Abortion News...
from PCAC
National Day of Demonstration
(Pro-Choice Action Committee)-Thursday, July 10th was the National Day of Demonstration to protest the Supreme Court's decision upholding the Hyde amendment which makes abortion inaccessible to poor women. Men and women throughout the nation voiced their outrage. At Madison Square Garden over.1,000 people rallied at a demonstration called by the Committee for Abortion Reform and Against Sterilization Abuse (CARASA). CARASA is an affiliate of the Reproductive Rights National Network, an umbrella group of pro-abortion, health care, and socialist organizations. In Chicago over 300 people rallied at noon in front of the loop. Called by Women Organized for Reproductive Choice (WORC), it included speakers from the Hispanic and black communities. In Cincinatti, a rally organized by the Abortion Rights Committee was attended by 50 people. Other rallies and picket lines drew protestors in Seattle, Iowa City, and San Francisco.
Locally, sixty-five Pro-Choice supporters demonstrated outside the County Welfare building. The demonstration was called by the Cleveland ProChoice Action Committee. An enthusiastic crowd, good press coverage, and an excellent response from passers-by made for a very successful demonstration. We handed out 900 leaflets explaining the impact of the Hyde Amendment before and during the demonstration. During the course of the afternoon
EFEND LEGAL ABORTION
LEGAL ABORTMIS
ACTION CONNAITTEE
CUVERITEE
Thursday, July 10, 1980
about 10-15 women and children coming out of the Welfare building picked up signs and joined our picket, listened to speakers, and watched some lively entertainment provided by singer Peggy Cella. Upcoming Events
On the weekend of September 12, 13, and 14, the anti-abortion group, which ironically calls itself the "Right to Life" organization, will be holding its state-wide convention here in Cleveland. The Pro-
"
Choice Action Committee, along with other reproductive rights and women's groups from Cleveland and around the state, is planning to demonstrate against the anti-abortionists that weekend. Specific time and location for the rally will be coming shortly, but please plan to be there. We'll show the "Right to Lifers" that we too are organized and determined to make sure that every woman has a real choice in all areas of her life.
The next PCAC meeting is Tuesday, August 5. For more information, call 321-6143.
-Barbara Winslow and Sharon Smith
from CARAL
•
Upcoming Activities
(Cleveland Abortion Rights Action League)-Cleveland Pro-Choicers have been workin' their tails off this summer to get the word out. Volunteers from the Cleveland Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL), in particular, have had booths at community fairs all over the county, with more to come. We plan booths for an entire week at the Cuyahoga County Fair, August 4-10, and at WomenSpace's "Women at Work" Exposition in September. For this fall's fundraising efforts, among other things, Pro-Choice people may hold a rummage sale (fondly dubbed a "Choice Junk Sale"). We need the advice and/or help of anyone who has ever put together a rummage sale. Call EFCO at 621-8224 and ask for Sue-*__*
Another of our big on-going projects has been a 2-part program-of-candidate's visits. The-first-set, before the June primaries, involved small groups of Pro-Choice constituents visiting each major candidate to see how s/he stood on issues such as Medicaid funding and the "Human Life" Amendment. They also, of course, let the candidates know their constituency was Pro-Choice and voted!
During July, the second part of our "Election '80" Program swung into gear, with another set of visits to the candidates who made it through the primaries-this time to educate them better on specific pieces of legislation before they receive an election-year questionnaire from the National Abortion Rights Action League of Ohio later in the month. If you're interested in a candidate, why not call his/her office and ask how s/he stands on choice? If you like the answer, write a letter praising him/her, or better yet, go down to the office near you, say you're Pro-Choice, and stuff some envelopes for your candidate. Especially in General -Assembly elections, one single campaign worker makes a huge difference! Even anti-choice candidates can be "softened" this way, so don't give up hope!
CARAL Hires New Coordinator
-Sue Wall
CARAL recently announced the hiring of Sue Wall as its new Coordinator, effective immediately. Sue is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she majored in Political Anthropology. Sue says her major areas of effort will concern CARAL's "Impact '80" Program, which enlists the help of formerly inactive Pro-Choice voters in political campaigns and legislative work. "The recent Supreme Court decision which denied funding for abortions for poor women is a lesson to us that we cannot rely on the courts to preserve our rights for us," Wall said. "We must become much more actively involved with our legislators and local politicians.
D
The "Impact '80" Program is the means by which we hope to do this."
from EFCO
(Education for Freedom of Choice in Ohio)—The Ohio Right to Life organization is one of the strongest anti-choice groups in the country. When their annual convention is held at the Hollenden House September 12-14th, they will have much to boast about to the media and the public. They can point, for instance, to their involvement in the Celeste-Rhodes campaign. The Rhodes for Governor Committee had so much faith in the political power of the anti-abortionists that they contributed $12,000 to the Ohio Right to Life Political Action Committee. This money was used to print and distribute antiCeleste literature under the Right to Life theme.
Other electoral victories throughout the year include several pieces of anti-choice legislation in the Ohio General Assembly and their claim to a top flight political organization. Right to Life can produce votes and volunteer lobbyists from every house district in the state of Ohio. Relying on the appeal of the abortion issue to ultra-right politicians, Right to Life is most often associated with the likes of Ronald Reagan, Jim Rhodes, and, closer to home, Anthony Calabrese, Sr. and Anthony Calabrese, Jr. It should be noted here (although it's rather obvious) that Ohic Right to Life has no qualms about aligning itself with politicians who put human needs far below spending on defense and profits for the oil companies if the politician is willing to support a Human life Amendment outlawing all abortions.
What are Cleveland pro-choice supporters doing? For the first time the Cleveland Abortion Rights Ac tion League, through its statewide political action committee, is interviewing and polling candidates. concerning their stand on the abortion issue. While this is a step in the right direction, it is only a small part of the political action required of pro-choice supporters. To have real clout in electoral politics we must work for and contribute to pro-choice can. didates.
This paid off in the June primary elections in the 22nd Congressional district where pro-choice campaign workers were highly visible and can take some small credit for the defeat of anti-choice Anthony Calabrese, Jr.
For those concerned about being one-issue voters, the National Women's Political Caucus suggests that a candidate be judged on three major issues: support of reproductive choices, the ERA, and publicly funded day care.
If you work for or contribute to a candidate, let them know why you're doing it. If you need information on who the candidates are, contact Sue Wall, Cleveland Abortion Rights Action League, at 522-0169.
-Christine Link
Carolyn Buhl Elected to NARAL Board
Carolyn Buhl, Executive Director of Preterm Cleveland has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and appointed to the Board of the NARAL Foundation.
Buhl has been active in the reproductive rights. movement since 1969 when she provided educational assistance to pregnant students who were denied school attendance. After moving to Cleveland in 1970, she became coordinator of Pregnancy Information and Referral Service, Inc., a coalition of Planned Parenthood, the Free Clinic, the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion, and Cleveland Women's Counsel. In 1973, she, along with five other women and a long-time 'Cleveland OBGYN, founded PRETERM, one of the area's first abortion clinics.
August, 1980/What She Wants/Page 5
1