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Women in Oakland and Fresno, California, New York City, Rochester and Albany New York, Tucson, Arizona, Lake Worth and Sarasota, Florida, and Montpelier, Vermont headed to their local recruiting offices to try to enlist as a Valentine gift.

Over 200 people went to an Oakland army recruitment station on Tuesday, February 14th to offer to trade places with young soldiers in Iraq. The crowd, which was made up of mostly elder women, called out that they were there to enlist, so that the young people could come home from the war. This noon-time demonstration was organized by the Bay Area Chapter of Grandmothers for Peace. Passersby were handed small leaflets explaining the women’s mission. The Oakland recruiting office was dark and the doors locked during the action. A soldier who was guarding the building from down the block said, "The pink ladies come every Wednesday. They hold up signs of dead people and stay for about a half an hour." Report and photos

In Fresno, some 25 Raging Grannies handed out Valentines Cards and sang songs as they tried to enlist in the military. After singing for a while, the Grannies entered the military recruiters' offices. The marines, air force, and army recruiters seemed so afraid of the Raging Grannies that they closed and locked their doors. The women put their Valentine's cards through mail slots. Then many of the Grannies entered the navy's office and spoke with two recruiters. After about 5 minutes of discussion, the recruiters asked the Grannies to leave; when they exited, the Grannies saw several Fresno police officers outside of the building. Apparently the marines, air force, and army had to call in re-enforcements to protect them from the Grannies, some of whom were using canes and walkers to get around. Report and photos

Read more about the Raging Grannies and Grandmothers for Peace

On March 8th, International Women's Day, a delegation of Iraqi mothers planned to go to Washington DC, where they were joined by grieving U.S. mothers like Cindy Sheehan. Together they planned to deliver "Women Say No to War" signatures to the White House, meet with members of Congress, release a report on the impact of this war on Iraqi women, and call for the U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

CODEPINK is looking for people to help fund the visit of the Iraqi women, and to support Codepink's Iraqi women fund.

CODEPINK collected thousands of signaturesfor a Urgent Call for Peace by March 8th.

The Women Say No to War website says, "The larger picture in organizing for March 8 is to create a connected, sustained way for women to stand against war everywhere. If we can halt the largest military empire in human history, we will know we can stop wars in many places." List of events There were two events in Oakland and one in San Luis Obispo on that day. Ideas for organizing local events

On March 8th, International Women's Day, a delegation of Iraqi mothers will go to Washington DC, where they will be joined by grieving U.S. mothers like Cindy Sheehan. Together they will deliver "Women Say No to War" signatures to the White House, meet with members of Congress, release a report on the impact of this war on Iraqi women, and call for the U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

CODEPINK is looking for people to help fund the visit of the Iraqi women, and to support Codepink's Iraqi women fund.

CODEPINK has a goal of collecting 100,000 signatures on the Urgent Call for Peace by March 8th. One-third of the signatures have been collected.

The Women Say No to War website says, "The larger picture in organizing for March 8 is to create a connected, sustained way for women to stand against war everywhere. If we can halt the largest military empire in human history, we will know we can stop wars in many places." List of events Ideas for organizing local events. There will be two events in Oakland and one in San Luis Obispo on that day.

Betty Friedan, who helped launch the contemporary women's movement, died of congestive heart failure on Saturday, February 4th at the age of 85. When she was young, she was active in Marxist and Jewish radical circles. She attended Smith College. In 1963, she wrote the groundbreaking book The Feminine Mystique. In 1966, she and 27 other women and men founded NOW, the National Organization for Women. During her time as president of NOW (from 1966 to 1970), the organization lobbied the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce laws against sex discrimination in employment, and to ban ads that were segregated by sex. In 1968, NOW became the first national organization to endorse the legalization of abortion.

Ms Magazine's Statement from the Feminist Daily News Wire | Statement from NOW | Wikipedia's Betty Friedan page

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate coordinated "Faith in Choice: Reclaiming the Moral Highground," a January 21st event to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. A quiet candlelight vigil was held in Dolores Park, in memory of those who died due to lack of access to a safe and legal abortion. People spoke about what women’s lives were like before choice became law, and then a candlelight procession made its way to Congregation Sha'ar Zahav for a panel discussion with clergy. The panel, which consisted of two women and two men, discussed the long history of nationwide pro-choice action by clergy in the U.S. They said that this past is consistent with religious values of dignity, the sacredness of the human body, and an inherent belief in justice.

In a post to Indybay, reporter greentea pointed out that some in the LGBTQI community may be unaware that the same legal decisions that grant heterosexuals the right to privacy (from government intervention) in birth control and abortion were important decisions relied upon by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 decision that invalidated laws against sodomy across the U.S. The LGBT community now relies on the same legal decisions (especially ‘Roe v. Wade’ and ‘Griswold v. Connecticut’) that the reproductive rights movement has been long served by, and which are under greatest threat by fundamentalist attacks. Report, photos, and analysis

Some 1000 pro-choice Bay Area residents lined the "Walk for Life" today, as thousands of anti-choice people, largely from outside of San Francisco, marched down the Embarcadero and through Fisherman's Wharf, on their way to the Marina. A rally was held down the street from an anti-choice gathering at Justin Herman Plaza, and then the "pro-life" march took to the street. Several groups attempted a barricade to stop the march, but police flooded into the street. Pro-choicers yelled messages about women's rights in the direction of the march. Breaking news reports from the demo

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Audio: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Reports: 1

Indybay's Walk for Life Story from Before January 21st

On Wednesday, January 18th, the US Supreme Court announced its decision in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, et al. The court recognized its precedent that abortion laws must protect women's health and safety. The case began as a challenge to a New Hampshire law that prevents doctors from performing an abortion for a teenager under the age of 18 until 48 hours after a parent has been notified. Contrary to 30 years of Supreme Court precedent, the law contained no medical emergency exception to protect a pregnant teenager's health. The lower courts had struck down the law because of this omission. The Supreme Court asked the lower court to consider whether the New Hampshire legislature would have wanted this law with a medical emergency exception. If not, the Court said the law should be struck down in its entirety.

"Today's decision tells politicians that they cannot jeopardize women's health when they pass abortion laws," said Jennifer Dalven, Deputy Director of the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, and the attorney who argued Ayotte before the Court. "We are relieved that the Supreme Court left in place protections for women's health and safety in abortion laws," said PPFA Interim President Karen Pearl. "We continue to believe that the law should be struck down by the lower court." "The New Hampshire legislature intentionally omitted a medical emergency exception when it passed this law," Dalven added. "We continue to believe that the lower court will recognize this and strike down the law in its entirety." Statement from Planned Parenthood and the ACLU

Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood website