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Indybay Feature

34 Years of Right to Abortion: Small Pro-Abortion & Large Anti-Abortion SF Marches

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As we celebrate 34 years of the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, on 1/20/07, in San Francisco for the 3rd year in a row, the Catholic Church sponsored a fascist march under the guise of opposing abortion with their usual 10,000 anti-science, anti-gay, anti-women idiots, escorted by the SF Democratic Party's equally fascist police, numbering in the hundreds, in full battle dress, on motorcycles, and in police vans and cars. About 1000 pro-abortion people showed up, with 100 making it to Aquatic Park. Where was the rest of San Francisco's pro-abortion community?
As we celebrate 34 years of the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, on 1/20/07, in San Francisco for the 3rd year in a row, the Catholic Church sponsored a fascist march under the guise of opposing abortion with their usual 10,000 anti-science, anti-gay, anti-women idiots, escorted by the SF Democratic Party's equally fascist police, numbering in the hundreds, in full battle dress, on motorcycles, and in police vans and cars. About 1000 pro-abortion people showed up, with 100 making it to Aquatic Park. Where was the rest of San Francisco's pro-abortion community?

Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision which we celebrate each January, guarantees a woman the right to a safe and legal abortion. The fascist movement is so strong now that 90% of US counties have no abortion clinic. Democratic Pres. Bill Clinton wanted to make abortion rare. Democratic Pres. hopeful Hillary Clinton is welcoming more anti-abortion fascists to the Democratic Party. Of course, Senators Reid, Kucinich, Kerry and others have an anti-abortion voting record already. The concentration camps exist already too. So far, the latest Hitler in the White House has obtained from Congress, Democrats & Republicans together, bills removing habeas corpus, continued torture and illegal imprisonment of people at Guantanamo and at secret prisons around the world, just like Nazi Germany. This same Hitler in the White House and his gang perpetrated the 9/11 Inside Job, the American Reichstag Fire, to promote war and fascism to maximize the profits of the capitalist class. We know who was murdered in the concentration camps, not just Jews, but trade unionists, communists, peaceniks, feminists, gay people, and any one with a decent thought in their heads.

San Francisco has almost 1,600 Peace & Freedom Party registered voters and over 12,000 Green Party registered voters. In November 2006, Peace & Fredom Party recieved from 1,900 votes for governor to 5,100 votes for Controller. The Green Party received about 13,000 votes for Governor to 19,000 votes for US Senate. Where were all these people? It was a clear sunny day, reasonably warm for January, so the weather cannot be the excuse.

Showing up for a couple peace marches per year and voting are not enough, as we all know. These anti-abortion marches have nothing to do with abortion and everything to do with establishing a fascist base right here in San Francisco. We saw San Franciscans and residents of the surrounding Bay Area counties at this anti-abortion fascist march. They were escorted by the Democratic Party's anti-abortion fascists in uniform, the San Francisco Police Department, better known locally as an important part of the Democratic Party-Chamber of Commerce-anti-rent control election fraud team to guarantee the "election" of the Democrat's reactionary candidates for mayor, as it did in 1999 and 2003, and will certainly do again this year. They became known as members of that election fraud team when the Democrats' committed massive election fraud on June 3, 1997, the 49er Stadium Swindle election. The latest infamous horror we have experienced on the part of the Democratic Party's police is their refusal to arrest wealthy thugs who viciously beat and injured Yale's singing group, the Baker's Dozen, on New Year's Eve 2006-7, causing one musician to receive a broken jaw and another, a concussion. The thugs are still at large and could attack anyone again, while hurling anti-gay epithets. Many of the San Francisco Police were clearly friends of the anti-abortion fascists, fraternizing with these anti-women fascists every chance they got.

I am proud of every single person who attended the pro-abortion march, and I especially thank the young people who came whom I hope will be there every single year the fascists march in San Francisco, as I certainly will be. Yes, I will be at the peace marches as I have been for over 50 years and voting P&F and Green in every election, and I certainly will be at the barricades, fighting fascism, to my very last breath.
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The reason few showed up is that Planned Parenthood told people to stay home and instead pledge money based on the rightwing turn out.Unbelievably stupid. But BACOR was there, including radical Women. See article below from the San Jose Mercury.

Fundraiser replaces protest for abortion-rights advocates
By Josh Richman
MEDIANEWS
Monday marks the 34th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision protecting abortion rights, and the anti-abortion "Walk for Life West Coast" will again wend through San Francisco's streets Saturday.

But rather than sponsoring a counter-protest, Planned Parenthood Golden Gate seeks to turn the event into a fund-raiser to provide vaccine for sexually transmitted human papilloma virus -- the major cause of cervical cancer -- to low-income women and girls.

"Our focus is always on prevention, preventive care, preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections," said Amy Moy, PPGG's associate vice president of public affairs, adding the group saw this "Pledge-a-Protester" drive as a way to "turn this negative event into a positive event for women's health."

Such drives have done well at other Planned Parenthood affiliates across the nation, she said, and gotten off to a good start here: "We've had a great response -- right after we sent out the initial e-mail, we had about $1,000 in one hour."

The Pledge-a-Protester drive aims to raise $450,000 to provide rounds of vaccine for 1,000 low-income women and girls.

"Walk for Life" organizers hope as many as 20,000 people might attend this year's march, starting at 11 a.m. in Justin Herman Plaza and proceeding along San Francisco's waterfront to the Marina Green.

"Walk for Life's primary goal is to reach out to women and men of all political persuasions with the message that abortion hurts all women," co-founder and co-chairwoman Eva Muntean, a San Francisco anti-abortion activist who works for a Catholic book publisher, said in a news release.

Speakers at the march will include the Rev. Clenard Childress, regional director of the Life Education and Resource Network; Carol Crossed, a national vice president of Democrats for Life; anti-abortion activist and lecturer Vera Lord; Talitha Phillips of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign; San Francisco activist Alfredo Abarca; and the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life.

Moy invited march participants to pledge money to PPGG's drive too, as disease prevention should be a goal anyone can support.

Cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer among women worldwide and causes about 4,000 U.S. women's deaths each year; it's particularly prevalent among Latina, African-American and Vietnamese women. The Food and Drug Administration in June approved an HPV vaccine for girls and women ages 9 to 26, but the three-shot HPV vaccine series costs about $450 -- often too costly for Bay Area girls and woman who live in poverty, lack health insurance or both.

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-San Jose, has introduced a bill, AB 16, requiring that the HPV vaccine be administered to girls entering the sixth grade.

The Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights will hold a more traditional counter-protest along the march route Saturday, starting at 10:30 a.m. at San Francisco's Pier 5 on the Embarcadero.

For more information on the Walk for Life, see http://www.walkforlifewc.com. For more information on Planned Parenthood Golden Gate's Pledge-a-Protester, see http://www.ppgg.org/pledge. For more information on BACORR's counter-protest, see http://www.bacorr.org.

Contact Josh Richman at jrichman [at] angnewspapers.com or (510) 208-6428.

Planned Parenthood is just a front for the Democratic Party which as is described above is not serious about supporting abortion. They are just a rich folks' charity. This is the second year that only 1,000 or less people turned out to support abortion. That is unacceptable. We cannot afford to ignore the march to fascism in this country. The lives we save will be our own.
WHAT IS TO BE DONE
1. Calendar the first week in January, preferably January 1, to send out an Email to everyone in the Bay Area you know to attend our pro-abortion march the 3rd Saturday of January, starting at Pier 5 and going to Aquatic Park. If you cannot walk that distance, you can find some point more suitable. We end our march at The Cannery, a nice place to wait, as is the rest of Fisherman's Wharf. This year, both the pro and con marches made it to Pier 39 at 1 p.m., so you can pace your participation accordingly. It was a little late, so you might get to your spot by 12 noon.
2. Remind everyone to whom you talk and with whom you correspond that on the basis of SAN FRANCISCO P&F and Green Party voter registration and voters for their candidates alone in San Francisco, we should be able to have 20,000 people marching for abortion. THAT WOULD PUT AN END TO THE FASCIST MARCHES IN SAN FRANCISCO. They thrive when we are not visible and scurry for cover, like the rats they are, when faced with a larger presence than theirs.
3. ALAMEDA COUNTY IS ALSO IMPORTANT IN THIS EFFORT. Alameda County's voter registration and votes for Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party are also impressive. The P&F's registration is almost 3,000 and the Green Party registration is almost 13,000. P&F received over 3,000 votes for Governor to 10,000 for Insurance Commissioner. The Green Party received 18,000 votes for Governor to 23,000 for Insurance Commissioner, with an impressive 20,000 each for State Controller and Attorney General.
4. THE POLICE STATE BEING SET UP IN THIS COUNTRY MUST BE OPPOSED BY EVERYONE POSSIBLE AT OUR PRO-ABORTION MARCH THE THIRD SATURDAY IN JANUARY. San Francisco and Alameda County together should be able to provide 40,000 pro-abortion marchers.
5. Tell everyone the anti-abortion march is a LOCAL EFFORT SPONSORED BY THE SAN FRANCISCO CATHOLIC CHURCH. The San Francisco Archbishop spoke at the anti-abortion rally and the signs carried by the marchers indicated they were from Marin Catholic High School and San Mateo County. The Chronicle interviewed residents of San Francisco at the fascist march. This is not some outside force at all.
6. We have the numbers and we know our people read this website and listen to KPFA (94.1 FM), but our people are complacent and not participating. They are contemplating their navel while 90% OF US COUNTIES HAVE NO ABORTION CLINIC. What are you waiting for, 100% of US Counties with no abortion clinic? That is coming very soon if you sit at home. If you did not attend, why not? Will you attend next year? Will you organize groups to take public transit to the Embarcadero BART, where this event starts? Will you organize bus caravans, car pools, bicycle teams, skate board kids, wheelchair rollers? Will you activate your Email lists the first week in January to mobilize everyone you can to attend our pro-abortion march the 3rd Saturday in January? We won Roe v. Wade with thousands in the streets, and we must defend it with the same strength. In fact, the Left today is much stronger and bigger, so there is no excuse for this fascist march occurring in San Francisco at all.
by Sean Dolan
Not only did Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights Action (action ? ) league play ostrich and not show up but where was the ever so progressive Labor movement especially the majority Women S.E.I.U. 250 , now known as Health care Workers Union ? Ignore them (the right wing clerical reactionaries )and they will go away
by Sean Dolan
To continue my post , you may ignore them (The ''Mother Church ''' organized reactionaries ) but fsar from going away they have rapidly grown , from approx. 7, 000 to maybe 20, 000 yesterday . (i disagree with the original poster . They had far more than 10, 000 and we had far less than a thousand ) Anyway we should have dwarfed them . We could have had 30, 000 to 40, 000 out yesterday . It's about time we start challenging the (mis ) leaders of the ''progressive movement '' and replace them !
The US Supreme Court could repeal Roe v. Wade at any time as it appears to have the votes to do so. The 5 to 4 vote to repeal Roe would be:
For repeal: Alito, Roberts, Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas
Against repeal: Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter and Stevens
Further, Justice Stevens has been sitting on the court since 1975 and is 87 years old this year. With the viciously reactionary Roberts as Chief Justice, it is so likely that Roe could be repealed at any time that many states, such as California, have done what they can to continue to provide abortions should Roe be repealed! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY ON OUR HANDS, AND IT HAS BEEN OBVIOUSLY AN EMERGENCY SINCE JUSTICE O'CONNOR ANNOUNCED HER RETIREMENT IN JULY 2005. And, Justice O'Connor was not the best when it came to supporting Roe v. Wade at all.

Should anyone think this alarm is somehow not coinciding with reality, let us look at the real world. Abortion is illegal in Mexico (our neighbor) as well as most of Latin America; it is only as legal as in the US in Cuba and Guyana. It is allowed only to save a woman's life (thus practically illegal) in Ireland and limited in Poland, Spain and Portugal. As of 2002, there was no abortion clinic in 86% of US counties, and it is most likely 90% by now. In Africa, abortion is illegal or severely restricted in all countries except South Africa and Tunisia where it is as legal as in the US. In the Far East, including the Middle East and Australia, with the exception of Australia, China, Japan and India, abortion is either severely restricted or illegal. The United States could easily become like Mexico or Poland or Ireland. After all, we have the lowest life expectancy and highest infant mortality in the industrialized world because we have no national healthcare system. Abortion is an integral part of women's healthcare.

We expect to see 40,000 people on the 3rd Saturday of January 2008 strongly supporting women's right to abortion. Those 40,000 people will be hearing from all of us who did show up every chance we get. We expect the entire Green Party and Peace & Freedom Party voters in the 9 counties of the Bay Area, whether or not they are members of those parties, to be at our pro-abortion march next January. We expect the entire health care professions, including doctors, nurses, technicians and all other related medical service providers, to be there with us if they want to continue to provide medical care and to continue to have science prevail over religion and all other superstitions. Defending women's right to abortion is as fundamental to our political activities as being for peace.

I URGE EVERYONE READING THIS WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE LOW TURNOUT FOR ABORTION TO REFER TO THIS CRISIS IN THEIR NEXT EMAIL TO THEIR FRIENDS ON THIS ISSUE.
by Peace and life
The original poster seems to display the regular inconsistency of pro abortion, anti war folk. I will march for peace he/she booms, but then I will support the unrestricted taking of life though abortion. Peace requires opposition to all things which kill, be it war, abortion, capital punishment or poverty. Next we had the poster asking where the unions were. I am a unionist and oppose abortion. I support workers' right in the fight against capitalism but as someone who believes in no violence must oppose abortion. It is violent. Perhaps the numbers speak for themselves. Huge numbers opposing abortion and a minority of unrepresentative groups supporting it. A reflection of society? Also, the word fascist is a little overused. Makes it kind of hard to take seriously. Yu may agree or disagree with Catholic teaching but the Catholic church is not fascist.
by Pro-Union and prochoice
Back again with that crap. You can't respect workers if you can't allow them their rights.

I'm fine with Catholics, but your church is a mess. With all the settlements for abuse cases, I'm surprised they have any money left, but they do. They represent the worst kind of theocracy: Corporate theocracy.
by JD
We will be there again next year and for as long as it takes. In the meantime, please read up on what the right wing here and abroad are trying to do in an effort to take rights away from women:

Criminalizing abortion in El Salvador:
Pro-Llfe Nation
http://tinyurl.com/yz2d99

The Right Wing War on Contraception:
Contra-Contraception
http://tinyurl.com/yh2jyc

Killing Doctors:
My Father's Abortion War
http://tinyurl.com/ymclaz

Having an abortion:
an Experience Shared Quietly
http://tinyurl.com/y9ps9c
by Hopeful for change
It is time for a new politics. Who says that left wingers support abortion and right wingers don't? This is rubbish. Some of the most vocal pro choice people are on the right and some dedicated justice campaigners oppose abortion. Abortion is not a left right issue. There are many on the left who are uncomfortable with the extremism of the abortion lobby. It is time to speak out against it and debunk the myth that abortion is about feminism. It is not. Many feminists oppose as do many unionists and activists.
by trying to re-invent themselves
Rightwingers want to call themselves progressive now? Whoa- how about that dirty word "LIBERAL"! Read it and weep "Hopeful":
Californians are prochoice. See prop 85:

ELECTION 2006
PROPOSITIONS
Prop. 85: Parental notification for abortion
STATEWIDE
100% of precincts reporting

Yes 3,035,043 45.9%
No 3,577,051 54.1%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
County % rptg Yes % No %
Alameda 100 94,390 32 197,494 68
Contra Costa 100 97,049 39 152,717 61
Marin 100 18,153 25 54,433 75
Napa 100 10,721 36 18,749 64
San Francisco 100 36,958 23 124,549 77
San Mateo 100 54,285 35 101,229 65
Santa Clara 100 138,217 39 214,015 61
Solano 100 28,598 45 35,069 55
Sonoma 100 41,500 31 91,540 69
by Me
No this person is not right wing but respects life and opposes violence. There is a new paradigm growing. Pro life, anti war, pro justice. Not right wing but certainly not supportive of the corrupted abortion lobby. Consistent life.
by Beg to differ
You aren't against the violent removal of women's rights, and you don't respect women's lives. You think you know what's best for them. I got news for ya. You may be confused, but you are solidly with the right wing on this particular issue, which coincidentally is what we happen to be discussing.
by 655321
I'm sorry but how is it fascist to exercise free speech? Isn't it fascist to want to deny the right of freedom of speech simply because you don't like the message?
by 655321
Californians are prochoice. See prop 85:

ELECTION 2006
PROPOSITIONS
Prop. 85: Parental notification for abortion
STATEWIDE
100% of precincts reporting

Yes 3,035,043 45.9%
No 3,577,051 54.1%



True, CA is pro-choice but as the above shows, not by a big margin. There is hope that more will be swayed after examining their consciences and the margin will soon close. YAY!!
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