January 22, 2013 - Day Two
SF Bay Area Actions for Week of Action to Defend Abortion & Defeat the War on Women
January 23, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Stop Patriarchy Bay Area January 22, 2013, Press Conference to call people into the streets to counter the 'Walk for Life' (Walk for Forced Motherhood)
Stop Patriarchy Bay Area delivered a powerful, visual press conference in front of City Hall to call people into the streets to counter the “Walk for Life” (Walk for Forced Motherhood) on Saturday. While the statement below was delivered, two women stood in chains with bright orange “A”s emblazoned on their chests to symbolize the shame and stigma heaped on women for exercising the fundamental right of getting an ABORTION. At the end of the statement, they proudly “broke the chains,” broke their silence, and raised signs demanding “Abortion on Demand & Without Apology!”
About 25 to 30 supporters, onlookers, and media – including TV Channels 7 (ABC), 2 (Fox), 5 (CBS), a Reuters photographer, KTSF a Chinese-language TV station, and two other Chinese language news outlets, including www.chinapressusa.com. (Links to press coverage below).
Youtube of action: http://youtu.be/v7T2oDqankI
After the action some people headed to SF City College to build for the protest on Jan 26, while another organizer rushed over to KPFA radio for an in studio interview. Her interview, along with an extensive interview of Sunsara Taylor direct from Washington DC was played on the Flashpoints program, hosted by Dennis Bernstein, at 5pm and heard by 10's of thousands across northern California.
At press conference, two women stood in chains with bright orange “A”s emblazoned on their chests to symbolize the shame and stigma heaped on women for exercising the fundamental right of getting an ABORTION. At the end of the statement, they proudly “broke the chains,” broke their silence, and raised signs demanding “Abortion on Demand & Without Apology!”
That night at Revolution Books 25 people, including some coming to the bookstore for the first time, came to a meeting to talk about the need for massive resistance to stop the war on women and defend the right to choose, and to organize for the Saturday actions. Following a presentation from Stop Pornography and Patriarchy, people kicked around experience and ideas for mobilizing people and bringing forward a new core of people to take on the woman haters marching on Saturday.
(And after the meeting we learned that the Pope himself will be sending a special message to this march for patriarchy and the enslavement of women: http://www.walkforlifewc.com/
"We are thrilled and honored to be able to announce that Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States will be attending the Walk for Life West Coast on January 26 and reading a message from Pope Benedict XVI!"
* * * * *
STATEMENT FROM StopPatriarchy.ORG
Read at protest action / press conference on steps of SF City Hall:
A woman who is forced to bear a child against her will, under ANY circumstances, is a woman ENSLAVED. ENDING the SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN is what the battle for abortion rights, and birth control, is about.
Abortion has never been more stigmatized, more difficult to access, and more dangerous to provide at ANY POINT in the last FORTY YEARS, than it is RIGHT NOW. Abortion providers are UNDER SIEGE by a combination of violent attacks, including assassinations of doctors and assaults on clinics. VICIOUS laws make abortion impossible to get for MILLIONS of women and subject women to humiliating, unnecessary procedures like invasive vaginal ultrasounds.
All around the world, there is a war on women, and the battle for abortion rights is CRITICAL to breaking ALL the chains that oppress women. People need to take to the streets and FIGHT for abortion on demand and without apology.
It is time for massive and uncompromising struggle. THIS SATURDAY the woman-hating movement, the Walk for “Life”, will descent on San Francisco. We will confront them, and anyone who hates the idea of women in shackles around the world, needs to join us.
At 10am on Saturday at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco (marching to Powell & Market at noon)
At Noon on Saturday at UN Plaza (near Civic Center) in SF
And most importantly, at 1pm at Powell & Market to confront the so-called “Walk for Life”
To quote Sunsara Taylor, initiator of this new movement to STOP PATRIARCHY, “people need to WAKE UP. We are going to have to GET OUT IN THE STREETS and RELY ON OURSELVES if we are going to TURN THIS TIDE.”
Fetuses are NOT babies. Women are NOT incubators. Abortion is NOT murder. BREAK THE CHAINS!
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PRESS COVERAGE
* NBC Nightly [National] News tonight included footage of SPP protest in DC and of Sunsara confronting antis:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/50554667#50554667
* KPFA extensive interview with Sunsara Taylor and Alex of Bay Area Stop Patriarchy about protest: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/88265 (Also attached)
* Channel 2 Oakland coverage of today's protest / press conference:
http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/san-francisco-demonstration-marks-40th-anniversary/vn3jd/
* Reuters photos of protest:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=8964100
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-abortionbre90l0qn-20130122,0,6239713.story
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