A Message from NOW President Kim Gandy

November 7, 2003

On Wednesday, Nov. 5, George W. Bush gathered his favorite right-wing CongressMEN and 400 of his radical right wing, anti-women cronies to witness the signing of a bill that criminalizes legal abortion procedures. Not being at the table is nothing new to us. Remember the all white, all male Senate Judiciary Committee that sat in judgment in 1991—not of Clarence Thomas, but of Anita Hill. When will our policy makers and presidents understand that women have the same autonomy, rights and responsibilities as men and that our health care and family formation decisions CANNOT and MUST NOT be made for us in the halls of Congress or the West Wing.

While NOW and our pro-choice allies were being shunted to a protest site out of sight of Bush and his motorcade, conservative strategists were inside eager to use this "victory" to reenergize the 4 million Christian Conservatives who didn't vote in the 2000 Presidential election.

We must educate, motivate and organize progressive women and men throughout the country to be an even more potent force in the upcoming elections. Right away, NOW will start contacting the millions of women and people of color who feel disenfranchised and ignored by the political process. We will educate activists on why it's so important that they register and vote; we'll motivate them to register themselves and work to register others. We'll give NOW activists the organizing skills necessary to oust George W. Bush! Click here to contribute to the Drive for Equality.

With a renewed sense of purpose, we continue organizing "Save Women's Lives: March for Freedom of Choice" set for next April 25. We've been talking with progressive groups of all kinds and we now have hundreds of co-sponsors for the march. Last week, I was in New York City, meeting with leaders of local and national LGBT groups, speaking to law students from New York Law School, undergraduates from Columbia, Hunter College and New York University, and dozens of community organizers, all of whom are committed to organizing busloads of activists to descend upon Washington, D.C. on April 25, 2004. We need you to make it successful—Organize and March!

Meanwhile, rights we've fought for are being eroded daily, and economic justice moves farther out of reach for many women. Unemployment rates are rising and even those who are employed have to fight for rights that were once secure. Read more in our workplace safety and job security article below. Also on NOW.org this week, you'll read about how Wal-Mart keeps its prices so low—on the backs of undocumented workers who work for low wages, without benefits and without earned vacation. Next week alone the Senate will take action on a continuing parade of judges that we oppose such as Janice Rogers Brown, Mike Fisher, Henry Saad, and William Pryor (who is being filibustered by our supporters), and Carolyn Kuhl. However, we must celebrate the progressive wins that came Tuesday, Nov. 4 with the defeat of right-wing judge Charles Pickering, Sr. by determined Senate Democrats. Keep fighting, friends!

Thank you for all you do,

Kim Gandy
President, National Organization for Women