All
Out for Rosie Jiménez Day, Saturday, October 3rd
Demand
the Repeal of the Hyde Amendment! Defend Abortion Access!
by the Women’s
Commission, Socialist Party USA
On
October 3, 1977, Rosie Jiménez, from McAllen, Texas-- a
low-income 27
year old mother of a 5 year old daughter-- died from complications
arising from an unsafe abortion.
Rosie
Jiménez
was the first known victim of the Hyde Amendment. This piece of
legislation, passed in 1976, allows for federally funded abortions
under Medicaid only in cases of rape, incest, or if the woman’s life is
in danger. Ms. Jiménez’s death came only weeks after this
statute, the
first direct assault on the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973,
took effect.
From
1992 to
2002, national protests took place on October 3rd in memory of Rosie
Jiménez and to call for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment. It’s
time we
revived this National Day of Action. Let’s make sure that a
radical
voice
for reproductive rights continues to be heard: a voice that places
abortion in the context of human rights, socialized health care, social
and economic justice, and independent political action.
So
this October 3rd, Rosie Jiménez Day, speak out in her memory.
Demand
an end to
restrictive state laws, to the wholly inadequate number of abortion
facilities and providers, and to discrimination against young,
low-income, and immigrant women, and women of color. Honor our
allies--like doctors David Gunn, George Patterson, John Britton,
Barnett Slepian, and George Tiller; clinic employees Shannon Lowney and
Lee Ann Nichols; and security personnel James Barrett and Robert
Sanderson-- who risk, even sacrifice, their lives for abortion rights.
Organize
and hit
the streets to demand abortion access for all women, and protection for
abortion clinics and providers. Only our grassroots efforts will bring
about the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, guarantee our right to
reproductive freedom and to healthcare justice and equity, and stop all
forms of violence against women.
|
