Feature Archives

January 22nd, 2005 will be the the 32nd anniversary of the Roe v Wade, the court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. "Walk for Life West Coast", a city-wide anti-choice event, is also scheduled for that date. Last year, women nationwide celebrated the first "I'm not sorry I had an abortion day". Some pro-choice activists feel that it's time to do it again as one of the ways of countering the Walk for Life's messaging. Elizabeth Creely says, "it's clear that women (and men) who have had abortions need to continue to defend our right to reproduce on our own terms." Walk for Life's website states: "Walk to challenge the belief that abortion is a good choice for Women. Walk to show that women--and all people--deserve better than abortion. Walk to proclaim that Life is the best and only choice!" People in the Bay Area believe that Walk for Life's message is incorrect - that women should have the right to choose whether or not to terminate a pregnancy- and that the Walk for Life should be countered in the streets of San Francisco on January 22nd. The SF Board of Supervisors has declared that January 22nd will be Stand Up for Choice Day

Walk for Life: On Saturday, January 22, there will be speakers at 11am at Justin Herman Plaza, with the walk beginning at 12pm, and an "Information Faire" at the end of Walk at Marina Green.

Pro-Choice Plans for the Weekend of January 22nd:

• Voices from the Alley was performed on Friday, January 21st, beginning at 7pm in Osage Alley in San Francisco. There was a staged reading of “Voices From the Alley”, a Living Newspaper that tells the stories of women who survived illegal abortions. Afterwards there was a candlelit procession in honor of women who died from illegal abortions, walking to the Women’s Building. Enemy Combatant Radio with an organizer
• The San Francisco Area Pro-Choice Coalition is calling for a demonstration: January 22nd, 10 AM Rally at Powell and Market, in San Francisco (Powell Street BART Station), with an 11am march to the Embarcadero. (Flyer in English and Spanish) Contingents: Bike Rally | Militant Anti-Fascist Bloc
• The counter-demonstration continues at the Aquatic Park near Ft. Mason at 1 p.m.: A Day of Action for Womens Lives
• The play Jane: Abortion and the Underground will have a one-night only appearance at the Brava Theater on January 22nd. The 8pm performance will be followed by a panel discussion about the current threats to legal abortion in the United States and the future of the reproductive rights movement.
• Another group is calling for a Day of Action to "Stand Up for Reproductive Justice! Stop the Anti-Choice Right wing!, beginning with the 10am Rally at Powell and Market, continuing with lining the right-wing march route, and then a counter demonstration to gather at 1pm at Aquatic Park (near Fort Mason). Check their website for information about meetings.

11/23/2004: The National Organization for Women reports that the new federal budget bill included a stealth provision to limit women's access to full health care. On Friday afternoon, After heated debate in Congress Saturday night, anti-abortion legislators bullied into law broad new limitations on women's reproductive health care. The "Federal Refusal Clause," which was slipped into the Omnibus Spending Bill, makes all health care providers eligible for federal monies — regardless of their unwillingness to provide a full-range of health care services for women. House and Senate Republicans added this language to the over 1,000 page spending bill late in the afternoon on Friday — too late for many legislators to be able to understand its implications before voting. The National Organization for Women sees this move as an attack and an attempt by the Republican leadership "to thank its right-wing base by surrendering hard-fought and often life-saving medical care options for women and girls."

According to NOW, the provision permits health care entities that refuse to provide abortion services, counseling or referrals (even in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the woman's life) to collect federal, state and local tax dollars. It overrules state and local regulations requiring full coverage for such services. Current federal law, previously aimed at protecting Roman Catholic doctors who do not want to undergo abortion training or perform abortions, now provides a farther-reaching 'conscience clause.' The new language expands the exemption to all health care providers, including hospitals, doctors, clinics, HMOs, and insurers that profess a corporate or individual objection to providing abortion or reproductive health services. A NOW representative said that "The wrath of the anti-abortion movement is going to send women back farther than the back alleys — we're heading toward the black market." The Feminist Majority quotes Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa saying that "he plans on forcing a vote next year to show support for Roe v Wade. 'I think it is time the women of American understand what is happening here,' Harkin said.

NOW reports that California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer threatened to use procedural tactics to slow Senate debate in protest. Joining Boxer in defending women's health care against the Republican leadership were Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Wash. A compromise was eventually reached with Senate Majority Bill Frist, R-Tenn., after he promised to schedule a vote on the abortion provision when Congress meets next spring. It seems unlikely, however, that this provision will be overturned, since it takes many more votes to repeal an existing law than to prevent original passage.

NARAL Pro-Choice America pointed out today that the Omnibus Spending Bill will worsen conditions that lead to women needing to get abortions: Title X, the nation's cornerstone family-planning program for low-income women, continues to be inadequately funded. This program reduces unintended pregnancies and makes abortion less necessary. Scientifically unproven "abstinence only" programs received a $30 million increase; three times that of Title X. These programs censor discussion of contraception's health benefits and leave teens ill-equipped to protect themselves against pregnancy and disease. Language that would have restored previously canceled funds to the United Nations Fund for Population Assistance (UNFPA) was stripped from the omnibus. UNFPA provides reproductive-health care, including family-planning services but NOT abortion, to the world's poorest women. For each of the last three years, President Bush has cancelled all funding for this vital program. Senate language that would have repealed the "global gag rule" was taken out of the omnibus legislation. This policy, which was signed by President Bush on his first business day in office, prohibits the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from granting family- planning funds to any overseas health clinic unless it agrees not to use its own, private, non-U.S. funds for abortion services, advocacy, or counseling. Read More

Indybay would have covered this story sooner if more information had been clear during the weekend- even now media reports seem to indicate that either: the bill has been passed; or the bill has been passed but the Federal Refusal Clause will be reconsidered in the spring; or that the bill has either been passed or has not been passed, but it will be reconsidered this week because of a section that says that any individual or company's tax return can be reviewed by an Appropriations committee. The one thing is certain is that the President has not yet signed the Omnibus Spending Bill, so it is not yet a law. It is likely that there will be additional surprises like the Federal Refusal Clause and the tax provision, since the entire omnibus was so large and was voted upon so quickly.
Democracy Now Report

A verdict has been reached in the death of Laci Peterson and the fetus that she was carrying. Her husband, Scott Peterson, has been found guilty of first degree murder of Laci and second-degree murder in the death of "their unborn son Conner" in December of 2002. (Case details from the Modesto Police) The first-degree conviction, which carries as a potential sentence either the death penalty or life without parole, meant that jurors believe Peterson planned the killing. The second-degree murder conviction did not require a finding of premeditation and carries a potential sentence of 15 years to life for each count. The bodies of Laci and the fetus were discovered in the San Francisco Bay near Berkeley. Women's and pro-choice advocates were appalled when the 7 1/2-month gestation fetus was given a name and referred to as their unborn son- this was part of the atmosphere that led to the passage and signing by President George W. Bush of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. Analysis from a Peace and Freedom Party Voter

The 2004 election in Berkeley included a proposition about decriminalizing prostitution in that city. Unofficial results as of November 12, 2004 indicate that the measure has not passed. Measure Q would: Show support from the people of Berkeley for repealing laws prohibiting or regulating private consensual adult sexual activity in California . The City Council would then be directed to lobby in favor of the repeal of these laws. The ordinance would require a semi-annual report from the Berkeley Police Department regarding all prostitution law enforcement activities. Enforcement of existing prostitution laws would, proponents hoped, remain a "lowest priority" for the Berkeley Police Department.

Some of the benefits that supporters of the measure believe would have come from its passage included: less violence against women; fewer convictions, leading to increased options such as education for sex workers; and possible promotion of similar measures in surrounding cities, such as Oakland and San Francisco. Measure Q was also called "Angel's Initiative," after Angel Lopez, a transgender prostitute who was murdered in San Francisco in 1993. More info on SWOP's website
Berkeley Daily Planet Opinion Against Prop. Q
Past Indybay Coverage of the Sex Workers Outreach Project

Free Battered Women held its third annual Our Voices Within benefit on Sunday, October 24th, celebrating the lives, struggles, victories, hopes, and dreams of incarcerated survivors of domestic violence. The event took place at the San Francisco Women's Building. A silent auction items of artwork by incarcerated survivors was held in the afternoon, and the program was from 1:30 - 4:30pm. The event included testimony from survivors who were recently released from prison, poetry by Youth Speaks, and music from Samsara. Flyer Free Battered Women is a project of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners

Free Battered Women is still celebrating the fact that on September 17th, 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 1385 into law. It will go into effect on January 1, 2005. The bill expands the class of domestic violence survivors who are eligible for habeas relief. It also changes language about "Battered Women's Syndrome" to the more favored term "battering and its effects" (see below for more details about the bill). Read More

An International Caravan for Justice left 5 cities on October 18th, and planned for each group to visit 11 cities in voyages across the United States, from Canada to Mexico. The caravan plans to bring awareness the horrific murders and disappearances along the US-Mexico border, by holding consciousness-raising events in several cities in North America. Violence against women is ongoing, as young women who work in the maquiladora factories continue to disappear. As organizers say, "Murder is rampant as long as impunity prevails." The Caravan is demanding action by authorities on both sides of the border.
The International Caravan for Justice was in San Francisco on October 24th, at the New College of California's Cultural Center. The event included testimony from Ramona Morales, the mother of Silvia Elena Rivera Morales, who was a victim of the Juarez femicides. Jessica Marques, a representative of the Mexico Solidarity Network, discussed the influence of globalization and neoliberal economic policies on the femicides. More information on the Mexico Solidarity Network website. Past Indybay Coverage of V-Day events to commemorate Juarez deaths

The Oakland-based Welfare Radio Collaborative asks: "The Bush Administration's Healthy Marriage Initiative: a solution to poverty or a paternalistic policy aimed at regulating the sexual and reproductive lives of low income women, especially women of color?" They produced this audio documentary, which reminds people about Bush's policies that target poor women. This legislation, which has wide bi-partisan support, was introduced as part of the Welfare reauthorization legislation which is currently two years overdue, and now extended until after the election.

The Bush administration is promoting marriage to low income women as a solution to poverty. The 2002 Healthy Marriage Initiative seeks to spend 1.5 billion dollars promoting marriage through welfare, by offering marriage "education" classes, targetting low income neighborhood schools, funding faith-based organizations to provide counseling, putting up billboards in poorer neighborhoods, and funding research about marriage. Although there are no laws that fund marriage, the current Health and Human Services Department is funding marriage anyway, with money earmarked for other programs. The government insists on moving forward with these activities in spite of protests from women on welfare, feminist economists, social policy experts, domestic violence counselors, and others who say the government has no business telling low income women to get married. Read more, and listen to the documentary