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A Threat to Women's Lives Calls for Action by Tina Phillips of the Women's Commission The Socialist Party USA is outraged that South Dakota's governor signed the bill to ban abortions in any case except those where life of the mother are threatened. We know this is an attempt to challenge to Roe v. Wade; with two new justices on the Supreme Court anti-choice activists around the country are hoping that Roe v. Wade will be overturned. Their hopes are not on the side of existing federal law. Their hopes are not supported by the majority of Americans who still support abortion rights. However, even if the South Dakota measure is eventually stopped and Roe v. Wade is not overturned, anti-choice activists have been very successful at eroding reproductive rights in most states and at the federal level, including parental consent and notification laws, and so called “bans on partial birth abortions.” Recently in California, reproductive rights activists were able to stop a notification law from passing, which proves the effectiveness of grassroots organizing. Although the regressive and reprehensible actions by judges and legislators must be exposed and condemned, the primary task for those of us fighting for full reproductive freedom and justice is to challenge the underlying causes of these actions, namely: an economic system based on the economic, political, social, and sexual exploitation of women; patriarchal disrespect for women's needs and rights; increasing disregard for the separation of church and state; subservience of the "leaders" of the abortion rights movement to the Democratic Party; and the readiness of feminists to abandon militant tactics in favor of the legalistic and legislative approach advocated by NARAL and NOW. The Socialist Party urges Americans to be vigilant in defending the reproductive rights of women. We know all too well what happens when women's access to abortion is restricted; women are seriously injured and die while attempting to end their own pregnancies or at the hands of back alley abortionists. We will not stand by while women suffer from unwanted pregnancies. The Socialist Party USA demands that women's right to decide what to do with their own bodies be preserved and that the government protect that right to privacy. We also demand an end to patriarchy that exists to remove women's power to make their own choices. The Socialist Party's platform demands full support for every woman's right to choose when, if, and how to have children, including the right to free abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy, without interference or coercion. We demand clinics providing abortion services must have the full protection of the law. We also oppose any law that denies "the right to choose" to millions of women, particularly low-income women, women of color, and young women. We demand full reproductive freedom for all women by removing all discriminating barriers to reproductive rights and reproductive health care. The Socialist Party supports a social transformation in the United States that would not only preserve and restore fully women's reproductive rights, but one that would allow a fundamental shift to a democratic society based on compassion, empathy, and respect. We believe the fight for this new society is on going and call people to join us in this struggle for justice based on socialist feminist principles. We believe that we must get out in the streets and in our communities and organize for the society we deserve. Statements Home Page - |
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Socialist Party
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