From the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride Advisory Board
For Women's Lives and Against McCarthyism: A Response to "United Statement Against Stop Patriarchy"
July 29, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Reposted with permission from Stop Patriarchy
July 27, 2014
As members of the Advisory Board of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride 2014: Ground Zero Texas, we strongly reject the recent ad-hominem and McCarthyite attacks and accusations leveled at the Ride and at Stop Patriarchy as unfounded and untrue. We appreciate the comments of clinic owner Diane Derzis, owner of Jackson Women’s Health in Mississippi, as quoted in the Dallas Observer:
“‘We became far too reliant upon courts to maintain the status quo, while our enemy is in the trenches with these churches raising money, raising time, electing people. Am I a communist? Absolutely not. Do I care whether someone else is? No.’ She adds: ‘I think it’s time starting thinking outside the box, because what we’ve been doing has not been working.’”
The reasons and goals for the Ride are clearly spelled out on StopPatriarchy.org and we stand by them. Reproductive rights in this country are under increasing attack and fast disappearing, leaving thousands of women and girls without access to reproductive care.
With so much on the line and the responsibility of ensuring reproductive justice for women in this country, we believe diverse ways of fighting back are necessary. Many people and groups are doing important work to address the current emergency and we applaud them. We invite anyone to join the Ride in person, or to support it in the various ways described on the website. All points of view and affiliations are welcome, no loyalty oaths are required, the only requirement is a commitment to reproductive justice!
Signed by members of the Advisory Board, Abortion Rights Freedom Ride 2014: Ground Zero Texas:
Diane Derzis, Owner of Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the last abortion clinic in Mississippi
Carol Downer, Co-Founder of the Feminist Women’s Health Center which began doing abortions in 1971
Merle Hoffman, CEO of Choices Women’s Medical Center which began doing abortions in 1971
Wendy Robinson, Director, Voice of Choice
Mary Lou Singleton, licensed midwife and nurse practitioner, Founder, Personhood for Women
Sunsara Taylor, Revolution newspaper, Stop Patriarchy, fighter for abortion rights since 1995
Note: To learn about the actual track record and achievements of the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride in the past, click here. To read “A Response to Recent Attacks and Invitation to All,” click here.
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