Friday, March 22, 2013
Human rights / Abortion Protest tomorrow on legislature's assault on women's rights
Posted by Max Brantley on Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 6:38 AM
A reminder of the social media-driven rally at the Capitol at 3 p.m. Saturday over the legislature's unprecedented and unconstitutional infringement on women's medical rights.
Some 1,400 women have indicated a willingness to participate. All it takes is showing up. A news release follows on planned speakers and the background of the organizing.
State Senator Joyce Elliott, long a champion of women and children in Arkansas, will be the featured speaker at Saturday’s grassroots Protest at the Arkansas Capitol grounds.
Rita Sklar, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas for the past 20 years, will also be there to share her insights with protesters standing against what they see as capricious overreach, on the part of the State Legislature’s ultra-conservative majority.
Greer Williams and Rain Calibotta, spoken word artists and cultural activists, use powerful poetic images to examine the deeper roots of presumptions about women and our culture.
Jaime Goswick, wife, mother of two, and humanist minister, will talk about what prompted her to do what sparked the protest this coming weekend. She invited her friends via Facebook, to join her in a protest at the State Capitol, and to pass the invitation on to their friends.
More than 1,400 people have indicated on the group’s Facebook page that they will attend, at 3 p.m. on the eastern steps of the Capitol. The event has been coordinated by a core group of 25 to 30 volunteers who have used social media both to plan and to publicize the event.
“In less than one week from the time we announced this — just on Facebook and Twitter — we already had more than a thousand people signed up to go, to buy ads, to make signs, to bring carpools from all over the state,” said Nancy Colburn, one of the event organizers.
Ms. Goswick and the other organizers say the most important speakers on Saturday will be the crowd. The largest share of time will be reserved for an “open mic” for those who want to express their own feelings about this legislature in their own words.
The theme of the rally is “Stop The War On Women,” and the posters show images of an angry Rosie the Riveter. “That choice is purposeful,” said Allyn Dodd, who designed the posters. “We are all angry — angry that we have been degraded and disregarded by our legislators during this whole process. We are reminding the entire state that when women flocked into the industrial workforce in 1942, we are the ones who kept this nation going. We deserve consideration from our government, and we are demanding it.”
Information on car pools, as well as graphics which can be downloaded and printed for signs, are available at the group’s facebook page, Protest at the Arkansas Capitol or http://tinyurl.com/ARWARONWOMEN Signs are encouraged, but attendees are reminded that the signs may not be on sticks, according to State Capitol grounds regulations.
Organizers say the group is committed to nonviolence, and though the attendees are there to express their outrage, they are there to show their resolve as well. “Saturday is not just to be a flash in the pan, but rather the beginning of showing up in all our numbers, to guard our civil liberties,” the group’s Claudia Reynolds-LeBlanc said. “We are law-abiding people, and we intend to hold our legislators to that same standard. Right now our legislature is passing unconstitutional bills one after the other, with blatant disdain for the rights not only of women, but of all the people of Arkansas.”
Nancy Colburn added, “We will be loud and we will speak our minds, and we will be noticed, but we will be respectful of the law, peace, and human dignity.”
Speaking of War On Women, abortion
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May 16, 2013Crazy Davy Carter, the House speaker who is a potential Republican candidate for governor, won headlines all over today for remarks at a legislative conference in Hot Springs that Republicans need to move beyond guns and abortion to focus on issues more important to average Arkies. /more/
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Judge refuses to dismiss suit challenging new 12-week abortion limit
May 15, 2013Federal Judge Susan Webber Wright has denied the state of Arkansas's motion to dismiss the ACLU-backed lawsuit challenging the new state law, passed over Gov. Mike Beebe's veto, to prevent most abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. /more/
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Morning report: Prescription drug watch
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Flash: Texas grows enlightened on women's issues
May 7, 2013Interesting story from Texas on the Texas legislature. Republicans, who control nearly everything in Texas, apparently suffered huge blowback from their war on women in the last legislative session that cut health care to women in the battle to destroy Planned Parenthood. /more/
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Planned Parenthood plans to press Mike Ross on record
April 22, 2013Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross made encouraging sounds about looking out for women's medical services and the ability to choose abortion when he announced last week. /more/
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