|
Randolph resident rallies for women’s issues at Capitol
By CYNTHIA D. TROMBLEY, The Randolph Reporter, 04/28/2004
RANDOLPH TWP – The township was well-represented among the 800,000 who demonstrated in Washington, D.C. on Sunday for women’s reproductive rights.
Township resident Susan Waldman of the Morris County Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), joined in the massive demonstration titled, “March for Women’s Lives.”
The march was led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the Feminist Majority, NARAL-Pro-Choice America, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, NOW and The Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Waldman, the current fundraising vice president and former president of the local NOW chapter, said in an interview that the purpose of the march was to publicize women’s rights.
“The motto is “Choice, Justice, Access, Health, Abortion, Global, and Family Planning.” It’s not just about abortion.” Waldman said.
Opposes Bush
She expressed her dissatisfaction with the direction of the current Bush administration and her hopes that the march would provide evidence of the overwhelming number of citizens who feel similarly.
“George Bush is a scourge on the country,” she said. “He has not performed competently in any area; the economy, environment, foreign relations, and of course all of the things he’s done that affect women.”
Waldman cited widespread evidence of the erosion of women’s rights, as viewed by NOW, under the Bush administration, including recent Supreme Court nominations.
“People have a real pie-in-the sky attitude,” she said. “Even if they’re pro-choice, they say “It’ll never happen, they’ll never overturn Roe Vs. Wade.” These people are in denial. There are so many anti-choice judges in the court of appeals.”
Waldman cited further issues of divergence between NOW and current policy.
“One of the first things Bush did was to reinstate the gag rule that Regan had initiated, which was repealed under Clinton,” she said. “This disqualifies any international group applying for U.S. funds if abortion is even mentioned. The third world is in desperate need of family planning. There are women dying; they can’t get competent medical care. So far they’ve withheld $34 million from the United Nations, including HIV and AIDS education, birth kits, and contraceptive information.”
The American demonstrators were joined by representatives from nearly 60 other countries, according to published reports.
Waldman also called for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve over-the-counter sales of the so-called “morning after pill,” which is manufactured under various brand names, such as Plan B, Ovral, and Preven Emergency Contraceptive Kit. The pill, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, is currently available without prescription in 38 countries outside the U.S.
According to published reports, industry sources estimate that emergency contraception prevents 1.7 million unwanted pregnancies in the U.S. each year.
Waldman explained the importance of a status change for the pill.
“It’s effective for up to 72 hours, even up to 105 hours,” she said. “We’re fighting to have all emergency rooms have the pill available for rape victims. Catholic hospitals don’t offer it; they have to refer these women elsewhere. The panel that studied the pill overwhelmingly recommended that the pill be offered over the counter, but it’s been stalled since February because of pressure from the Bush administration.”
There were reports that a contingent of physician members of NOW was present at the March for Women’s Lives, who were determined to commit an act of civil disobedience by illegally distributing the pill and providing prescriptions to anyone requesting them, but Waldman said she was unaware of their presence.
She did, however, note the presence of representatives of the anti-abortion movement.
“They weren’t as big a force as they’d said they were going to be,” said Waldman after the conclusion of Sunday’s march. “They were sort of strung out in bunches behind barricades. People from the march stood amongst them, so there weren’t really any big groups.”
Although Sunday’s March may not have demonstrated tremendous support for the national anti-abortion movement, Marie Tasy, director of public and legislative Affairs for The New Jersey “Right to Life” organization had a very different view of the outlook of contemporary women.
“I think that they’ve lost the argument,” she said in an interview prior to Sunday’s march, referring to the pro-choice contingency. “Women of today know that they can have equality without destroying human life. They’re (NOW) full of slogans and rhetoric and no substance.”
Tasy was skeptical that the turnout for the march would be as great as that predicted by sponsors of the demonstration.
“I don’t believe it, it’s all hype,” she said. “But you have to remember, it’s not exclusively a pro-abortion march. I was just in Washington, and I saw stickers all around from other groups they may get to join them. And they have Hollywood celebrities that will draw a lot of attention, though they can’t claim exclusive control over Hollywood any more. But I highly doubt they’ll have the numbers they’ve been talking about.”
“They’re losing support among women. These groups have been exposed as radicals. The NOW group is unsympathetic, they offer no support to women who’ve had abortions. Pro-life offers support before, during and after.
“And they oppose the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. This highlights how extreme and out of touch with today’s women they are. I think it’s a big thrust before the presidential election.”
In contrast, Waldman described the event as “fabulous.”
“There were everything from strollers, to people in their 70s,” she said.
Her husband, Ned Waldman, 72, joined his wife for the march.
The march ran for approximately three hours and Waldman described the throng as so immense that it was impossible to do anything other than shuffle slowly as the demonstration progressed from Constitution to Pennsylvania Ave. Demonstrators carried signs bearing slogans such as “No choice, No Freedom, Know Choice, Know Freedom,” and chanting “Back alleys no more, abortion rights from rich to poor.”
Waldman’s sign said simply ‘George Bush, You’re Fired.”
The state of New Jersey was well represented, she said.
“Rutgers actually wound up with 12 buses full of students, not the 10 they’d anticipated,” she said.
She described the diverse crowd.
“There were a lot of men there; it wasn’t all women. And I was really happy to see that there were a lot of women of color there. It’s the first major rally sponsored by the NAACP. I’ve participated in a lot of marches, and this is the first time I’ve seen these numbers,” Waldman said.
“It was very, very peaceful,” she said. “And very serious. Sometimes kids get carried away at these things, but there wasn’t any of that. You could see that everyone was very serious about the issue.”
Waldman concluded, “This is about the young people; it’s really their fight. At my age, I’m not going to need emergency contraception. It’s their lives that are going to be affected.”
©Recorder Newspapers 2004
|
