We want birth control access

WOMEN AND men from various organizations, including the National Organization for Women, National Women's Liberation (NWL), Students for a Democratic Society, and the International Socialist Organization united in Gainesville, Fla., on May 17 to demand the morning-after pill be without restrictions for all women and girls.

Gainesville responded to the call to action with a militant demonstration inside a CVS Pharmacy, in the style of a "flash mob" much like one that took place in New York City and was seen by many via the Internet.

The location of the protest was kept under wraps until two days before in an effort to keep the storming a surprise and security absent. Any press present was well trusted and low-key. Luckily, in a college town like Gainesville, progressive movements are taken to more kindly.

We met in a parking garage across the street from the CVS. The crowd swelled to an unexpected 50, mostly women from left organizations in the community. We made mock morning-after pill boxes that we would later place on the shelf. Acting nonchalant as regular customers, the flash mobbers were actually well versed in a script NWL had prepared.

Once we had all entered the store, the chant began: "What do we want? Morning-after pill! Where do we want it? Over the counter!" The flash-mobbers gathered in the vicinity of the pharmacy and family planning aisle to listen to a speaker voice her concerns about the necessity of the pill, remembering her experience of the ease with which birth control was available in France.

The whole thing was over in less than four minutes. "Our voice was heard," a woman after the action. "The message to society was, 'You need to listen to us!'"