Originally posted January 3, 2017
The four decades since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, under administrations both Democratic and Republican, have seen a steady erosion of the ability of women to actually access the right.
Waiting periods, phony “informed consent” laws, parental notifications and the necessity to sometimes travel hundreds of miles increasingly have made abortion a “choice” available only to well-off women.
Religious conservatives have long tried to dictate how LGBTQ people control our bodies. Their assertion of control over women’s right to control their reproductive capabilities is consistent with that authoritarian construct.
Many of our gains as LGBTQ people in recent years are thanks in part to the solidarity of non-LGBTQ people who truly personified the slogan, “an attack on one is an attack on all.” They supported us not only because they supported equality, but also because they understood that an attack on one vilified group often spreads to others.
With women’s right to choose abortion possibly coming under attack by a Trump-packed Supreme Court, it is time for LGBTQs to show the same solidarity that has so often been extended to us.
Please attend this action for women’s rights:
March for Abortion Rights:
Counter Protest to March for Life
Sunday, January 15 at 1 PM – 3 PM
219 S Dearborn St, Chicago
This is a pro-choice counter protest of the largest anti-choice event in the Midwest, IL “March for Life.” Each January, right wing anti-abortion activists bus hundreds of protesters to Chicago to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. We won’t let them do so unopposed.
With rabidly anti-choice republicans about to take control of all three branches of the federal government, it is absolutely vital that we make our voices heard, loud, proud, and in public. Join us to fight for abortion rights and show that we will stand up for bodily autonomy.
We will meet across the street from Federal Plaza (where the March for Lies is being held) between 1 PM and 1:30 PM, and then march through the streets of downtown Chicago.
Organized by the Chicago Campaign to Expose Crisis Pregnancy Centers and endorsed by the Gay Liberation Network and many others. More information is available here.
And save the date for the big women’s rights marches in Chicago and DC — Saturday, January 21
The march in Chicago will begin at 10 AM at the Petrillo Bandshell in Grant Park, near the intersection of Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard. Find out more about the Chicago march here, and the Washington, DC march here.