As the election day on November 8th approaches, the polls continue to show that Proposition 73, the anti-choice ballot initiative that threatens the health of teenage women, will be decided by a slim margin. The Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights held a rally for reproductive rights on Saturday, November 5th in San Francisco's Dolores Park. The event featured speakers, entertainment, performances, information tables, and art. Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio | Video The rally was followed by a Take Back the Night March to commemorate the women who died from neglected childbirth, illegal abortions and/or domestic abuse. The ACLU invited volunteers to help with No on Prop 73 phonebanking before the protest. Phonebanking info and list of speakers These events were in part a way to raise awareness of plans to mobilize people to counter the “Walk for Life,” anti-choice fundamentalists who will be coming to San Francisco on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade on January 21st, 2006.

BACORR, one of the Bay Area’s oldest direct action reproductive rights groups, recently re-formed itself to mobilize resistance and raise awareness in response to the attacks on women’s reproductive rights and the surge in attacks on clinics in the Bay Area. BACORR’s demands include the voting down of Proposition 73. This Parental Notification Initiative will be on the ballot in California on November 8th. It targets young women’s fundamental right to abortion and will especially impact low-income women and women of color if it is passed. Additional demands include: Supreme Court justices and laws supporting a woman’s right to control her body, expansion of civil liberties for all; the repeal of the racist Hyde Amendment, which was passed in 1976 and bans funding for abortion for women in the military or on Medicaid; universal healthcare, safe birth control, pre-natal care, and affordable childcare; defense of clinics from right-wing terrorism; ending of forced sterilization abuse of women of color; and ending the war on women at home and abroad.

BACORR is organizing during a time in which a great deal of negative pressure is being put on women's health advocates. In January 2005, 5,000 members of the anti-choice community marched in San Francisco streets, aided by the San Francisco diocese and led by two local women. They were met by thousands of defenders of a woman's right to choose. In May, Operation Rescue harassed gynecologists at the Convention of the College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists at the Moscone center and harassed a gynecologist in her Oakland neighborhood. In July, “The Crusade for Life” targeted Planned Parenthood in California and harassed Planned Parenthood clinics in San Francisco for a week.

9/24 Interview with a BACORR member | BACORR website