8/27/14 Flash: Sunsara Taylor & 4 Other Abortion Rights Freedom Riders Arrested in Austin, TX
August 27, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Sunsara Taylor and four other members of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride - Ground Zero Texas 2014, were arrested on Wednesday, August 27, in Austin, Texas. Sunsara and other Freedom Riders courageously marched into the middle of Guadalupe St., bordering the campus of the University of Texas where 50,000 or so students just started class this week.
They carried banners saying “Forced Motherhood is Female Enslavement.” They wore chains, and held up bloody coathangers – an implement used for, and a symbol of dangerous self-induced abortions. They carried pictures of women who died from illegal abortions. They led chants including “Without this basic right, women can't be free! Abortion on demand and without apology!”
They challenged students and other passersby to join them, and several students did. As of this writing, Wednesday night, Sunsara and the others are in an Austin jail, charged with obstructing a freeway or passageway.
On September 1, a law that could close down all but 6 abortion clinics in Texas could go into effect. The law, HB 2, is being considered now by a federal judge in Austin following a trial early this month. As Sunsara said in a recent interview with revcom.us, this is leading to “a countdown to the most dramatic round of clinic closures to hit a single state since Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in the U.S. And the situation in Texas is a concentration of the national emergency facing women’s right to abortion.”
The action on Guadalupe St. is part of a Week of Defiance organized by Stop Patriarchy. Again, as Sunsara said, “We’re calling on everyone across the state, around the country, to join us on Ground Zero in the battle against the war on women – here in Texas. And to take action wherever they are … This is a watershed moment. What we do will have dramatic impact on how this battle unfolds. So, join with us. Step up. And act in ways commensurate with the stakes – enslavement of women or liberation of women.”
When the Freedom Riders boldly went across Guadalupe St., a chaotic, swirling scene quickly disrupted the normalcy of business as usual as far as the eye could see. Thousands of students passed through the area, hundreds gathering, listening and watching. Some were upset that their routines had been disturbed. Freedom Riders and others sharply brought out to them that they needed to get out of their complacency – the very lives of hundreds of thousands of women are at stake. Others welcomed the Freedom Riders, many expressing their support. Hostile drivers honked and inched closer and closer to the line of Freedom Riders. Some of the most belligerent got out of their cars and threatened them. But the Freedom Riders persevered for 45 minutes until a contingent of Austin police arrested them.
The daring and bravery of the Freedom Riders inspired many people in Austin, and word of this action has already begun to get out broadly, through social media and the Stop Patriarchy blog. It is the leading article on the web site of the Austin American Statesman.
The arrest of these courageous women is outrageous! They must be defended, and their actions must be emulated as part of building a broad fierce movement throughout the country that will not allow women to be pushed back to enslavement, and that is determined to rely on its own efforts to turn back the attacks on abortion rights.
Call Travis County Sherrif's Office, 512-854-9178, to demand their immediate release…
and JOIN this Week of Defiance today.
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