Save Women's Lives: March for Freedom of Choice
Statement by Kate Michelman, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
National Press Club, Washington, DC
www.marchforchoice.org Thank you all for coming this morning. I am Kate Michelman, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America and I am honored to join my colleagues in announcing the March for Freedom of Choice and our fantastic coalition partners who have rallied with us to stand up for the right to choose. Together we represent the power, the passion, and the wide diversity of people who are Pro-Choice America. Ladies and Gentlemen – these are dark days for pro-choice Americans. The chill wind that Justice Blackman predicted a decade ago is now blowing at gale force. President Bush is about to become the first President in the history of this country to sign a bill criminalizing abortion procedures. We have a razor thin margin on the Supreme Court and the possibility of at least one and maybe more vacancies. Legislation is coming fast and furious up from the states rolling back our rights. More than 335 bills have passed by the states rolling back our right to choose. If Washington politicians won’t stand up for pro-choice America and come together to protect our rights, pro-choice America will come to Washington on April 25, 2004 and stand up and be counted. We have a simple message for those anti-choice leaders who control the White House and the Congress - don’t tread on us, don’t tread on our constitutional right to choose and don’t tread on our right to privacy. How many miles must we march to protect our rights? We will not stand by silently as our rights are trampled. Pro-choice America is on the move – ready to take to the streets to protect the health, lives and safety of millions of American women. This March will tell politicians in Washington to stay out of the doctor's office, stay out of the clinics and stay out of our private medical decisions. On April 25th, 2004, pro-choice Americans will come together and save freedom of choice the same way it was won: one person, one neighborhood, one state – and eventually – one nation at a time. Throughout the coming year, my colleagues and I will travel to various parts of the country rallying support for the march and mobilizing support. Together, we pledge our resources and commitment to saving reproductive freedom, choice and the right to privacy. Women, men, families, mothers, grandfathers, nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors will march on Washington next year – their voices strong, their presence awe-inspiring, their passion renewed – President Bush will take notice, lawmakers will pay attention, anti-choice forces will be taken aback at the sheer number and determination of pro-choice Americans. Not since the ’89 Webster decision and the ’91 Clarence Thomas hearings have pro-choice Americans felt a strong, personal sense of urgency. And this march will be the visible manifestation of the power of our cause. ###
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