XML Feeds
NOW Activists Stand With Dr. Carhart
Who are you going to call when Operation Rescue vows to shut down a clinic? The National Organization for Women.
Today and tomorrow the Nebraska and Kansas chapters of NOW, along with NOW members around the country, stand with Dr. LeRoy Carhart, an abortion provider and ardent defender of women's fundamental right to the full range of reproductive health services.
Violent anti-abortion extremists are laying siege to Dr. Carhart's suburban Omaha clinic this weekend -- and NOW members are peacefully defending his clinic to let women know that lies, intimidation and threats will not stand in the way of trusting women with our own reproductive health.
As I type, NOW President Terry O'Neill is speaking at a press conference outside his clinic. She is standing with the women organized by volunteer Nebraska and Kansas NOW leaders working into the wee hours of the morning. O'Neill also is presenting just a small sample of the thousands of messages of heartfelt thanks and support that reproductive rights advocates have sent to Dr. Carhart and his staff via the NOW website.
Following Dr. George Tiller's murder on May 31, NOW activists stood silently with candles in cities large and small to commemorate his life and dedication to women. This weekend we honor his heroic life and the continued heroism of his good friend Dr. Carhart by raising our voices peacefully. NOW activists from around the country are cramming into vans and driving for hours to get to Omaha, including a large contingent from DuPage County NOW, which is based in Illinois. The National NOW Action Center coordinated volunteer callers in Washington, D.C., to turn Nebraska NOW members out to defend his clinic. Some activists even donated frequent flier miles to send others to Nebraska.
I am overwhelmed by the strength, perseverance and passionate dedication of NOW's grassroots activists. Thank you to Dr. Carhart and everyone who has donated their time to stand with him, the women he serves, and the Nebraska and Kansas chapters of NOW this weekend.
Anti-abortion groups, led by Operation Rescue, plan to launch protests outside Carhart's clinic this weekend in Bellevue, just south of Omaha. They will be the first major anti-abortion protests since the Tiller killing. Leaders from NOW and the Feminist Majority have rallied pro choice supporters to stop this attempt to close the facility.
"The demonstrations are set to culminate Saturday with so-called Truth Trucks -- delivery trucks with giant rolling billboards of dismembered fetuses on the sides -- parking outside Carhart's clinic and canvassing area neighborhoods. Protesters carrying anti-abortion signs also are expected.
Operation Rescue President Troy Newman has vowed a peaceful demonstration and said that any hints of possible violence are ginned up by what he calls left-wing groups and the liberal media.
His group scaled down plans to protest at Carhart's facility Friday when it learned women's rights groups, including the National Organization for Women, would be there. Operation Rescue will hold a rally at a church instead Friday." This according to KETV-7.com, an Omaha, NE TV news organization
I am so very proud to be a member of NOW and to feel that because I pay my dues and work for women's equality, that this clinic will be open despite the plans by Operation Rescue to close it down.
We have made a giant stride in regaining our reproductive rights just with this one show of force in Bellevue. And I wanted to share this as it probably won't make it to our local news!
Constance
President
Brevard Now
To those of you that showed up, you represented the majority: The majority of people that support a woman's right to choose, the majority that believe this is a private matter between a woman and her doctor, the majority that couldn't all be there, but were represented by you.
Thank you to each of those people that showed up and once again told the world that WE WILL NOT GO BACK!
Comments are not allowed from anonymous visitors.