Feature Archives

Various organizations called for a demonstration in San Francisco on the 31st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. Over 200 women and their supporters gathered at Powell and Market, and then marched to City Hall and UN Plaza for a rally. Code Pink, the Radical Cheerleaders, NOW, NARAL, and Planned Parenthood were out in force with signs, speakers, and performances.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4  Video: 1  Audio

Activists such as Robyn Few have been drawing attention to their goal of decriminalizing prostitution. On December 17, 2003, the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was observed in cities all over the world, including San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. The day honored women who were killed.by the Green River Killer. Listen to report from Free Speech Radio News.
Strippers in San Francisco say club owner greed and lax city oversight are forcing them into prostitution. "By taking prostitutes off the streets and putting them into the strip clubs, it has turned our strip clubs into brothels and massage parlors," Few says. "The men who run these joints are making all the money, and the women who want to be dancers can't. They are forced to be prostitutes." Some people believe that sex work can not empower women; however, the San Francisco Coalition on Prostitution and the Exotic Dancers Alliance would say otherwise. Keep checking SWOP-USA for information about a planned Prostitutes' Rights ballot initiative.

A woman's right to choose whether or not to end a pregnancy continues to be a big issue in the US. A young woman in the Bay Area recently died of septic shock after taking RU-486, near the end of the recommended period in which one can safely use the so-called "abortion pill." Holly Patterson, the young woman in question, took RU-486 two weeks after her 18th birthday, and her father thinks that she waited until she turned 18 to seek treatment. Mr. Patterson is calling for a state constitutional amendment that requires parental notification when a woman under the age of 18 seeks an abortion. Many people are calling for the removal of RU-486, or mifepristone, from the FDA's list of allowable drugs. Many also question the non-FDA approved alternative treatment method Holly received. She was allowed to administer misoprostol, the second drug in the medical abortion regimen, at home instead of having a medical professional perform the procedure.

In happier news, the FDA may soon remove the prescription requirement for "Plan B", which is a form of emergency contraception. This would make possible over-the-counter purchase of Plan B.

The ban on so-called "Partial Birth Abortion" (late-term abortion), which President Bush signed into law on November 5, 2003, has led to concerns that women may lose the right to have abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. On December 17th, 2003, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Ohio's partial-birth abortion ban law. One pregnant woman's view of the federal ban. On a slightly more positive note, Bush is promoting adoption of children who are in the foster care system. The President seems to think that women should suffer through over nine months of pregnancy, followed by childbirth- which has a higher risk of death for women than abortion does- and then put their unwanted offspring up for adoption. Will women lose more decision-making power and access to health care in the 2004 election year, as Bush panders to the right even more than he did in 2003?
April 25th in Washington, DC: National March for Women's Lives (formerly the National March for Choice)

On 11/23, 'Bay Area Women in Black' gathered in front of the Bank of America building on Powell Street in SF to express solidarity with the more than 170 'Women in Black' groups worldwide. From there they proceeded to march silently through the throngs of holiday shoppers descended upon Union Square. Women in Black are dedicated to active nonviolent protest against all forms of personal and state violence and terrorism, including militarism, anti-semitism, racism and religious oppression, wherever they occur. Details | Photos: 1 | 2

Women in Black held an action in the affluent 4th Street shopping district in Berkeley on Jan 26. They marched in protest of the escalating violence in the Middle East. The demonstration also marked Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year for trees, which is relevant today because trees are being targeted and destroyed in the conflict. Israeli forces are uprooting olive and fruit trees in Palestine. Photos

One year after the death of nine women in a 2 month period because of medical neglect at the Central CA Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, California Prison Focus and the CA Coalition of Women Prisoners continue to demand that this abuse must end. On 4/27 demonstrators met at the prison gates in a call to end the lockdown, support healthcare not prisons, stop physical, mental, and emotional abuse of prisoners, and an outside investigation of the facility. Details

prisons.org | womenprisoners.org

5/9: "I was wheeled in here in an ambulance-- will I be wheeled out in a hearse?"Women in the Central California Women's Facility prison in Chowchilla say that their medical needs are routinely neglected. Activists say, "People have been left to die because they?re not getting the medical care they need." The California Department of Corrections refuses to speak to the media. Full story On 5/13, protest the continued abuse of women at the CCWF nursing facility and Governor Davis' failure to address this issue.