April 26, 2004
Maybe a million? Demonstration draws a big crowd
Yesterday’s march on Washington for abortion rights drew hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps a million, and is front page news across the country. I looked in vain for a mention on the Tribune’s site. Instead of covering what was perhaps the largest demonstration in DC since the ‘70's, the Tribune decided to lead with a feel good story about “angels” and MADD, the conservative group fighting for a return to prohibition. Oh well. Here’s an account from AP, via SPTimes:
Abortion rights supporters marched in the hundreds of thousands Sunday, galvanized by what they see as an erosion of reproductive freedoms under President Bush and foreign policies that hurt women worldwide.Posted by Norwood at April 26, 2004 06:37 AMThe huge crowd marched slowly past the White House, chanting and waving signs like "My Body Is Not Public Property!" and "It's Your Choice, Not Theirs!" then filled the National Mall, turning it into a sea of women, men and children.
People joined the protest from across the nation and from nearly 60 countries, asserting that damage from Bush's policies is spreading far beyond U.S. shores through measures such as the ban on federal money for family-planning groups that promote or perform abortions abroad.
The rally stretched from the base of the U.S. Capitol about a mile back to the Washington Monument. Some estimates of the number attending varied from 500,000 to 800,000, but organizers estimated the crowd at 1-million. Authorities no longer give formal crowd estimates.
It was the first large-scale abortion rights demonstration in Washington since a 1992 march, which drew 500,000, according to the National Park Police.
Carole Mehlman, 68, came from Tampa to support a cause that has motivated her to march for 30 years, as long as abortion has been legal.
"I just had to be here to fight for the next generation and the generation after that," she said. "We cannot let them take over our bodies, our health care, our lives."
Advocates said abortion rights are being weakened at the margins through federal and state restrictions and will be at risk of reversal at the core if Bush gets a second term.
"Know your power and use it," Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, House Democratic leader, exhorted the masses. "It is your choice, not the politicians'."
And feminist Gloria Steinem accused Bush of squandering international good will and taking socially conservative positions.
"The desire to control reproduction is the mark of authoritarian governments around the world and, unfortunately, it's ours, as well," she said.
