Women's March
Ok, so there was this march thing going on this past Saturday.... One or two of you may have heard about it. On April 28th of this year, women and men marched--locally, at their state capitols, all over the country. Signs, speakers, the whole rally shebang. I got involved through FB (god bless social media) and somehow ended up as one of the speakers.
The home page is UniteWomen.org, but just a little googling or nosing around on Facebook, you'll find several information sites about this.
I'm sure that some people viewed this as others have viewed the Occupy movement--as being unfocussed in a goal. Well, the goal seems to me to be pretty obvious: quit with all these laws against half the country. If you're saying there's no War on Women, you're deluded, uninformed, or it's in your best interests to collude. I'm not going to sugarcoat it or be apologetic and meek.
I was lucky enough to ride up with Kari Ann Rinker, one of the rally organizers, and other women from Wichita and the surrounding area. It felt so good to be with like-minded people once more--since I left my job at the clinic, the only time I've spent time with people so politically minded was when I attended WisCon a few times.
So, here's what I said (more or less, I did a minute bit of extemporizing) at the rally on the steps of the Kansas state capitol, in Topeka.
Hi. My name is Marguerite Reed, and I worked at Women's Health Care Services in Wichita from 1995 to 2007.
In 1995, when I first went to work for Dr Tiller, abortion was mostly an abstract concept for me. I'd counter-protested for a day during the so-called Summer of Mercy in 1991, but I was more concerned with my upcoming wedding. Entering the world of reproductive politics was a new experience. Now I can say that after twelve years of working at the clinic--after the birth of two girl-children--after the murder of my former boss and mentor--and after seeing, my god, the use of birth control being debated, and American women's access to abortion restricted ,until we have to call it a War on Women in order to get people's attention --I'm a lot wiser, a lot sadder, and a hell of a lot more angry.
I bet a lot of you are angry too.
Why are we angry?
Well, we're angry that state legislatures across this country have been introducing bill after bill after bill designed to restrict, limit, and eliminate the providing of safe and legal abortions. We've all read the same news--Arizona, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Virginia, and on and on--did you know that in the first 3 months alone of this year, legislators in 45 states introduced how many provisions concerning reproductive rights? 944! Last year, legislators in ALL states offered up 1100 provisions! Over a thousand!
I mean, I know this is an election year, but it really seems as if the anti-choice folks had a secret villains convention at their league of doom headquarters!
So, what are these provisions? Let's take a look: Some of these are straight out bans--no abortions past a set amount of weeks. Some legislators have been proposing the removal ofexceptions for rape, incest, or endangerment to the mother's health. Other bans have come under the heading of “personhood bills”--bills that define a human being as existing from the moment of fertilization.
What else are we looking at? Increased waiting periods. “Yes, Mr. Firefighter, I'm in a burning house and I'd like to be rescued.” “No, ma'am, you need to wait at least 24 hours in between my telling you all about the possible side effects of being rescued from a burning building, and then actually being rescued.” The insane ultrasound requirements. State by state limitation of insurance coverage of abortion. Increased standards required of abortion clinics--not about increasing safety or medical efficiency--but about making it more and more difficult for abortion providers to be allowed to operate.
I could go on, but I believe the majority of you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's become so egregious--and obvious--that one of the panels I'm going to be on at a science fiction convention next month is called “America Without Roe vs Wade.” And it's not about the future. It's about what's going on in this country right now.
For all intents and purposes, it seems that, right now, it doesn't matter whether or not Roe V Wade is overturned. It seems that as long as it remains part of US law, that the anti-woman politicians think we won't notice the practical removal of abortion rights. And that's what really disturbs me. Yes, I'm enraged and terrified that my friends and my daughters may not have reproductive freedom when they need it--but--my deepest concern is--
What does this onslaught of propositions and provisions tell us? Given the lack of respect these legislators have for women, for half the population of this country, can you imagine what comes next? What comes after we have no access to abortion, no access to contraception? What happens after they strip you, your sisters, your friends, your daughters, your granddaughters of the ability to choose when to be a mother? Of the ability to decide on your own health care? Of knowing what's best for yourself?
What are they gonna take away next?
I've seen signs around saying “I can't believe I'm still fighting for this.” Our grandmothers can't believe we're still fighting for this.
If we don't make a stand now, here, it's not just our grandmothers we'll be letting down. It's all the sons and daughters of this country--of this planet--who will have to fight--who will have to die--to win the battles we thought were over.
The place where we spoke from, about the middle of the steps in front of the capitol building--there's a landing there--seemed to be pretty high up. And a steep pitch, too. That made me a little uneasy. The crowd didn't, perhaps because they were so physiclaly removed? I don't know. And also, you know, I was preaching to the choir. The Phelps bunch was out there, but only on the sidewalks lining the street--across the street--and that was maybe 300 feet or so away, if not more. On our side of the street stood a group like the Patriot Guard--it was a bunch of motorcyclists from Texas, the Journey 4 Justice. The Phelps contingent was barely noticeable, to me, anyway. Far more impressive were the women speaking, especially State Representative Gail Finney, Charles Jenney, and Michelle Cuevas-Stubblefield. To me, personally, it meant a lot that there were women of color speaking as well as a man stepping up.
We'll see how my political activity asserts itself over the coming year.
