Friend,
If you haven't yet watched Sunsara Taylor's presentation Forced
Motherhood=Female Enslavement I urge you to take a moment and watch it now. It powerfully argues why people need to flood the streets on
International Women’s Day Tuesday, March 8. Too many have no idea the
level of atrocity endured when there is not access to legal abortion.
Sunsara's voice and the Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights movement need to be
heard. It's TIME to break the silence & Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights.
In that spirit I’m sharing this moving letter below and encourage you to
throw in your time, skills, energy, and resources into this urgent
fight.
I hope you'll join me on Sunday February 27 in New York City and in the streets wherever you are on Tuesday March 8 and/or by volunteering or making a gift:
- Sam Goldman, host of Refuse Fascism, our weekly podcast
Dear Friends,
I recently watched a livestream of a talk by Sunsara Taylor, initiator of the new group RiseUp4AbortionRights.org whose Statement has been signed by Gloria Steinem, Cornel West, Rosanna Arquette, Lalah Hathaway, Sandra Cisneros, V (formerly Eve Ensler) and hundreds of others.
Everything
Sunsara said in her speech is exactly how I feel. She sounded the alarm
about how the Supreme Court is poised to obliterate abortion rights
soon. Sunsara was visceral. She also made clear there is something we
can do about this: RISE UP! And she laid out the plan.
You need to watch this. Here's the link.
After watching, I made a $6,500 donation to this fight. That is a lot of money for me, but I was happy to give it. What could be more important?
I want to ask that you join me by donating as generously as you can as well.
My hope is that together in the next 48 hours, we can triple my
donation and turn it into nearly $20,000 to fuel the existential fight
to preserve women's most fundamental rights.
>> Donate here
I
am deeply concerned about today’s mainstream Pro-Choice leadership’s
utter failure to take the fight to the other side. We have sadly been
here before in 1989 and 1992 when the Supreme Court almost overturned
Roe v Wade at that time. However, during those scary times, we had
wonderful organizations under the leaderships of Kate Michelman of
NARAL, Faye Wattleton of Planned Parenthood and the late Molly Yard of
the National Organization Organization for Women (NOW). They traveled
around the country and organized the grassroots to stand up in massive
marches on Washington and around the country that were highly effective.
Yet I am not seeing this critically needed leadership now when we need
it most.
Now is not the time for bemoaning this. It's the time for a different direction, exactly what Sunsara and RiseUp4AbortionRights.org is calling for. A major protest is planned in New York City and nationwide on March 8, International Women's Day.
And, as part of building for this, a powerful Speak Out and nonviolent
civil disobedience is planned for February 27 in NYC at St. Patrick's
Cathedral. This takes funds for stage, sound, permits, flyers, posters,
press and more.
Again, you can donate right here.
I also
greatly appreciate Sunsara framing this issue exactly the way it is;
instead of always allowing the other side to put us on the defensive
when there is plenty of political ammunition to put the other side on
the defensive.
I am grateful that Sunsara and others in the
RiseUp4AbortionRights.org movement have stepped forward to take the
responsibility for leading this fight. With the lives of generations of
women and girls on the line, let's all contribute in every way we can to
defeat this vicious assault!
Warmly,
An Attorney Who Has Been Politically Active for Decades and Has Seen a Lot
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