Relentless Government Attacks on Women's Reproductive Rights and Health Drive Hundreds of Thousands to March on Washington

Delegations from Around the World to Demand End to Policies that Endanger Women's Lives; Ashley Judd, Madeline Albright, Dolores Huerta and Dorothy Height Among Speakers for Historic March

April 21, 2004

In the face of increasing government attacks and looming threats to women's reproductive health and rights, an historic number of women and men of all ages, races, income levels, ethnicities and faiths will converge on Washington on Sunday, April 25 to March for Women's Lives. They will march to send an urgent message—women's lives are at stake and Americans must stand up against government's growing intrusion into a woman's right to access critical reproductive health services and make deeply personal decisions about her health and life.

"The reproductive health status of Black women is in a state of crisis and our rights are at risk," said Dr. Lorraine Cole, president, Black Women's Health Imperative. "During the March for Women's Lives, we will raise the level of national urgency about the need for equal access to reproductive health services and information."

For the first time ever, organizations representing women of color are playing a central role in leading a women's rights march. Representing the urgent needs of women of color—who are least likely to have healthcare options and most often suffer from reproductive health disparities—a diverse coalition of women's health and civil rights groups, including the Black Women's Health Imperative, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women and National Latina Health Network, helped broaden the March's aim to fight for equal access to the full range of women's health care services.

"We will encourage participants to go home after the March and demand that their elected officials protect women's reproductive freedoms and access to reproductive healthcare," said Silvia Henriquez, executive director, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. "Lawmakers must work to expand-not limit-access to vital women's health services, family planning, comprehensive sex education and teen pregnancy prevention programs."

The policies of the current U.S. administration represent full-scale attacks on women's reproductive freedoms and lives. As federal and state lawmakers put politics before sound science, they are putting women's lives at risk. Restrictions like the "Global Gag Rule" prevent women from having access to information that could prevent up to the 500,000 pregnancy-related, 3 million AIDS-related and more than 80,000 unsafe abortion-related deaths worldwide each year.

"In the past few years, federal and state governments have systematically stripped away women's reproductive rights," said Kate Michelman, president, NARAL Pro-Choice America. "From the Justice Department's subpoenas of women's private medical records to President Bush's appointment of anti-choice activists to lifetime judgeships, the government's attacks have been relentless."

Nearly 1,400 of the nation's leading women's, civil rights, health and faith organizations are mobilizing delegations to attend the March. Many groups supporting the April 25 event, including MoveOn.org, are using technology to inform and unite marchers to demand equal access to critical health services without government interference.

"On April 25, planes, trains, buses and cars, from points across the globe, will bring delegations of concerned citizens to the nation's capital to stand up for women's lives. We will deliver an urgent message to government officials," said Gloria Feldt, president, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "Lawmakers must assure our access to medically-accurate sex education, birth control and other critical health services, including safe abortions."

"The March will galvanize a new generation to action," said Kim Gandy, president, National Organization for Women (NOW). "Our daughters don't remember the dangerous illegal abortions that robbed many women of their fertility, and even their lives. I'm determined that they, and we, will never face those dark days again."

"Reproductive freedom, like so many of our civil liberties, is currently under siege," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Politicians must stop interfering in the private lives of Americans and start protecting core American rights."

"This march is not about just about one day, it is about building a worldwide movement," said Eleanor Smeal, president, Feminist Majority. "Women and men will no longer stand by as women's lives are used as political chits. This Sunday, we will march because our very lives depend on it. And, we will keep marching until stop this war on women's rights and women's lives."

The March for Women's Lives is expected to draw an historic number of people from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and around the world. Some of the most recognized notables and celebrities will attend and speak at the March, including Ashley Judd, Madeleine Albright, Dolores Huerta and Dorothy Height.

The March for Women's Lives in Washington D.C. on April 25 is being led by seven organizing groups: American Civil Liberties Union, Black Women's Health Imperative, Feminist Majority, NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Attention reporters:
For March for Women's Lives media credentials, please contact: credentials@marchforwomen.org.

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