NOW Activists Reproducing Activism 
BY CATHERINE RICHERT

Abortion rights and birth control activists converged on Washington D.C. this Sunday to protest President Bush’s January decision to limit subsidies to international family planning agencies. Formally called The Emergency Action for Women’s Lives, the protest was led by The National Organization for Women’s Rights. The rally initiated a four-year campaign sponsored by NOW and other groups interested in the demand for and the protection of reproductive rights.

Patricia Ireland, the president of NOW, issued a “call to arms” on the NOW website in which she emphasized the danger of the complacency felt by many during Clinton’s pro-choice administration. “We simply refuse to be the generations that both win and lose the rights to birth control and abortion. We are determined not to risk a generation of women’s lives and opportunities without reproductive rights,” she wrote.
In addition to Bush’s recent repeal of international family planning subsidies, the larger threat lies in the imminent retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor this summer. Her crucial vote has upheld Roe vs. Wade since its inception, and many fear that Bush will replace her with a conservative justice who will overturn legal abortion rights. 
Another alarming action on Bush’s part, women’s rights activists say, was his appointment of Attorney General John Ashcroft. “[He] not only opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest and danger to a woman’s health, but also rejects some of the most popular and effective forms of birth control,” Ireland said of Ashcroft. 

Several Oberlin students joined the ranks of protestors on Sunday. Sophomore Marian Runk described the rally as “a sort of gathering of troops. It was a good place to make connections between nationwide organizations and groups concerned with reproductive freedom and for individuals to connect with other individuals and organizations devoted to fighting this fight.” 

According to the students who attended the protest, the crowd was made up of people from all backgrounds and age groups. “It was nice to see that women and men of our generation and privilege who take the legality of abortion for granted recognize the precariousness of this right under Bush,” junior Emma Cott said.
Marching alongside Senior Erin Livensparger, an older woman told her she was “marching for us [our generation] because reproductive rights no longer affected her biologically but were still important.”
Livensparger added that the response from people on the streets not involved in the rally was positive, and many onlookers joined the march. However, “there were those stock anti-choicers out there holding their internet photos of lasagna that are meant to look like mangled fetuses,” Cott said. “A lot of D.C. residents did not know about the rally, since it had been poorly publicized. People were surprised to see our posters and stickers and buttons and asked where the protest was taking place.”

Runk also noticed the myriad age groups represented at the rally. “Many of the speakers at the rally emphasized that they refuse to be the generation to both win and lose Roe v. Wade, which shows pretty clearly that many of the women who fought the fight for reproductive rights the first time around find themselves frustrated to be having to do it again,” she said.
The students attending the rally stressed that reproductive and abortion rights affect both men and women alike. If abortions are made illegal, many women and men could be left taking care of a child that they cannot support financially or emotionally. Livensparger said this issue especially affects Oberlin and the surrounding communities. “There is little to no funding for resources to raise children in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County so what are these families to do if there were no legal abortions?” she asked. Additionally, she sees a risk that the government would cut funding to any clinic that provides abortion information or education. “In many cases these are free clinics or community clinics. Women in the community may not have access to gynecological health because funding will be cut,” she said. 
As demonstrated from this protest, the fight for reproductive rights is far from over. For the next four years while Bush is in office, NOW and other groups supporting reproductive rights will continue to stage rallies in the capital and lobby to oppose anti-choice policies. Livensparger said the protest in Washington was an excellent way to start off the campaign as it “was an initial step to getting people fired up for choice again.”