Fla. protests a war on women

SCORES OF men and women descended on Senator Beth Johnson Park in Orlando, Fla., on April 28, in defense of a woman's right to choose and the right to proper and safe medical care when performing an abortion.

The March Against the War on Women was a national response to legislative attempts to weaken or fully criminalize abortion. People from all walks of life came together--men, women, young, elderly--who all believed that reproductive rights should be in the hands of those most affected.

The march through the unforgiving Orlando sun was fueled by the enthusiastic honks of countless motorists, and topped off by several speakers, including Joe Cenker of the Melbourne, Fla., International Socialist Organization. Kelly, an organizer for the march who was attending with the National Organization for Women, said that it was necessary for the nation to evolve a shared consciousness for human rights, and to stand unified whenever a group is threatened, as the whole of society is affected.

A protester named Janice said it was interesting to see how we had come to many of the same conclusions about the need for an awakening of the 99 percent against these injustices. Janice was an older activist who participated in the rally on an electric scooter, blowing a whistle to corral support.

She said that she had come with the thought of her young nieces in mind, recalling the horror stories she had heard growing up of back-alley abortions. She railed against the anti-choice legislation of the past year and Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who severely weakened victim services when he vetoed $1.5 million in funding for 30 rape crisis centers in the middle of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Janice said that it was time to keep the pressure on, to ensure our government remains accountable to the people.

Another activist, Tim, had come in solidarity with his friends. He said it was his firm belief that women's rights are human rights.

Enrique, a friend of Tim's, said he was a supporter of Occupy Orlando and believed that the role of Occupy was to fight against inequality in all its forms. Like Tim, he felt that capitalism oppresses women.

Another interview was with Nikki and Blair, whose sign was covered in anarcho-feminist symbols and slogans. The two are part of Deep Green Resistance, Occupy Orlando and Food Not Bombs. For them, the issue was solidarity. They saw the legislative attacks against abortion as the American theater in an international war on women. Like others at the march, they equated feminism with a variety of other social issues, saying they are all interconnected and under attack by the 1 percent.

We spoke with many others during the rally, and this current of discontent was a constant. Every person we spoke to was adamant in saying that the attack on women's rights was part of a greater class struggle, with the interests of the wealthy being in direct opposition to the interests of the people.

Speaking to Janice drove this point home most clearly. We have come too far to go back to a time before legal abortion--a time Janice remembered as a dark age for the rights of women and a time of risky abortion operations performed without the funding or regulation these procedures require.

But Janice, like the other activists, was also hopeful for a movement that would bring everyone to fight for the cause of liberty, for women and all.