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   Vol. 68/No. 5           February 9, 2004  
 
 
Build March for Women’s Lives
(editorial)
 
We urge our readers to throw themselves energetically into building the April 25 March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C. The main point of the action is to defend women’s right to choose abortion. The right of a woman to control her reproductive functions, her own body, is a precondition to equality. It strengthens women’s ability to fully participate as equals on the job and in their unions fighting the bosses’ drive to squeeze more profits from working people through speedup and divide-and-rule discrimination.

Defending this right is a class question and an obligation of all working people.

Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision decriminalizing abortion, a woman’s right to choose has come under sustained attack by successive Democratic and Republican administrations on the state and federal levels. The recent congressional vote, with strong bipartisan support, to outlaw a specific procedure used in late-term abortions is part of the 30-year campaign to whittle away at the availability of abortion, particularly for working-class women. Emboldened by its passage, various opponents of abortion rights have announced plans to push for an array of anti-abortion legislation.

Like the defeat of Jim Crow segregation against Blacks—a victory won through a mass movement of working people—the Roe v. Wade decision was secured through massive protests of men and women in the streets. And just as the resistance by Blacks beat back night-riding lynch mobs, mobilizations by women and their supporters pushed back the violent campaign by reactionary opponents of abortion rights to shut down abortion clinics—a campaign that included bombings, arson, blockades, and murders of abortion providers.

The time is right for another major mobilization. Get involved in building the April 25 march now! (For more information see www.marchforwomen.org).
 
 
Related articles:
Pro-choice rallies mark Roe v. Wade anniversary  
 
 
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