[dc-zaps] Roe v. Wade Anniversary Day of Action

If Samuel Alito wins a seat on the Supreme Court, this may be our last opportunity to honor the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Please join us in commemorating the 33rd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade with two actions in Washington, D.C.:

First, please join NOW and our allies in front of the Supreme Court this Sunday, January 22, to commemorate the 33rd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling which recognized a woman's right to privacy in deciding whether to terminate a pregnancy.

For 33 years NOW activists have been fighting the battle to keep women's access to abortion safe and legal. As the recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings on Samuel Alito showed us, abortion continues to be one of the most tenuous rights women exercise in today's political climate. If you believe the government has no business making such private reproductive decisions for the women of this nation, join us at the Supreme Court on Sunday and make your voice heard!

Who:	NOW Activists and others committed to the fight for women's reproductive freedom
What:	Candlelight Vigil to commemorate the 33rd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
When:	Sunday, January 22 at 5:00 pm
Where:	U.S. Supreme Court, First St. and Maryland, NE

Second, we need your help earlier that day to make a last-minute push against Alito before the Judiciary Committee votes on Tuesday, January 24. We will be calling NOW members and supporters in key states, and asking them to honor the Roe anniversary by making a phone call to their senators. They will ask their senators for a NO vote and for a filibuster against Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court.

What:	Phoning reproductive rights supporters, urging them to call their senators to filibuster against Alito. Those who don't wish to call can help us by looking up telephone numbers or faxing letters to the Senate. Then we'll go to the vigil together.
When:	Sunday, January 22 from 1pm to 4:30 pm, then we will go to the vigil.
Where:	NOW Action Center, 1100 H St. NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. One block from Metro Center.

If there was ever a time when you wanted to do something that would really make a difference, this is it!

Please let us know that you're coming to one or both of these important actions and bring friends!

 

ABOUT THE FILIBUSTER: In constituent visits, and to the national press, Senators are starting to say that they will vote NO on his confirmation, but some are not yet agreeing to filibuster the nomination.

Here's the problem: Due to the current balance of power in the Senate (55 Republicans, 44 Democrats), we do not have the necessary 51 "no" votes to defeat Alito outright. So the only way for senators to block confirmation is for them to launch a filibuster - which can only be ended if 60 of the 100 senators vote to stop the filibuster and proceed to a vote on the nomination. In other words, IF there is a filibuster, 41 senators can block the nomination. But without a filibuster, those same 41 votes would not be sufficient to stop Alito.

So "no" votes are meaningless in terms of the final outcome, unless there is a filibuster.

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