National Organization for Women (NOW) President Patricia Ireland spoke at Tufts on Tuesday as part of the organization's nationwide tour to mobilize college students for a rally and march in favor women's choice and against the George W. Bush Administration. The rally, which will take place in Washington, DC, on April 22, is part of a movement against President Bush's policies regarding a woman's reproductive rights.
Ireland said NOW chose abortion as its primary concern because it pertains to the lives of all women. "Abortion is an issue about which people are truly passionate," she said. Eliminating legal abortions and access to birth control would place control over women's health in male hands, since government is male dominated, Ireland said.
The goal of the march, part of a national campaign called Emergency Action for Women's Lives, is to show the seriousness of the issue, as well as raise women's morale. "This will stop attacks on all of our rights and will make us work together in a way that will strengthen all our movements," she said. "The election of Bush as president actually provides us with the opportunity we need... because poor women... and young women have already lost their access to abortion."
Since as early as 1998, Bush has taken an approach to abortion unpopular to NOW members. His first action in the White House was to terminate funding to overseas abortion clinics, making it more difficult for women living abroad to receive family planning advice and abortions, or to lobby their governments on the issue. He has also repealed laws regarding the rights of US workers that were enacted under the Clinton administration.
"We have real enemies, and we also have an armed right wing," Ireland said.
Attorney General John Ashcroft poses as yet another threat to women's lives, according to the NOW president.
A conservative Republican, Ashcroft has attempted to outlaw family planning, abortion, and birth control, including the morning-after pill and RU-486, also known as Methapristone. He is also a vocal opponent of prescribing drugs such as the morning-after pill in cases of rape and when pregnancy endangers the life of the mother.
Ireland said that making access to contraceptives, family planning, and abortions illegal would take away the rights for which women have fought for centuries, but not prevent women from getting pregnant. Ireland said that many women would turn to illegal and possibly dangerous methods of abortions, as occurred in the past, if it becomes illegal in America. Ireland herself was forced to undergo an illegal abortion, a memory that made her visibly shudder. "We're not ever going back," she said.
Ireland said that issues of abortion are indicative of larger women's issues. That women have the right to vote, earn equal wages, receive quality health coverage, and be in control of their bodies are signs of progress, she said. But, she pointed out, "progress does not mean equality... and moving forward doesn't mean you're there yet."
The federal government is in a precarious position, she said, as Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor prepares to retire, putting the fifth pro-choice vote up for grabs. When she retires, the conservative Bush will make the new appointment. An additional conservative on the bench could throw off the balance of pro- and anti-abortion justices.
Ireland is optimistic about the possibility of a Democratic filibuster, which would block the appointment and, in turn, help preserve not only abortion rights, but also women's rights.
Ireland said she knows first-hand what it is like to experience inequalities under law. She was raised at a time when the term "sexual harassment" was not yet coined, and was refused birth control before marriage by a medical practitioner. Ireland was forced to have an illegal abortion, and was later refused health care benefits from work because she, and not her husband, was the head of her household.
Her experiences led her to a life of activism, which is how she became involved in NOW. She served as executive vice president and treasurer in 1987, was elected president in 1991, and has been fighting for abortion, civil rights, and social justice ver since.
Many students said Ireland inspired them to be involved in campus activism. "I was definitely empowered by her speech, and I found her to be very intelligent, very funny," said freshman Zoe Hastings, a member of the Coalition for Social Justice and Nonviolence. "I was really happy to have her share her feelings with us because a lot of the time I feel the same way about things."
Busses will leave from several area college campuses as well as Boston Common for the April 22 rally. Thousands of men and women are expected to attend.
