March for Women's Lives

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Marchers on the National Mall
Marchers on the National Mall
Participants leaving the Washington Metro at Stadium-Armory after the march
Participants leaving the Washington Metro at Stadium-Armory after the march

The March for Women's Lives was a demonstration for reproductive rights and women's rights, held April 25, 2004 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. The National Park Service no longer makes official estimates of attendance after the Million Man March controversy in 1994, so official estimates are often speculation, but march organizers estimated that 1.15 million people participated; other estimates suggested more than 800,000 marchers. [1] These estimates mainly come from organizers having printed 1.5 million stickers and having handed out that many to people in attendance, resulting in the wide disparity between attendance estimates. Either number would make it the largest protest in United States history. [2][3] Several factors may have contributed to the record turnout, including what organizers called "anger at the anti-woman policies imposed by President Bush" including the passage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003. [4], the urgency of a presidential election season, invitations to groups representing a wide array of interests, an aggressive advertising campaign, and the use of Internet services such as Meetup to coordinate local contingents for the march. There were no violent incidents. Anti-abortion protesters were present in some places along the march route. [5]

Contents

[edit] Events and participants

A rally on the Mall began at 10 a.m., and was followed by a march through downtown Washington, with a route along Pennsylvania Avenue. Notable celebrities who appeared at the march included Peter, Paul and Mary, Indigo Girls, Moby, Ani DiFranco, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Ashley Judd, Kathleen Turner, Ana Gasteyer, Janeane Garofalo, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; also appearing were veteran abortion rights leaders, such as Kate Michelman of NARAL Pro-Choice America and Gloria Steinem, and many members of Congress. Sponsoring organizations included NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Feminist Majority Foundation, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Organization for Women, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Code Pink, and Black Women's Health Imperative.

Pro-life counter-protesters, some affiliated with Randall Terry's "Operation Witness", lined a portion of the march route along Pennsylvania Avenue. [6] Terry estimated that there were "over a thousand" counter-protesters [7]; pro-choice writer Jo Freeman estimated that there were "about 300" [8], and the Washington Post wrote that there were "scores" [9]. Sixteen protesters from the Christian Defense Coalition were arrested for demonstrating without a permit when they crossed police barricades into the area designated for the March. [10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] Washington Post
  2. ^ NOW.org
  3. ^ [2]Women's E-News
  4. ^ [3] NOW.org
  5. ^ The March for Women's Lives, April 2004
  6. ^ The March for Women's Lives, April 2004
  7. ^ http://www.societyfortruthandjustice.com/operation_witness.htm
  8. ^ The March for Women's Lives, April 2004
  9. ^ Abortion Rights Advocates Flood D.C. (washingtonpost.com)
  10. ^ Abortion Rights Advocates Flood D.C. (washingtonpost.com)

[edit] Further reading