Abortion rights advocates hold
election year march in Trenton
By David Cho, STAFF WRITER, Star-Ledger, April 16, 2000
Holding their first statewide rally in 11 years, hundreds of pro-choice
advocates marched on the Statehouse in Trenton yesterday in an effort to give
the movement a boost before the upcoming presidential election.
Organizers said they felt no reason to stage a large-scale rally in New Jersey
until recently, when they began to sense a shift in the state Legislature's
stance on abortion.
With the presidential election less than seven months away, abortion rights
advocates said they no longer could afford to be complacent.
''It was surprising to us," said Elizabeth Volz, president of the National
Organization for Women of New Jersey, who was one of the principal organizers of
yesterday's event. "We found that many legislators were paying less
attention to pro-choice voters, even voters in their own district."
But abortion opponents said the change in the Legislature's stance proved that
more people in New Jersey -- long known as a pro-choice state -- are now
disapproving of the practice.
''We celebrate New Jersey's progress in shedding its title as one of the most
pro-abortion states in the country," said Marie Tasy, director of public
and legislative affairs for New Jersey Right to Life. "It's not that these
groups have been caught off guard. It's just that the Legislature and the people
of New Jersey have clearly rejected their hysterical abortion agenda and have
chosen a humane, common-sense approach to the abortion dilemma."
Last year the Legislature passed a bill -- signed into law by Gov. Christie
Whitman -- requiring parents to be notified if their daughter is under 18 and
plans to have an abortion.
In 1997, the Legislature passed a ban on a late-term abortion procedure called
dilation and extraction, also known as partial-birth abortion, over the veto of
Gov. Whitman. The ban was struck down by a federal court in 1998, but state
legislators appealed the decision last year. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court
agreed to take up the issue, and its ruling will determine the fate of New
Jersey's law.
What abortion rights advocates view as the legislative setbacks in New Jersey
were only briefly mentioned yesterday by the parade of two dozen speakers, whose
primary aim was to invigorate the pro-choice movement. Despite a persistent
drizzle, about 450 turned people out, chanting abortion rights mantras and
dancing to a percussion band. Many had been bused in by the New Jersey branches
of Planned Parenthood and the National Organization for Women, organizers said.
The last time pro-choice supporters in New Jersey organized a rally on the state
level was after a 1989 Supreme Court ruling in which the court signaled it would
be open to state restrictions on abortion.
Yesterday's rally was a must-attend event for many political hopefuls who are
pro-choice. Former Gov. Jim Florio and Jon Corzine, who are locked in a bitter
contest for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, reiterated their
commitment to abortion rights.
Maryanne Connelly and Michael Lapolla, both candidates for the 7th District
Congressional seat, and Susan Bass Levin, a 3rd District Congressional
candidate, also spoke about their pro-choice stances.
''We know this is going to be a key election, with every branch of the
government up for grabs," said Patricia Ireland, NOW's national president,
who was one of the keynote speakers. "The next president could appoint as
many as three Supreme Court justices, and the court is balanced with just a
5-to-4 majority in favor of abortion rights. But it's not just the presidency:
The Senate and the House will play key roles in deciding this issue."
Ireland added that NOW would continue to push on the national level and in New
Jersey for a constitutional amendment that would guarantee women's right to
abortion.
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