Historic Abortion Rights Freedom Ride
July 23 - August 25, 2013

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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

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BAsics 3:22

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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....

Read the Call!

 

 

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

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  • 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.

Read more


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..."

Read more


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.

Read more


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.

Read more

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

 

 

Photos and Videos

Updated August 29, 2013

If Women Are Not Free, Then No One Is Free

Abortion Rights Freedom Ride stop in Charlotte, North Carolina

Rally in Charlotte, NC

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.

Rally in Charlotte, NC
Signing banner in Charlotte, NC

Abortion Rights Freedom Ride’s last days in Jackson, Mississippi

Abortion Rights Freedom Ride rally 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 Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic

Defending the last remaining clinic in Jackson, MS.

Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Greeted in Jackson, August 15

Abortion Rights Freedom Ride greeted in Jackson, MS

Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Stops at Dr. Carhart's Clinic in Omaha, August 7

Nebraska clinic
Nebraska clinic

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