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St. Cloud State University
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Thousands rally for abortion rights
Published:
Monday, April 26, 2004
Anastasia Ustinova and Alison Young
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- In what may have been one of the largest rallies in the history of the women's movement, hundreds of thousands of marchers streamed down Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue Sunday, chanting and waving signs supporting abortion rights.
There were no official estimates of the size of the crowd, but the rally was huge, with people filling the grassy lawn of the National Mall from the Washington Monument to the Capitol. Organizers put attendance at one million people. Washington and U.S. Park police declined to estimate the size of the crowd.
Gloria Steinem, the feminist writer and activist, called the march "the biggest in the history of the women's movement in this country," saying the turnout was far larger than a similar march in 1992 attended by an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people.
Most of the marchers were female and young, but there were a few male supporters and a sprinkling of Hollywood celebrities. Many traveled to Washington by the busload from across the country.
March organizers said their goal was to spotlight the importance of a wide range of reproductive health issues for women in the United States and abroad: Sex education, access to birth control and prenatal care and social policies that provide child care and job training to women with children.
But it was clear that many came out of concern that retirements from an aging Supreme Court might allow a re-elected President Bush to appoint new justices who might overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the United States three decades ago.
In addition to placards endorsing abortion rights, many marchers sported signs and buttons endorsing the presidential candidacy of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
"We are here because we're fed up with the U.S. policies that are so anti-women. We are not going to take it anymore," Steinem said. "We are going to take back our country one more time."
That theme was repeated in variation by people from across the United States, as well as other countries.
Charlotte Kish, 71, of Detroit, Mich., who came with a group called "Raging Grannies," recalled that before the abortions were legalized nationwide, Michigan residents had to travel to a clinic in New York.
"Now our right to choose is gradually deteriorating again," Kish said. "I am marching because this administration's policies are against justice."
Barbara Rose, 49, a Planned Parenthood counselor from San Jose, Calif., said she was marching because of her daughter, Kate, 23.
"She may now have to fight for her reproductive freedom," Rose said, hugging Kate. "But this rally is the best education for her."
Abortion-rights advocates say they are particularly concerned about the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which grants a fetus legal rights, and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which criminalizes a medical procedure used after the first trimester, both signed into law by President Bush.
About 1,000 anti-abortion protesters spread themselves along Pennsylvania Avenue, holding photos of fetuses and signs saying abortion is murder. Confrontations between the two sides were emotional, but largely peaceful.
By late afternoon, U.S. Park Police had made 17 arrests: One person for disorderly conduct for throwing paint-filled eggs at marchers and 16 members of the Christian Defense Coalition for demonstrating without a permit in an area reserved for rally participants.
In front of the White House Visitors Center, Mary Kay Brown of Pittsburgh held a 5-foot-tall color photo of a fetus under the banner "8th Week of Life." From among the thousands of marchers surging past, Lori Falk of Milwaukee, Wis., stopped to wave her pro-choice signs in front of Brown's photo.
"I had an abortion myself many years ago. I'm one of the people they hate," said Falk, a 47-year-old business writing consultant. "I'm very worried about the Supreme Court justices approaching retirement."
Then Falk moved on, as the crowd chanted, "Pro-life, that's a lie. You don't care if women die."
Brown, a 41-year-old emergency room nurse, said she felt compelled to make the five-hour bus ride to make sure Sunday's rally wasn't completely one-sided. "We're outnumbered," she said. "But it's important to be here. I've seen too many women hurt by abortion."
A few blocks down the street, Randall Terry, president of the anti-abortion Society for Truth and Justice and founder of the anti-abortion Operation Rescue, stood atop Freedom Plaza and -- with the help of loudspeakers -- told marchers they should be ashamed: "Remember, Adolph Hitler had big crowds in the 1930s."
Throughout the day, speakers urged marchers to use the power of their vote to preserve abortion rights.
"There were 50 million women in our country eligible to vote who did not vote in the 2000 election," said U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who was greeted with roars of support from the crowd. "When you go home, between now and the election, I want you to start asking people around you if they're registered to vote."
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