Feature Archives

Nursing mothers and their supporters will be gathering on Tuesday, November 21st at 10am for nurse-ins at Delta airport counters across the country to protest Delta's having kicked a nursing mother off of a flight. Emily Gillette was flying with her husband and 22 month-old daughter on October 13th, 2006 out of Burlington, Vermont on a Delta/Freedom Air flight, when a flight attendant asked her to cover up with a blanket while she was nursing. Ms. Gillette said no, and told the flight attendant of her legal right to nurse her child. Ms. Gillette and her family were removed from the flight. Just in time for the holidays, Delta announced this weekend that it has "disciplined" the offending flight attendant.

Several local hard rock bands have organized a show that will be a fundraiser for Sandra Tellis, the 45 year-old woman from Oakland who was was beaten, tied up, and set on fire on September 1st. She survived, and is reportedly recovering slowly in a Bay Area hospital. The bands will play on Friday night, October 27th at the Uptown, at 1938 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland. Doors are at 8pm for this 21+ event. Participating bands in the show include Placenta, Soul Broker, The Greenhouse Effect, and Stonecutter. The bands' share of admission will go to a fund that has been set up to benefit Tellis.

Free Battered Women presented Our Voices Within: Out of the Shadows, on Saturday October 21st from 2:00pm to 5:00pm, at the Humanist Hall in Oakland (390 27th St. between Telegraph & Broadway). Flyer/Volante This event celebrated the freedom of formerly incarcerated survivors of domestic violence, and honored those who remain imprisoned. Arts and crafts by incarcerated battered women were featured, and battered women who have been released from California prisons were present.

On Sunday, October 1st, right-wingers from the religious "right" were in San Francisco to hold a "life chain" event. Apparently, every year on the first Sunday in October, Life Chain invites churches in each city and town across North America to stand on a local sidewalk and pray for one hour, while holding signs that include approved pro-life messages. In San Francisco, the life chain was on Park Presidio Blvd. between Geary and Clement from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. BACORR and others were there to support the "No on 85" campaign and to counter the right's extremist messaging. Photos

Saturday, October 7th was a No on 85! Day of Action. A rally was held in Dolores Park at 12pm. Photos | Audio People planned to join together to try to form the World's Largest Human No on 85 Sign. At 1pm people planned to conduct voter outreach and visibility in District 8, and at 5pm, a NO on 85 Happy Hour and Comedy Show was held at Martuni's Martini bar.

Proposition 85, the "Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of a Minor's Pregnancy" initiative, was rejected by California voters on November 7th, 2006. It would have amended California's state constitution to young women under the age of 18 from obtaining abortion care without government-mandated parental notification. Opponents of Prop 85 pointed out that California's adolescent pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates have declined in the last ten years. In San Francisco, pro-choice activists gathered November 8th to learn about the history of abortion laws, and to consider the possibilities that face the pro-choice movement in the future.

On Saturday, September 23rd, BACORR, the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights, hosted a meeting in the Women's Building in San Francisco. Several Bay Area activists, including Linci Comy, the Executive Director of the Women's Choice Clinic, speak about the current climate and what is at stake in the battle for reproductive justice. During the meeting, the group discussed proposed upcoming activities, such as a protest against the "Life Chain" in San Francisco on October 1st.