Ready to fight for abortion rights

THE RECENT passing of House Resolution 3--also known as the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act"--should not only upset people, it should make them wonder why creating legislation that hurts women has become more important for Congress than creating jobs. This bill is one of the most aggressive anti-woman bills launched by the GOP since the original Hyde Amendment in 1976.

"This bill takes us back to a time when just saying 'no' wasn't enough to qualify as rape," says Steph Sterling, a lawyer and senior adviser to the National Women's Law Center. Laurie Levenson, a former assistant U.S. attorney and expert on criminal law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, notes that the new bill's authors are "using language that's not particularly clear, and some people are going to lose protection."

It also limits the funding for abortion during cases of rape and incest, and even in cases where the woman will die if she does not have an abortion. One can see through the bill's blurry language that it clearly has an agenda, and that is to deprive women of the right to control their bodies.

But the most important part of the bill launched by the new Congress and dubbed by the House Speaker John Boehner as a "top priority," is the pushback against it. The bill has created a catalyst for the women's rights movement to mobilize against it and organize a grassroots fight back to stop the deceptive and dangerous language being used toward women.

The Walk for Choice 2011 was a direct response to HR 3 and an international grassroots effort coordinated to stand up for Planned Parenthood as well as other abortion providers, after escalating these attacks. Walk for Choice took place in multiple cities on February 26 across the U.S. Women and their allies peacefully protested against limiting a women's right to choose and for the right to have a safe, legal abortion. Abortion is a legal procedure that saves the lives of 80,000 women each year.

In addition to being a great resource for women's reproductive health, Planned Parenthood often serves as a primary health provider for uninsured women, regardless of income. This is why it is important to stand with Planned Parenthood as it faces these attacks. It is a viscous assault on both women and their partners--and we have to see it as such.

IN A statement, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, said, "In attacking Planned Parenthood, the House Republican leadership has launched an outrageous assault on the millions of Americans who rely on Planned Parenthood for primary and preventive health care, including lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screenings, annual exams, family planning visits, birth control, HIV testing, and more."

But there is something Richards left out: Planned Parenthood's refusal to use the word "abortion" when talking when defending the use of Title X funds to provide adequate health care to those it serves. While Planned Parenthood does not use federal funds for abortion services, it is because it does provide abortions that it has become the target of this attack.

As much as we want to support the attack on Planned Parenthood the refusal to defend its services unapologetically does not help the movement. It can actually feed into the fear of defending abortion rights. We must stand our ground, and that means not giving into fear-based arguments against the rights of women. It is up to the individual woman to choose her life.

Mohini Lal, one of the organizers of the Walk for Choice in Chicago, said HR 3 threatens a woman's bodily autonomy. "The environment of political speech right now is dangerous for women," Lal said. "Women are adults and should be treated as nothing less, but the current actions of Congress threaten individual autonomy on more than a medical level."

This is why the attack on Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers puts all of our safety and health at risk.

Here in Chicago, the Walk for Choice turned out an estimated 600 people (with some reports suggesting as many as 1,000). It's hard to say exactly, because of the roving walk strategy taken by organizers, but participants included a good mixture of men and women, with a majority of young women leading.

People chanted with passion, "Gay, straight, Black, white--all unite for women's rights." Passersby were supportive, taking pictures and honking from their cars in solidarity to the protesters. Some 100 anti-choicers also made their presence known, forcing young children to attend and hold yellow balloons saying "LIFE" on them. Although the anti-choicers made their views seen and heard by praying and singing, they were unable to command the kind of presence our group did.

Handwritten messages on signs showed mixed feelings on Planned Parenthood's stance on refusing to use the word "abortion." One sign in Chicago hand painted the message, "Keep your rosaries off my ovaries."

There is no reason for any of us to feel sorry for defending the right to choose. The right wing has done a great job of fragmenting potential supporters of choice by political rhetoric and the use of words. Instead of "choice" it becomes about "the sanctity of life." But how anyone can support the "sanctity" of life if they aren't first recognizing the rights of women who are already alive?

It is ultimately immoral to not support women's self-determination over themselves. Abortion rights are a precondition to women's liberation. This is why the war on women is a threat to freedom and democracy in our country.

The Walk for Choice in Chicago was invigorating and energizing, and there was a great turnout, especially considering the 25-degree weather. People drove from as close as Champaign, Ill., and from as far away as Kentucky.

As Corrie Wetering, a registered nurse, student midwife and future abortion provider, said while speaking to the crowd, "In my lifetime there's only been an attack on abortion rights, and its time to turn that around."

There is a sense of urgency around this fightback--not only because of the right to vital health care, but also for the right to a society in which people's needs are met. People do have a say when it comes to their quality of life.

The Walk for Choice has proven that there are people that will turn out ready to fight. It has proven that change doesn't always have to happen when Congress is in session, it can come from ordinary people too.
Jovanni Flores, Chicago