for-challenge-miss-abortion-law/LpZnlw39p3sirrhUzBG4PO/story.html
High Plains Reader, Fargo Feminist Spotlight:
http://hpr1.com/feature/article/fargo_feminist_spotlight_abortion_rights_freedom_ride/
Scoop Independent News, New Zealand: Abortion Rights Freedom Riders Head To Jackson
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1308/S00259/abortion-rights-freedom-riders-head-to-jackson.htm
The Nation: Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Departs Allison Kilkenny on July 22, 2013 http://www.thenation.com/blog/175379/abortion-rights-freedom-ride-departs-protect-some-states-last-abortion-clinics#ixzz2ZrrIb0ho
US News and World Report: Pro-Abortion Activists Going on Freedom Ride to Call For 'Abortion on Demand' By Elizabeth Flock July 22, 2013 http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/07/22/pro-abortion-activists-going-on-freedom-ride-to-call-for-abortion-on-demand
Boulder Weekly: Abortion Rights Freedom Ride draws local support By Elizabeth Miller Thursday, July 11,2013 http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-11383-abortion-rights-free.html
Photos and Videos
Updated August 29, 2013
If Women Are Not Free, Then No One Is Free
Download poster version PDF for print | JPG for web | Click here to read article
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride stop in Charlotte, North Carolina
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride stops in Charlotte, NC for Moral Monday, a protest which has taken place every Monday over several weeks to take back the moral high ground from the politicians and call attention to the way NC is stripping rights away from its citizens such as reproductive rights, worker’s rights, and educators’ benefits.
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride’s last days in Jackson, Mississippi
David Gunn Jr, son of the first abortion provider of eight who have been killed, speaks at rally in Jackson, MS, August 17.
Defending the last remaining clinic in Jackson, MS.
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Greeted in Jackson, August 15
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Stops at Dr. Carhart's Clinic in Omaha, August 7
Dr. Carhart is a courageous abortion provider who has never backed down and refuses to give in to the constant harassment and threat which he has been subjected to by the anti-abortion fascists for years. He understands the need for women to have abortions, especially late term abortions, because without this service, women will die. Thank you Dr. Carhart for all that you do. You are a hero!
The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Rolls Through Montana July 29, 2013
On July 29, 2013, the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride hit Montana! We went to Livingston, home of the Mountain Country Women’s Clinic. People travel hundreds of miles to go to this clinic, since for one, they are so few and far between, and two, it is one of the few clinics across those hundreds of miles that offer a payment plan for women in need of abortions who cannot pay $1000 or more up front. We talked to people across the state, and people across the street.
Abortion rights really are in a state of emergency, and it’s going to take a movement of millions of people standing together, people like this and many more, demanding that women be treated as full human beings, not as incubators.
JOIN this Freedom Ride in Fargo, ND: August 3, Wichita, KS: August 10, or Jackson, MS: August 17 for major rallies for abortion rights. Be a virtual Freedom Rider, fighting for abortion on demand and without apology, for EVERY woman in EVERY state!
The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Hits Cleveland, Ohio July 25, 2013: We took to the Streets - Here are some responses...
From New York Kick-off Rally for the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, July 23, 2013
Photos: Special to Revolution
Statements and Testimonials
Updated September 15, 2013
Statements sent to Abortion Rights Freedom Ride read in Jackson, Mississippi, August 17:
Susan Brownmiller
Mark Ruffalo
Gloria Steinem
David Gunn, Jr.: "I use the truth as my guiding principle and strategy..."
Posted August 25, 2013
Reflections from Abortion Rights Freedom Riders
Posted September 8, 2013. From two young people who were part of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride: "I love telling people the truth, and I am so happy to have gone on this ride" and "How the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Changed Me as a Man." Read more
Abortion Again and Again and Again
Posted September 9, 2013. Donna Schaper, Senior Minister of Judson Memorial Church, blogging at Huffington Post about her support for and participation in the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride. Read her post
"I’ve seen the face of a pre-Roe v. Wade world, it isn’t pretty…"
Posted August 25, 2013
What’s wrong with a 20-week ban on abortion: “Because I love and care for the health of women…”
Posted August 22, 2013. Transcript of the speech by MaryLou Singleton, woman’s healthcare provider, and signer on the statement for Abortion on Demand & Without Apology, delivered at the Aug 20, 2013 rally in Albuquerque NM to protest Operation Rescue.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
I Just Want The Day to Come…
Posted August 16, 2013. I gave myself an abortion in 1956.
Blog Post from a Listener of Michael Slate's Show:
How The “Freedom Ride” Changed My View On Abortion
Posted August 15, 2013
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
Still Crazy After All These Years: How I Got Off the Couch and Onto the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
August 6, 2013: That, of course, is the title of a 1975 Paul Simon song. One reviewer claims this song describes the “impotent rage” that many men and women feel as they get older. They watch the world pass by, are unhappy with the state of affairs but feel too detached or maybe too powerless to really care.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
A New Abortion Rights Freedom Rider!
July 27, 2013: I’m 18 and I’m joining the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride from Cleveland. I was born and raised catholic, and not only was I brainwashed when I was little, I was lied to over and over again about sex and abortion. My sex education class when I was in grade school was not a sex education class. It was just another bullshit class to teach us kids about religion and how sex, masturbation and abortion was just terrible and if you did any of these things you were damned to hell. I was one of those kids that would question all of this and what we were being told, my questions were not answered...
Read more
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride!
Why I'm Going
By K.T. | June 30, 2013: I was 11 years old the first time I heard the word "abortion." Ruth, a young woman very close to me, had found out she was pregnant while trapped in an abusive relationship, working two jobs, and taking a full course load at a community college. She stayed with a friend because she did not have a place of her own to live in. This woman got an abortion and it seemed to be the end of the world for everybody but her. People tried to explain to me that Ruth made a "terrible mistake." My heart raced with fear when they told me what to expect upon seeing her again. "She might die," they warned...
Read more
Sunsara Taylor writing from the Freedom Ride:
Posted August 7, 2013:
To those who say that “Abortion On Demand and Without Apology” is “too extreme”:
Which women do you think should apologize and feel guilty for their abortions?
Which women would you force to have children against their will?
"Postive and liberating..."
Posted August 10, 2013
It was Hillary Clinton who came out and said that abortion is a “tragic” decision for women.
Bullshit.
You know what is tragic? Forced motherhood! You know what else is tragic? Poverty is tragic. Poverty that prevents a woman from being able to have and care for a child she wants is tragic. Rape is tragic. Pregnancies that result from rape are tragic. Health problems that interfere with a woman’s pregnancy, causing risk to her life or to the fetus are tragic.
Being able to have an abortion to prevent women from being double-penalized by these tragedies, to prevent women from having to foreclose their lives and futures and dreams, to prevent women from being further trapped in poverty or abuse, this is POSITIVE AND LIBERATING!
—from "Stop Patriarchy—Live from DC, Day 2"
by Sunsara Taylor
Read statements of support for Abortion Rights Freedom Ride available at the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
Reports and Testimonials
Updated October 21, 2013
November 2-6, Jackson, Mississippi
Stop Patriarchy Calls on You to Join in Defending Abortion Rights and the Last Abortion Clinic in Mississippi
Posted October 7, 2013. Anti-abortion fanatics are planning an extended protest against Jackson Women's Health Organization, the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi. A call has gone out to go to Jackson to support the clinic and demand Abortion on Demand and Without Apology.
Announcing:
The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride 2013 Official Report Is About to Be Released!
Posted October 21, 2013
Reflections on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
Posted October 21, 2013. I participated in the Fargo, ND and Wichita, KS legs of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, the month-long caravan in July from both coasts down the middle of the country where clinics, providers and women are most sharply under attack. What hit me most strongly while on the ride, in an increasing way, is both how needed the Freedom Ride was and how much of a fight it is going to be to make the kind of society-wide impact that can turn the tide for abortion rights, the war on women, and the emancipation of humanity. These two things are related. If it was not a state of emergency, if the thinking of the people was not so backwards and confused on the question of abortion and what it represents for women, the ride would not have been needed so urgently. Read more.
Taking On the Anti-Abortion Siege in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Posted September 8, 2013. Albuquerque, New Mexico has become a national focal point in the struggle over abortion rights in this country because it is the city where two out of the four doctors left in the country who perform later abortions practice. As described in this article, Albuquerque was targeted for threatening and woman-hating protest by the fascist anti-abortion group Operation Rescue during mid-August and it will remain the focus of the anti-abortion movement as they work to close these abortion providers down. Albuquerque was also one of the final stops on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, a month-long caravan that traveled from both coasts and down the middle of the country to stand up for abortion rights this past summer. Read the article written by a member of a Revolution Club and Abortion Rights Freedom Rider
Posted at the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
"It was a perfect day for a rally."
Posted September 9, 2013. A report from someone who drove all the way from Houston to be part of the rally in Jackson, Mississippi on August 17, 2013 to stand up for Jackson Women’s Health Organization & for Abortion On Demand & Without Apology.
Report from the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride's Culminating Rally at the Jackson Women's Health Organization in Mississippi
Posted August 25, 2013.
The “Abortion Holocaust”: A Monstrous Lie From the Christian Fascists
Posted August 22, 2013. Operation Rescue is a highly organized section of the anti-abortion movement. They recently attacked the town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the only city in the state with any abortion providers at all, as well as home of two of the last four doctors who openly provide later term abortions for women who need them. Operation Rescue has worked this year on introducing a ballot initiative that if passed, will introduce a 20-week ban on abortion in Albuquerque. Read more
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Defends the Last Clinic in Mississippi
Posted August 20, 2013.
Excerpted from the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
No room for compromise: There IS a WAR ON WOMEN
Posted August 20, 2013. Albuquerque is the only city in all of New Mexico that provides abortions. Doctors there comprise two of the four in the nation that will still openly provide later term abortion to women who need them, since Dr. Tiller was murdered.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
Advice from the “pro-life” movement
Posted August 20, 2013
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
Jackson, MS: This Clinic Stays Open
Posted August 16, 2013. A crew of Freedom Riders went out to Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Mississippi’s last standing clinic, to help escort and defend today.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
ALERT: Harassment from Anti-Abortion Forces in Little Rock, AR. Points To The Further Need For Uncompromising Struggle
From the Freedom Ride in Wichita
Posted August 12, 2013
Ground Zero in Wichita: Dr. George Tiller and the Continued Attack on Women
Abortion on Demand and Without Apology rally in Wichita
Photos
Support for the Freedom Ride in Wichita
Photos
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Indicts “Crisis Pregnancy Center”
August 10, 2013
The Reality of “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” & the Whole Anti-Abortion Movement
August 10, 2013
DANGER! DANGER! No Choice At 'A Better Choice' CPC in Wichita
Photos
"Elect Women for a Change": The Lies of a Woman-Hating System
Posted August 12, 2013. People across the country have been waking up to the extreme and hateful torrent of legislation and assaults on women and their rights. Time and time again, these concerns have been diverted into the tired trope that the solution to all this is to elect more women into office.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
To Those that Think It's Bogus to Call the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride a Freedom Ride
August 8, 2013: The Abortion Rights Freedom Ride was launched because women are not free. Abortion rights are essential to determining whether women will be enslaved to their biology, forced to bear children against their will, or if they will be free of that.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
The Abortion Rights Rally in Fargo
August 6, 2013: People thanked the riders for being in Fargo, and unapologetically standing up for a woman’s right to abortion.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
Report from the Van’s Warped Tour in Atlanta
August 5, 2013: The campaign to End Pornography and Patriarchy hit the Van’s Warped Tour today in Atlanta. We set up in the (fairly empty) volunteer tent next to the Warped Tour’s recycling initiative and a guy asking people to write postcards to the troops…we intended to create a presence that couldn’t be ignored...
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
A Reason to Celebrate and the Need to Keep Fighting
August 4, 2013: When a North Dakota state judge granted a preliminary injunction against a bill that would shut down the last clinic in the state, StopPatriarchy.org was outside of the courthouse and inside the court hearing. Freedom Riders greeted the clinic owner, Tammi Kromenaker, with an “Abortion Providers Are Heroes” banner and applause.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
From Cleveland to Chicago! East Coast Caravan Report Back
August 4, 2013: Members from the Chicago chapter of Stop Patriarchy as well as others organized an incredible stop. We began with a rally in Congress Plaza, utilizing our ‘Abortion Providers Are Heroes’ banner for people to sign with statements of support.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
From NYC to Cleveland! East Coast Caravan Report Back!
August 4, 2013: WOW, only five days out and we have already begun making breakthroughs.
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
From California to Utah, with the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride!
July 26, 2013: Taking a tip from the NY caravan, we won’t describe the desert at the moment (though it is pretty awesome), having JUST arrived in Salt Lake City… but instead report back on the rally on Tuesday!
It was striking the seriousness, the urgency, and the hope expressed in many ways throughout our short rally. As people were arriving, Freedom Rider Mia went around taking pictures of people holding their personalized statement of support for abortion rights. Banners were erected around the stone stage, proclaiming, “Abortion Providers are Heroes!" “Forced Motherhood is Female Enslavement" and “Abortion On Demand and Without Apology!"
Read more
Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Send-off Rallies Held in New York, San Francisco
July 24, 2013: On July 23 in San Francisco and New York, there were send-off rallies for the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, now hitting the road from each coast for a month, joining together in North Dakota and culminating in Jackson, Mississippi.
Read more
Posts from Sunsara Taylor:
Two Concentrations of the Fight Over Abortion Rights Loom in November
Everyone Who Supports Abortion Rights Must Rally in Mississippi and Albuquerque
Posted October 13, 2013. by Sunsara Taylor and Rigel Kane.
Right now, there are two key places in the U.S. where the nationwide battle over abortion is most concentrated: November 2-6, the last abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi will be under siege from Operation Save America, an extreme violence-inciting, woman-hating Christian fascist organization; on November 19, a vote will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that could ban abortions after 20 weeks. Read more
The Abortion Rights Emergency—On the Ground
Posted September 15, 2013. by Sunsara Taylor.
There is an all-sided, many-fronted assault against women's right to abortion that is escalating across this country. In state after state, from Texas to Arkansas to North Dakota, legislatures are moving to effectively outlaw abortion, even as it remains a right "on the books." There are the violence, terror, and threats against abortion providers. There have been 278 new restrictions on abortion introduced in 2013 alone and laws passed which have closed down or endangered 37 of 42 abortion clinics in Texas. In North Carolina, four out of five remaining clinics may be closed because of new laws which have been passed in that state.
This is truly a state of emergency for abortion rights! In the face of this and to mount a national counteroffensive to the war on women's right to abortion and women overall, the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride was launched. Two groups of Freedom Riders, one coming from New York City and the other from San Francisco, joined together and then traveled through the middle of the country, making stops in states where abortion is under vicious and deadly assault.
This article draws heavily upon and has been edited from thoughts on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride from Sunsara Taylor. Read more
Vice Magazine Interview with Sunsara Taylor: The Abortion Freedom Riders
Posted September 7, 2013. by Natalie Elliott. There’s no disputing that here in the US there seems to be some kind of state-level legislative epidemic hellbent on condemning female reproductive rights for ever more. Never mind the explosive support of Texas Senator Wendy Davis during her abortion-bill filibuster earlier this summer—Governor Rick Perry saw that the bill passed in the bat of an eye in an instantaneously appointed special session. A couple states away, in North Dakota, recent legislation aimed to prohibit abortions after six weeks but was paused by a last-minute injunction granted on July 31, mere hours before the new laws were set to take effect. Not that it matters much anyway: There’s only one remaining abortion clinic in the entire state. Meanwhile, Arkansas has instituted its own ban on abortions after twelve-weeks. So it sucks, but what are you doing about it? Read the interview.
Some Thoughts on Our Time in Mississippi, on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride, and Looking Forward
Posted August 17, 2013. Today, as many of the Abortion Rights Freedom Riders escorted patients and hula-hooped outside the clinic, I sat down with the director of Jackson Women's Health Organization. I told her about the threefold mission of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride...She told me about her patients. Read more
A Day in a Mall in Wichita
Posted August 13, 2013. In Wichita, a group of us from the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride went to one of the two major shopping malls to do active social investigation and learn what people think and feel about women's right to abortion. We took our uncompromising message of Abortion On Demand and Without Apology out to people unadulterated and we engaged them over this. What we learned through this active social investigation gave us a very rich window into how people are thinking in this city and only deepened our understanding of just how essential it is to bring this full undiluted truth to people everywhere, especially places like this.
Posted August 7, 2013:
To those who say that “Abortion On Demand and Without Apology” is “too extreme”:
Which women do you think should apologize and feel guilty for their abortions?
Which women would you force to have children against their will?
"Postive and liberating..."
Posted August 10, 2013
It was Hillary Clinton who came out and said that abortion is a “tragic” decision for women.
Bullshit.
You know what is tragic? Forced motherhood! You know what else is tragic? Poverty is tragic. Poverty that prevents a woman from being able to have and care for a child she wants is tragic. Rape is tragic. Pregnancies that result from rape are tragic. Health problems that interfere with a woman’s pregnancy, causing risk to her life or to the fetus are tragic.
Being able to have an abortion to prevent women from being double-penalized by these tragedies, to prevent women from having to foreclose their lives and futures and dreams, to prevent women from being further trapped in poverty or abuse, this is POSITIVE AND LIBERATING!
—from "Stop Patriarchy—Live from DC, Day 2"
by Sunsara Taylor
Where Does this War Against Women Come From?
Why is it so Vicious?
Real Revolution Could Not Come a Minute Too Soon!
July 30, 2013, by Sunsara Taylor: Last night in Minneapolis, a woman came up to me at the church where we held a stop on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride and said, "I am old enough to remember back when abortion was illegal and I never thought we'd end up back here. How did this happen and what is it going to take to make sure that when you are my age you aren't still having to fight this?"
Read more
From the StopPatriarchy.org blog:
1st Day on the Road with the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
July 25, 2013, by Sunsara Taylor: ...From what I have heard about SF’s kick-off and from what I saw first hand in NYC, our launch was a serious beginning that drew together an important core of beginning support, that tapped into and unleashed deep sentiments and commitment, and that lays a good foundation to build off of. In NYC there was powerful testimony from women about their abortions. This included a woman who was moved to take the stage and tell of a dear friend who found herself pregnant in Biloxi, Miss back before Roe v. Wade when she was only 16 years old – she was so terrified she went home and shot herself dead! The woman shared this with tears in her eyes and brought alive how much is at stake for women’s lives and her hopes for what this Abortion Rights Freedom Ride will contribute to....
Read more
Some comments from people across the country who signed the statement for “Abortion on Demand & Without Apology”…
From the Stoppatriarchy.org website. See all comments.
I am a volunteer clinic escort at Jackson Women's Health Org., the last abortion clinic in Mississippi. The undue burden that women must endure to travel hours to our only clinic is heartbreaking. Yet they are so grateful to have this "last resort" to turn to when making one of the most crucial decisions in their lives. If it takes fighting to my last breath, THIS CLINIC STAYS OPEN!
Derenda
Brandon, Mississippi
I am more than just a future mother.
Lucy
Student, New Hampshire
Without clinics there is no choice. My abortion was my best decision I ever made.
Jean
Greenfield, CA
The legislation against women is fascist and radical. We need to be radical and stop pandering to the Right. Our lives are literally in the hands of these legislators and that is completely unacceptable. We need to stop making sure no one is offended. WOMEN WILL DIE FROM THIS LEGISLATION.
Heather
Single mom, birth doula, graduate student in public health
Grand Forks, ND
You cannot grant rights to one potential person at the cost of a real person's liberties. Women are people, fetuses are NOT!
Marius
Engineer, Baton Rouge LA
Will look for you in ND in August.
Wendy
Education, Horace, ND
Having the government force women to give birth against their will is tyranny.
Solvei
Energy Efficiency Outreach Coordinator, Binghampton, NY
I thought I was all alone in wanting this. THANK YOU!
Lisa
Writer, Waddy, KY
Women are people first. Period. Before fetal rights, there are FEMALE rights. Criminalizing abortion does not stop abortion, it simply further punishes women - without similarly punishing the men who got them pregnant in the first place. (Not that anyone should be being punished for consensual sex.)
As a woman, and as a mother, I am done being controlled by politicians who will never face an unplanned, unexpected or unwanted pregnancy, or the threat of pregnancy. It's time we take back our rights.
Bree
Sexual Health and Consent Educator, Longmont CO
What is there really to say? The idea that we find ourselves in the 21st century and there are still people that believe, or at least claim to, that a woman's rights are subservient to an embryo or fetus, or that people cannot engage in healthy sexual activity without taking steps to prevent disease or pregnancy cannot is simply beyond absurd.
Jeremy
Writer, Adamsville, AL
American Patriarchy - the new Taliban, for a new century. Stop it now.
Charles
Systems Engineer, Canada
Until all of us are free, none of us are free.
Jared
Systems Administrator
Haslett, MI
A family member of mine got pregnant even though she was on the pill. Fortunately, abortion services were legal and available, so she terminated her pregnancy. Today, she is a successful executive, with two wonderful children of her own. If she'd been forced to carry the fetus to term, she would not have been able to stay in college, would not have been able to choose her present career, would not have met and married the wonderful man who is now her husband, and her life would most certainly be poorer. Abortion, on demand without restriction, is a right that MUST BE PROTECTED.
Bryan
Technology Consultant,
Houston, TX
I think that children are important, and we shouldn't have them frivolously. The decision to have a child should be an active decision. I don't think that "Oops, I'm pregnant" is a valid reason for having a baby. People shouldn't go through with a pregnancy on the off-chance that someone else somewhere will take care of it. That is irresponsible. Speaking of people being irresponsible. One of the arguments against abortion is that people will use it as birth control. I think that's a good thing. If someone is that irresponsible during sex, they won't be any more responsible as parents. Such people should be encouraged to at least be responsible about whether to go through with a pregnancy or not. Having a baby is not a trivial event. It is harsh on a woman's body and have life changing consequences. As such, it should be totally up to the woman whether she goes through with it or not. It shouldn't be up to others.
Eric
Trustreason.com, Herndon, VA
I am disabled, and if I were to become pregnant, would need to have an abortion. The recent attacks on women's agency are frightening.
Margaret
Writer, Cleveland, GA
It is unthinkable and inhumane in this age of effective contraception to deny or limit any persons' access to all forms of birth control. Unwanted pregnancy leads to emotional, social, and economic hardship for all involved. To squelch the great medical advances we have made in reproductive health is immoral and plain stupid.
Charles
Retired Educator,
Las Vegas, NV
What goes into or comes out of my uterus is my business. Limiting abortion means more maternal death due to complications and more hacks like Kermit Gosnell preying on the vulnerable and killing more patients. Abortion on demand is a human right!
Karen
Fundraising Professional
Washington, DC
As the father of two daughters and a husband, my female children and wife should have every right to determine their medical decisions. It is their RIGHT to determine their health care.
Michael
Information Technology,
Lawrence, KS
"Abortion on Demand and Without Apology" - that's a sentiment I agree wholeheartedly with. Not only is one human being NEVER entitled to another human being's body without their consent... but a fetus isn't even a human being. Taking away abortion rights is giving fully grown women fewer rights than something that isn't even human. Terrible.
Jessica
Craftsperson, Chattanooga, TN
Yes. No more of this "safe, legal, and rare" bullshit. Safe, legal, and accessible. No questions asked. No conditions. Abortion is not a tragedy. It's not a murder. It's not "sadly necessary." It's a non-issue for everyone but the woman who decides to have one. End of story. Liberals need to stop apologizing and compromising.
Josh
Nonprofit, Winooski, VT
It's my body. Taking one of my kidneys out to transplant without my consent would be illegal. How can forcing me to keep a fetus I don't want be anything but criminal and morally repugnant?
Beatrice
Feminist, Chicago, IL
Adding to the petition: The demographic data are clear: restricting access to abortion does not decrease the rate of abortion. All it does is to make the abortions that occur unregulated and unsafe, leading to large numbers of women being permanently harmed or dying. The only thing that decreases the rate of abortions is increased use of effective contraceptives, so that fewer pregnancies are unwanted. The actual pro-life position is to make abortions available to every woman who wants one, and also to support contraceptive use.
Michael
Research Scientist
Socorro, NM
The most fundamental of all rights is the right to bodily autonomy - without it, all other rights are rendered meaningless. It is one of the greatest obscenities of the modern age that right now, in the world's richest and nost powerful democracy, a vast and concerted effort is being undertaken to deny women that right. To deny their status as people, and replace it with that of a living incubator. This is nothing less than the most socially acceptable face of modern slavery. It has to stop. Now.
Gregory
Retailer, New York, NY
Women should always be in 100% control of their own body. End of discussion. Your morals and beliefs should have zero effect on someone who is not you.
Wil
Father, Portland, OR
A woman's right to body autonomy is non-negotiable! The rights of a woman to control her reproductive function is a basic human right.
Stacey
Concerned Citizen, Feminist,
Hadley, MA
why do we STILL have to fight this fight? Why doesn't the church get it? Haven't they read the Constitution? What don't they understand about "Pass no law respecting an establishment of religion”?
Edward
Retired, New York, NY
In addition to women not being "incubators, neither are they "ovens" as Louisiana State Senator Gary Smith called them in his effort to legalize the commodification and exploitation of women through commercial surrogacy.
Kathleen
National Organization for Women (NOW)
West Hartford, CT
Women who wish to have an abortion should have unfettered access to the procedure at all stages of pregnancy. A woman is not an incubator and does not forfeit her rights or autonomy when she becomes pregnant.
Scott
Forester, Deltana, AK
I believe that women have the right to choose to have a family or not, without giving up fulfilling relationships, whatever form they may take, or even having no relationships at all. No one should be able to make this choice for someone else.
Anthony
Network Administrator,
Detroit, OR
I serve as a peace corps volunteer in a country without any abortion rights whatsoever. The results are horrific. Women die. Please don't make me come home to a similar situation.
Joanna
Peace Corp Volunteer
Every woman should have access to medical care for a safe abortion.. period. In 1942 my aunt died from infection which was the result of a back room abortion. Single, pregnant at 22 years old, Irish Roman Catholic that was the only avenue open to her. Her death pretty much broke up the family. Times were so different then... we don't need to return to those dismal days.....
Jamie
Retired, Tuscaloosa, AL
I have had two...the first illegal decades ago after navigating the world of creeps and fakes, finding a decent person to do it, and the second safe and legal in a local hospital. I could not handle financially or emotionally either pregnancy. I already had two small children, but still would have had those babies except the spineless father wouldn't even offer me moral support through pregnancy and ran like a coward. It was more than I could do alone, and I have always felt sad that those were the circumstances. If men would step up and meet their responsibilities as half "owner" of those pregnancies, things might be different. As it is, women are way too frequently left alone to make the decisions and don't need to be controlled and dictated to when they make their choices.
Lynne
Merchant Marine Officer
Juneau, Alaska
The most urgent front in the War on Women. I also remember the "before time". All those thousands of women's names are not to be found on any monument or national memorial. They reside in the hearts of us that recall the days of coat hangers and exsanguinated young girls in every back alley and stairwell. Never Again!
Avra
Fight Slavery Now!
Abolitionist
Though I did not choose an abortion, through manipulation from my child's paternal family and through the health care center I went to for help, I want to ensure anyone who is pregnant (not all who have a uterus are women and not all women have a uterus), has a choice. Choice is important when it comes to reproduction and one's body.
Heidi
Computer Programmer,
Baton Rouge, LA
"Abortion on demand and without apology. Forced motherhood is female enslavement."
I agree wholeheartedly and without reservation with the entirety of this statement, especially with the quoted sections, and am eager to see it published. You have my permission to use my full name when you publish. Thank you for putting out this statement.
Anu
Atheist, Mill Creek, WA
We need to reverse this trend of restricting access to abortion. Reproductive rights are human rights. Everyone should be able to decide when or if they have children.
Patricia
Clinic Escort, Jeffersonville, IN
I'm a young ambitious woman who has seen the lives of many of my female friends completely derailed by having unwanted children. I grew up in a poor rural area where girls barely out of high school typically ended up married with children that they couldn't care for. I was lucky enough to get an education elsewhere through scholarships, but the futures for these women and their children is really dim and it saddens me to see these smart, loving, and kind women have their lives reduced to staying at home because they can't afford daycare
Nora
Graphic Designer
Cleveland, OH
There is no greater good that can come from the way the Pro-Life movement, as publicly represented, tries to pursue this. Even if there were, the deontology of the situation trumps utility.
Matthew
Recent College Graduate and Job Seeker
San Jose, CA
Extreme religious interpretations of acceptable behavior cannot be allowed to become the basis of our laws, regardless of the particular religion.
Joseph
Citizen, Fergus Falls, MN
Those women who have the financial means to obtain a safe abortion will still be able to get one; therefore, most of these laws are discriminatory against women who do not have the means and should be struck down.
Melissa
Retired, Henrico, VA
Women's reproductive health and rights are for each woman to decide for herself. We don't need men to dictate what we can and cannot do. What men can do, however, is be supportive of the women they love and, eventually, of all women. It's just common respect.
Patricia
Feminist, Seattle, WA
Women who do not want or who are not ready to have children should not be forced to have them. It is as simple as that. A woman should have the right to choose for herself. It's in her best interest, and in the best interest of society.
Alice
Speaking for Myself
Oakland, CA
Every woman must have the right to control her own destiny. Whether she wants or does not want to bear a child or children. However she sees fit to lead her life as a woman and a human being without interference from anyone or any organization or any government. It is up to that woman as to what she wants to do with her life.
Adele
Member of NOW
Forest Hills, NY
Freedom is Multi-dimensional
New York, NY
Stop the religious rights' assault on women's rights!
Monette
Secular Woman, Stow, OH
I support individuals' right against forced birthing. It's the path of least harm, me thinks.
Torsten
Information Systems Coordinator
Corvallis, OR
Women deserve reproductive rights over their own bodies!
Mark
Magazine Editor
Canoga Park, CA
A woman's body is HERS, not anyone else's!
Killian
Retired, San Marcos, CA
The right to abortion is already compromised and it needs to be freely available for women to have a chance at liberation.
Nancy
Registered Nurse, Seattle, WA
Abortion upon demand must be available to all women in the United States if women are to be free.
Milton
Professor, UCSD
Encinitas CA
We know the anti-choice movement is not really pro-life, because they don't promote birth control. Their real core agenda is control of females, because they worship patriarchy as their stone-age guide to society. True freedom requires freedom from ancient myths.
Bruce
Professor of Chemistry
Tempe, AZ
An infant breaths air. A fetus does not. Say NO to fetus fetishizers and embryo idolizers.
Bruce
Harmonicaist, Los Angeles, CA
I support 100% bodily autonomy for all women and demand that they have full reproductive rights, which includes easily accessible and affordable contraception, as well as full access to abortion procedures.
Anthony
Restaurant Manager
Brent, FL
These anti-abortion bills have nothing to do with loving or respecting life, because if they did children wouldn't be hungry or homeless in our society. 2 million children are officially homeless, How many then are there unofficially? This is just about keeping women down. To force them to have children, they can't afford, so they will be forced to work for low slave wages to support their children.
Jessica
Social Worker, Jersey City, NJ
I was 14 when I asked my father about the justification for abortion. Since he ran a school of nursing I felt he could explain the medical issues. He pointed out that EVERY pregnancy has a risk of maternal death that NO man is EVER exposed to, and no doctor with a conscience could refuse a request to terminate any pregnancy - no questions asked. As a man I have no business even attempting to interfere with the health and safety of any woman, any more than any woman should have any say in any surgical procedure I might choose to have performed on my genitalia. Nobody should be allowed to come between a woman and her doctor in determining her choices in medical care.
Marius
Design Engineer @ ABB Inc.
Brownfields, LA
People protesting the right to abortions should use their energy to protect and improve the right of the already born! People need food, housing, education and a clean environment.....work on that instead of restricting our Constitutional Rights!!
Julie
Community Organizer
Oak Park, IL
I am 41. I have always been for CHOICE. I am the author of the blog DIRTy 30 and Beyond and The Freaking Feminist! I am a student of women's studies and support your organization. Contact me for any help needed. I'll do whatever I can do.
Christine
The Hills, Texas
A woman's right to body autonomy requires clear, unambiguous and unbiased parenthood planning information and sex education for all. This includes access to abortion services. To deny this is shaming, a dehumanising of the woman, oppressive and a removal of human rights for the woman. An attack on access to abortion services is reprehensible, and will lead to the deaths of thousands of women. Stop this attack on women, now.
Tina
London, UK
Not every female body is capable of bearing healthy offspring. Many women are required to ingest medical regimen that include medications that are CONTRAINDICATED FOR HEALTHY GESTATION AND DELIVERY. In most cases, such medications are required to sustain the healthy life of the individual woman and DIRECTLY CONFLICT WITH CREATING HEALTHY EUKARYOTE CELLS FROM WHICH A HEALTHY EMBRYO IS FORMED, INSTEAD ALLOWING EXTERNALLY DISRUPTED GENETIC LINES TO BE INCLUDED IN FETAL DEVELOPMENT, i.e., newborn with gross anatomical deformation, missing organs, agonizing existence, and early death.
THERE IS NOTHING BENEVOLENT IN THIS MODEL AND IT REVEALS THE MALIGNANCY ATTACHED TO IDEOLOGY FROM THE RIGHT ABOUT FEMALE EXISTENCE AT ITS MOST BASIC. ignoring us will not change this reality.
Savannah
New York, NY
This is a strong unapologetic statement and is much needed now. I agree with it. Women are independent, intelligent beings and need to be treated that way. What we decide for our bodies and our lives is nobody's business but ours.
Shawn
ABQ, NM
Control of our reproductive capabilities is a requirement for women's liberty and equality. Women should not be held enslaved to our biology.
Susan
Retired Citizen, Deltona, FL
My body is mine, not yours, and only I get to decide whether I want to be pregnant. Anything else is slavery.
Margaret
Software Engineer
Albuquerque, NM
Teenage student who wants to be in control of her own life. You an even think about it in an economic sense if that helps some people. When a woman has a child she's out on maternity leave for however many months keeping her out of the work place while still getting paid, therefore losing companies money. I don't like to think about it that way, but it might help change some minds.
Camille
Albuquerque, New Mexico
This situation is becoming more and more serious. Even 10 years ago, I would not have expected the anti-abortion supporters to go so far. What kind of society is this for young women--and men, for that matter--to grow up in?
Grace
Writer, Montreal, QC
This campaign fills a desperate need of women and of the feminist movement. Women coming into this campaign refuse to be cowered by misogynist fanaticism which seeks to reverse women's liberation.
Kathleen Barry, Ph.D.
Feminist, Human Rights Activist
Santa Rosa, CA
A 64 year old retired woman who remembers the days of coat hangers and backroom abortions and who says WE ARE NEVER GOING BACK!
Rhoda
Oak Park, IL
Fetuses are NOT babies. Abortion is NOT murder. Women are NOT incubators.
Matthew
Cancer Geneticist, Lovell, ME
You cannot end abortion with legislation; you can only end safe abortions.
Rebecca
RN, Portland, OR
One's body is one's own. No questions, no exceptions.
Kevin
Retailer, West Hartford, CT
Stop the war on women.
Franklin
Health Care, Iowa City, IA
I believe every woman should have the freedom to make whatever decision best suits her life and circumstances.
Jennifer
Mother, Sister, Daughter
Moorhead, MN
Women are not breeding animals to be forced to carry children to term is they do not wish to. Period.
Ray
Disabled – Computer Tech
Decatur, GA
We need to fight those who are fighting for a fetus' squatter rights in a woman's body!
Ian
Student, Fredericton, NB
Canada
We're all better off when we're ALL better off.
Mark
Anti-theist, Richfield, MN
thank you!
Karen
Business Owner
Bainbridge IS, WA
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
Beth
RETIRED OLD LADY
New Port Richey, FL
Women have the right to control their own bodies. End of story.
Zale
Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
Nanaimo, BC
I am personally committed to a woman's right to control her reproductive life.
Mary
Editor, Freelance
Middleboro, MA
Fetuses are NOT babies.
Abortion is Not murder.
My body is NOT yours to control.
Marcia
Disabled, Moscow, PA
Fetuses are NOT babies. Abortion is NOT murder. Women are NOT incubators.
Pat
Retired, Richmond, VA
The right of the individual woman must come first.
Anne
Registered Nurse
Walled Lake, MI
I could not have said it better. Thank you.
Emily
Educator, New York, NY
Our government should make no law regarding a person’s right to contraception, abortion or reproduction.
Kevin
IT Consultant, Cincinnati, Ohio
Sovereignty over your own body is a fundamental human right. A clump of cells is not a person. Abortion should be legal, safe, affordable, and accessible everywhere.
Leah
Author, Chicago, IL
Keep speaking out!
Lynda
Retiree, Northville, MI
Very tired of the War Against Women; in general, going backward; and the growing inequality amongst states.
Caroline
RETIRED, Somerville, MA
I fully support this cause
Soumita
Mother, Arvada, CO
Emancipation now!
Tina
Salem, OR
I had an abortion, I consider it the most responsible thing I've ever done.
Carol
Retired, Oak Valley, NJ
Self directed women because I had access to safe and afforable abortions and a very proud aunt of my lovely neice who deserves the same.
Leanne
San Leandro, CA
A woman's right to chose is fundamental.
Earl
Youth Director, Lakewood, OH
'The government has no right to determine who comes into or out of my body'
(Grace Slick/Jefferson Airplane)
Sweet Grass
Teacher/Feminist/Parent/
Caregiver, Berkeley, CA
Nosotras parimos, nosotras decidimos!
Angelina
Theatre Artist, Chicago, IL
I want abortion to be free and available when a woman decides she needs to have an abortion.
Heloise
Retired, Brooklyn, NY
A woman's body belongs to herself and herself alone. This is the most basic right of self-determination, and cannot be compromised.
Rebecca
Legal Clerk, Minneapolis, MN
It's about human rights. Period.
Theresa
Irvine, CA
If you were ever loved by a woman, as a man, you should show some type of support.
Isaac
San Antonio, Texas
Not the church, not the state, women will decide their fate!
Netiya
Student & Volunteer with the Illinois Choice Action Team
Chicago, IL
Student and young woman who won't allow the government to regulate my body.
Arial
Starke, Florida
Women should have - and deserve - control over their own bodies . They don't need politicians to dictate what they should and shouldn't do!
Micki
Pro-Choice, Feminist, Activist
Burlington, Ontario
I'm ready to fight the war on women. It's gone far enough. Let's go!
Matthew
Columbia Heights, MN
My body, my choice.
Karen
New York, NY
Supporting the right to an abortion and the Stop Patriarchy Abortion Rights Caravan.
Lori
Middletown, NY
I will pass this on to my daughters and the other women in my life. Thank you for helping us and encouraging us to not back down!
Lauraine
Albuquerque, NM
And I thought the Pope was an asshole!
Stanley
Mt. Vernon, Ohio
I pledge. I don't want my daughter or niece to grow up in a world that is back tracking into the dark ages.
Jamie
Bedford, Texas
Women are not farmed animals to be subjected to mandated pregnancy.
Elaine
Fort Bragg, CA
Women have a right to decide if and when they will have children in order to choose their own destiny.
Halli
Bernalillo, NM
Artist, illustrator, pissed off woman who is sick of these powerful men telling us we must give birth!
Margot
Montesano, WA
We are DONE with being oppressed, these are OUR bodies!
Lisa
Sahuarita, AZ
Please stop the reversal of abortion rights.
Gaylen
Colfax, CA
Hatred of women by religions, government, corporations,..... must end.
Jerome
Retired – Fed Gov, Tempe
Would love more information on how to get involved with the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride.
Laura
Member of Peoria NOW
Peoria, IL
I support women's choice without judgment.
Jennifer
Fashion, New York, NY
Social worker, mother and feminist seeking to restore women's rights and protect freedom of choice!
Gisella
Martinez, CA
I had an abortion and am THRIVING
Katie
Austin, Texas
As a 71 year old woman, I've watched women's rights go forward and now backwards once again. Good luck fighting the ignorance that now reigns in America.
Colleen
Retired Business Owner
Anchorage, Alaska
Each person has the right to control her own body, and why we continually cede that control to others, instead of fighting the attempt with every breath we take is mind boggling!!
Dannie
Attorney, Tallahassee, FL
I believe in a woman's right to choose what care, medical practices, attention or procedures she prefers, just as I believe in the same rights for a man.
Michael
Citizen, Petrolia, CA
I am not an incubator. I am not my husband's property. I am not here solely to have children. I am myself, I want to live the way I want, and being forced to have children is a crime against my autonomy. No woman should be forced to have a child she doesn't want, for whatever reason she doesn't want it.
Meg
Child-Free Woman
Florence, KY