From: nyxfer%panix.com@UMCVMB.missouri.edu (N.Y. Transfer)
Subject: NEWS:Buffalo March for Choice
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: University of Missouri
Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@UMCVMB.missouri.edu>
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 21:55:52 GMT



Via The NY Transfer News Service ~ All the News that Doesn't Fit


                 `BUFFALO IS A PRO-CHOICE TOWN!'

                        By Leslie Feinberg
                          Buffalo, N.Y.

(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if
source is cited.)

"Operation Rescue can't chain us down, Buffalo's a pro-choice
town!"

In a drenching thunderstorm, 2,500 people took the streets here on
April 11 to deliver that clear message to Randall Terry and his
band of anti-woman terrorists. Protesters brandished their signs
in unison to the rhythm of percussion and chants.

Motorists--male and female--honked in support. Some saluted the
marchers with clenched fists. Residents of the multi-national
community leaned out of windows or came out on the sidewalk to
applaud and cheer the pro-choice protest as it passed.

Buffalo has become the front line of the battle to defend women's
reproductive freedom, particularly abortion rights. "Operation
Rescue" has threatened to blockade area abortion clinics beginning
April 20. The impressive outpouring of pro-choice supporters in a
downpour was a barometer of the determination and willingness of
pro-choice supporters to keep the clinics open.

"No more Wichitas!" read many home-made signs. "Hands off my city
and my body," read another. A young woman had sewn large red
letters spelling "MINE" on the dress that covered her body.

The diversity of the crowd demonstrated the breadth and depth of
pro-choice sentiment in this city: old and young, Black, Latino
and white, women and men, lesbian, gay and straight.

The large ACT UP/Western New York contingent marched behind a
banner reading "Abortion is health care." The group held a mock
die-in at City Hall.

Supporters from California, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, New York
City, Ithaca and Rochester, N.Y., and Toronto joined with
Buffalonians to swell their ranks.

The strong pro-choice demonstration made CNN "Headline News,"
National Public Radio, all local television and radio stations
here, Rochester TV and the front page of the local newspaper
there, and the front page of the local section of the Buffalo
News. There were also reporters at the rally from the Philadelphia
Inquirer, Life Magazine, AP, UPI and Reuter.

`We must fight!'

The march ended with a rally on the steps of City Hall and an
angry message for Buffalo Mayor James Griffin, a notorious bigot
who welcomed "Operation Rescue" to this city. "Jimmy Griffin, we
say no! Boot him out of Buffalo!" chanted the densely packed
crowd.

Most people braved soaking rain to stay throughout the rally. They
cheered the most militant speakers.

Tenant activist Vera Spruill co-chaired the rally. Spruill,
national board member of the All-Peoples Congress, denounced
Randall Terry's claim that abortion is "Black genocide." She said:
"Black genocide is when babies have no food and are dying of
government neglect. If Randall Terry were really pro-life he'd be
fighting the cuts in welfare."

Sue Gaska, director of the YWCA, denounced President Bush's
approval of Wisconsin's welfare "reform" cutting aid to mothers
and their children.

The crowd cheered African American community activist Sharon West
when she vowed, "Nobody's going to tell me what to do with my
body!"

Cathy Maguire emphasized that the key to keeping the clinics open
is mass mobilizing. She has escorted many women into clinics past
lines of jeering bigots, and is an organizer of this spring's
clinic defense.

Debbie Johnson, a Detroit community activist and leading member of
Workers World Party said, "The critical thing is to broaden the
struggle for choice and always pay attention to how the most
oppressed are affected."

Rebeca Toledo, a Latina lesbian organizer for the Movement for a
People's Assembly, said the current government "is not a
legitimate representative of masses of people in this country. A
genuine People's Assembly will outlaw Operation Rescue," she
vowed.

Lesbian activist Carol Speser stressed the links between the fight
for reproductive freedom and the struggle against lesbian and gay
oppression.

Other rally speakers included Dawn Marvin (see accompanying box);
Val Colangelo of Buffalo United for Choice; Cathy Reade, ACT
UP/Western New York; Sharon Fawley of Buffalo NOW; Julie Parsons
of Women's Health Action Mobilization (WHAM) and a student
activist; Mark Larson, a student leader; Sue Davis, WHAM; Colleen
Dermody, Fund for a Feminist Majority; and Carolyn Schmidt,
executive director of Erie County and Buffalo Planned Parenthood.

The April 11 march was organized by Buffalo United for Choice. The
coalition includes WHAM, ACT UP/Western New York, National
Organization for Women, Workers World Party, Media Coalition for
Reproductive Rights, Pro-Choice Action Committee of the University
of Buffalo, Women's Resource Center of Buffalo State University,
All-Peoples Congress, Fund for a Feminist Majority and the
International Socialist Organization.  The coalition's next effort
will begin April 20 when the physical defense of women's clinics
against the right wing starts.

                               ###


SIDEBAR: AN "ACCIDENT OF BIRTH"

Randall Terry's aunt spoke at the April 11 rally. But Dawn Marvin
explained that she appreciated being introduced as a fighter for
women's rights for over 20 years rather than solely as Terry's
aunt--an accident of birth.

Marvin related how another of Terry's aunts almost died as a
result of a botched illegal abortion. Marvin herself was a
pregnant teenager forced into a "shotgun wedding." She said she
endured four years of beatings by her husband before leaving him.

Marvin described her nephew as a wealthy "white kid from the
suburbs who didn't have a clue as to the lives of the women in his
own family." And he's no more aware of or concerned about other
women's lives today, she concluded.

                               ***

This article originally appeared in Workers World newspaper. A
10-week trial subscription is available for $2. A year's
subscription costs $15. Makes checks payable to Workers World, and
send to 46 W. 21 St., New York, NY 10010.Phone (212) 255-0352. You
may contact Workers World editors on NY Transfer or PeaceNet at
"workers."

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