>
> 1,150,000 March on Washington, D.C. to Voice
Opposition to Government
> Attacks on Women's Reproductive Rights and Health
>
> Sunday April 25, 4:43 pm ET
>
> Official Crowd Count Largest Ever for Women's Rights
Rally in The
> Nation's Capitol
>
> WASHINGTON, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated
1,150,000 descended
> on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. today to
give an urgent
> wake-up call to government leaders and the
nation-women's lives are
at
> risk and lawmakers stop intruding on a woman's right
to access
critical
> reproductive health services and make deeply
personal decisions about
> her health and life.
>
> The March for Women's Lives was led by seven
organizing groups:
> American Civil Liberties Union, Black Women's Health
Imperative,
> Feminist Majority, NARAL Pro-Choice America,
National Latina
Institute
> for Reproductive Health, National Organization for
Women and Planned
> Parenthood Federation of America.
>
> Following are highlights excerpted from remarks
given by the
> organization's leaders at the March:
>
> "The government does not belong in our bedrooms. It
does not belong
in
> our doctors' offices. It does not belong in the bank
accounts of
> innocent Americans, and should not have the power to
monitor their
> e-mail, or track their bookstore purchases, or
scrutinize the books
> they check out of local libraries," said Anthony D.
Romero, executive
> director of the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU). "Our
fundamental
> right to privacy is under serious attack by this
government."
>
> "This historic march is sending an unmistakable
message: women's
rights
> and women's lives are non-negotiable," stated
Eleanor Smeal,
president
> of the Feminist Majority. "We are building an
expanded and inclusive
> movement that will make women's reproductive
rights-just like social
> security-a third rail of politics."
>
> "My friends -- make no mistake. There is a war on
choice. We didn't
> start it, but we are going to win it!" said Gloria
Feldt, president
of
> Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "They're
not just after
> abortion rights. This is a full-throttle war on your
very health-on
> your access to real sex education, birth control,
medical privacy,
and
> life-saving research."
>
> "My greatest wish is that there would never be
another political
debate
> about the right to choose," said Kate Michelman,
president of NARAL
> Pro-Choice America. "But history teaches us that
every right-no
matter
> how basic-is always at risk. And I'm confident that
the young people
> who have lead this march today will lead our
movement in a new wave
of
> activism that will keep the right to choose alive
for the next
> generation."
>
> "This March is a giant wake up call," said Kim
Gandy, president of
the
> National Organization for Women (NOW). "We won't go
back to 1968 when
> women couldn't buy birth control; we won't go back
to 1972 when women
> were dying from illegal abortions. We're marching
for our rights
before
> it's too late."
>
> "The reproductive health of Black women is in a
state of crisis.
Black
> women are suffering and dying too often, too soon
and needlessly,"
said
> Dr. Lorraine Cole, president and CEO of the Black
Women's Health
> Imperative. "When we leave here today, let's turn
pain into promise,
> let's turn promise into partnership and let's turn
partnership into
> power."
>
> "We demand an end to coercive and punitive policies
that prevent us
> from making informed decisions about our health, our
lives and our
> futures!" said Silvia Henriquez, executive director
of the National
> Latina Institute of Reproductive Health. "We
envision a day when no
> Latina will live in a climate of fear and
oppression, when every
person
> has access to comprehensive and affordable health
care. That is
> reproductive justice!"
>
> Using standard crowd estimate methods, March
participants were
counted
> in designated grids on the National Mall, which are
designed to hold
a
> predetermined number of people. The March also
verified this count by
> assigning 2,500 volunteers to stand at key entry
points to the March
> area and at bus drop-off locations and count people
by placing March
> stickers on participants as they entered these entry
points.
>
> For more information on the March for Women's Lives,
visit:
> www.marchforwomen.org
>
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