WUNRN
http://www.jofreeman.com/photos/MFWL.html
USA – WOMEN’S HISTORY – WE AS WOMEN CONTINUE TO MARCH FOR OUR RIGHTS!
THE MARCH FOR WOMEN’S LIVES – APRIL 25, 2004
On
Sunday, April 25, 2004, 1.15 million people converged on the Washington, DC
Mall in the largest march on Washington in U.S. history.
Called
the March for Women's Lives, this was the first march focused on women's
reproductive freedom since 1992. When half a million marched that year, it was
declared one of the largest political events in the city's history. The numbers
had jumped considerably since 80,000 Marched for Women's Lives in 1986, and
300,000 marched in 1989.
Although
the name was the same, and abortion was still the primary issue, the number of
sponsors and the number of themes was vastly expanded over previous years. In
addition to the National Organization for Women and NARAL Pro-Choice America,
which has organized pass marches, they included the Feminist Majority, the
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood, the
American Civil Liberties Union and the Black Women's Health Imperative. Themes
included women's health, access to contraception, sex education, and global
family planning.
March
organizers, primarily working through the Feminist Majority, spent the last
year mobilizing people to come to Washington, intending that sheer numbers
should "send a wake-up call" that women's rights were being eroded.
They succeeded, filling buses and trains with people who came to vote with
their feet.
People
came and went all day. Some had arrived in Washington well in advance and were
on the Mall at 6:00 a.m. when volunteers were given their tasks. Others went to
breakfast events before walking down to find their place in the organizational
grid. Locals came after church with their friends, or brought their children
after soccer practice.
Swirling
crowds filled the Mall between 3th St. and 14th St. for the morning and
afternoon rallies. In between, most participants marched across the Ellipse
before turning onto Pennsylvania Avenue and regarthering on the Mall. Since the
street and park in front of the White House is closed, march organizers chose
this route so marchers could be seen from the back of the White House.
President Bush left town for the weekend.
On
Pennsylvania Avenue about 300 pro-life demonstrators, wearing blue T-shirts
that said Operation Witness, stood along the sidewalk while chanting and
holding posters in opposition to abortion. A police barricade and a few
officers separated them from the marchers. Although the police presence was very
light for Washington marches, there were no incidents, even when pro-choice and
pro-life demonstrators occupied the same sidewalks with their signs. A few
members of the Christian Defense Coalition were arrested when they ignored
warnings to return to their designated demonstration area. Words were the
weapons in this battle of the culture war. Opponents of a woman's right to
choose have made an annual pilgrimage up Washington streets around January 23
to protest Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court's decision which legalized most
abortions.
While all
large marches are organized chaos, this was one of the most carefully
choreographed marches in memory. Delegations and groups were assigned places in
a grid laid out on the Mall. A sea of professionally printed signs jumped and
waved above the heads of marchers. Those who brought their own banners or
personal statements were buried by the tens of thousands of hot pink Planned
Partenthood and Yellow NARAL signs in the hands of demonstrators.
Representatives from 57 countries carried their national flags in the march,
perhaps the only group that stood out among the pre-packaged signs. Photo-ops
were well staged.
While all
large marches are organized chaos, this was one of the most tightly organized
marches in memory. Delegations and groups were assigned places in a grid laid
out on the Mall. A sea of professionally printed signs jumped and waved above
the heads of marchers. Those who brought their own banners or personal
statements were buried by the tens of thousands of hot pink Planned Partenthood
and Yellow NARAL signs in the hands of demonstrators. Representatives from 57
countries carried their national flags in the march, perhaps the only group
that stood out among the pre-packaged signs.
Almost
120 speakers were squeezed into a a program that started at 10:00 a.m. on 14th
St. and finished at 5:30 on 3rd St. They ranged from the usual politicians and
entertainers to movement luminaries and ordinary activists. Some of the former
also marched behind the banner, but they weren't in the front line. The real
front line had an identical banner held up by ordinary activists. The celebrity
line was further back.
Athough
the march was officiallly non-partisan, few of the speakers or the participants
were. Issues surrounding sex -- abortion, gay rights, birth control, etc. --
have become partisan litmus tests. Those who are out of step with their party
are shunned or stay silent.
About
fifty pro-choice Republicans bravely carried their own signs and T-Shirts but
were lost in state delegations that were voting Democratic. Also hard to spot
were members of the Woman's National Democratic Club, who wore sashes
proclaiming their affiliation. At least they were lost among compatriots.
Two days
earlier Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry spoke at a support rally a
few blocks away, while a few pro-life demonstrators chanted slogans to those
going through the metal detectors. Although he did not personally march,
Kerry's pro-choice views are well known.
The
"Women for Kerry" rally was only one event among many in a five-day
festival of reproductive freedom. One could choose to work or play, protest or
lobby, march or dance, or a little of each.
A press
conference was held on Wednesday, followed by a logistics briefing. Thursday,
Planned Parenthood began its annual conference in a hotel on Dupont Circle. In
the Circle, PP sponsored booths and exhibits on Friday and Saturday. At one,
people wrote notes explaining why they were marching. At another, they could
register to vote. The DC Rape Crisis Center personed a separate both, from
which it led a rally and march on Saturday evening. Music and speakers blared
forth from a stage.
A few
blocks away the Human Rights Campaign Fund gave out its own posters linking gay
rights and reproductive choice. In the morning about 200 members of Catholics
for for a Free Choice marched on the embassy of the Vatican. Youth and Latinas
held their own meetings, while NARAL hosted a picnic. There were theater
parties and ice cream socials. A Gender Equity and Educational Achievement
Conference was held at the National Education Association headquarters all day
on Saturday. Religious services were held at the Mall on Sunday.
Saturday
night those who came early could choose from a series of receptions held
throughout Washington, some free and some paid, to both honor and celebrate the
same luminaries who graced the speaker's stand on Sunday. However, at the
receptions they were up close and personal. It's amazing that those who came
early had enough energy left to demonstrate on Sunday.
Organizers
intend that this march be only a beginning. Volunteers collected names and
addresses of everyone there willing to sign a sheet. This will make a massive
fundraising and voter mobilization list.