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Sunday, October 18, 2020

Crowds gather for Women's March to protest Trump and Supreme Court nominee

Demonstrators wore pink knit pussyhats and black face masks honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday for the second Women's March of the year.

© Jose Luis Magana/AP With the U.S Capitol in the back ground, demonstrators march on Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women's March in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Women and allies gathered in Washington, DC, and several other cities around the country to protest President Donald Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and urge women to vote in the upcoming election.

"I want my country back," Barbara Moore of Arlington told CNN affiliate WJLA.

The crowd marched from Freedom Plaza to the National Mall, some carrying signs with messages like "Hell no, Amy must go!" and "You call us nasty because you are afraid of what strong women can do."

Karen Ehrgott said she traveled from the Philadelphia area to attend the march to protest Barrett's nomination and the push to confirm her before the November 3 election.

"It's a mess. It's really, really a mess. I am very, very fearful of our democracy," Ehrgott told CNN. "I thought it was thriving and nothing could ever happen, but clearly it's a lot more fragile than we understood it to be."

Trump has pointed to the November 3 election as a reason for seeking swift Senate confirmation of Barrett, a federal appeals court judge who would be his third appointee to the nine-member bench. The President has said he believes the Supreme Court could ultimately decide whether he or his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, is the winner of the election.

Saturday's event is the second Women's March this year. Partially due to the pandemic, the crowd was much smaller than the January 18 event and even more than the first-ever Women's March in 2017, which may have been the largest single-day protest in US history.

Simultaneous marches were held in other cities including Denver, New York and Nashville.

The Women's March organization has suffered from growing pains since its first show of force in 2017.

Controversy and allegations of anti-Semitism surrounding its founders eventually led to three of them stepping down from the board last year. They had denied the allegations. The Women's March then appointed 17 new leaders to the board.

Women Marchers Led By ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Protesters Voice Opposition On Trump Ticket, Amy Coney Barrett Nomination
By Bruce Haring

People march during the Women's March in downtown Chicago, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. Dozens of Women's March rallies were planned from New York to San Francisco to signal opposition to President Donald Trump and his policies, including the push to fill the seat of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before Election Day. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)AP

A nationwide protest against the Donald Trump-Mike Pence presidential ticket and the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett was coordinated Saturday by the Women’s March organization. More than 400 events were planned throughout the country.
Leading the battle in many cities were the women dressed in the red habits borrowed from “The Handmaid’s Tale” television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel. The Washington, DC main event was permitted for 10,000 attendees.

Los Angeles, Pasadena, Long Beach, Torrance and Laguna Niguel were the sites for local protests on the main themes.

Some women wore white lace collars and black robes to honor the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Marchers were faced with counter-protesters at the Supreme Court, but the marches were generally peaceful. The densely packed crowds did not observe social distancing, and a number of participants did not wear masks.

The marches come days before the Senate holds its first vote to confirm Barrett to replace Ginsburg, a move that would cement a conservative majority.

Women’s Marches have been held regularly since the day after President Donald Trump was sworn into office, but many have diminished in size since the inaugural rallies

Three of the four original founders – Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour – stepped down from the organization after reports of of infighting, money mismanagement, and other issues.

Photos: 4th annual Women's March draws protesters across the country

Thousands of protesters took part in women’s marches on Saturday, with a main event in Washington, D.C., and sister marches taking place across the country.

© Jose Luis Magana/AP With the U.S Capitol in the background, demonstrators march on Pennsylvania Av. during the Women's March in Washington, Oct. 17, 2020.

Organizers had anticipated 116,000 in-person and virtual participants. They said tens of thousands showed up at what turned out to be 438 #CountonUs marches across all 50 states.

Actions were planned in key swing states including “a march for Black lives lost in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” a “Feminist Icon Costume Party in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,” and a “golf cart parade at The Villages, Florida,” according to organizers.

Women's march protests have taken place every year since the first drew more than a million to various locations the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

This year’s goal was to ensure that the 1.25 million women on the organization’s list vote and bring three friends.

“Women showed up in force on day 1 of Trump’s presidency for the first Women’s March, and now we’re mobilizing to finish what we started,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the executive director of Women’s March said in a statement. “Trump’s presidency began with women taking to the streets, and that’s how it’s going to end.”MORE: Women's March 2019: Everything you need to know

© Eduardo Munoz/Reuters A woman wears a face mask with images of late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as people take part in the 2020 Women's March at Washington Square park in New York City, Oct. 17, 2020

© GAMAL DIAB/EPA via Shutterstock People gather for the Women's March in Freedom Plaza, in Washington, Oct. 17, 2020.

Video:

Protesters gather at Freedom Plaza for Washington's women's march

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/photos-4th-annual-women-s-march-draws-protesters-across-the-country/ar-BB1a8odn?ocid=msedgntp

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/us/crowds-gather-for-women-s-march-to-protest-trump-and-supreme-court-nominee/ar-BB1a8isN?ocid=msedgntp

Monday, January 20, 2020

Presidential historian slams National Archives for ‘idiotic’ decision to blur Women’s March photos that were critical of ‘vengeful Trump’

Written by Tom Boggioni / Raw Story January 19, 2020

Appearing on CNN on Sunday morning, noted presidential historian Douglas Brinkley harshly criticized the decision by the National Archives to blur photos of posters that were critical of Donald Trump, saying it was a betrayal of their mission.

Speaking with host Martin Savidge, the normally staid Brinkley was blunt in his assessment of the decision — despite an apology from a spokesperson for the Archives — calling the very fact that it even happened “idiotic.”

“I could not believe the National Archives did such a thing,” Brinkley began. “It’s such a venerable institution and we all trust it. It’s the depository of our national heirlooms and leavings and here it is doctoring photos to make Donald Trump look good. I mean to the idea you take the women’s march of 2017 which was largely anti-Trump march and start changing signs like one sign said ‘God hates Trump,’ they just blurred out the word Trump so the protester sign says ‘God hates.’ That was replicated many times, it’s an idiotic idea to have altered that photograph. I am pleased a retraction has come our way.”

“Do you think this was mandated say by someone or do you think this was an agency that sort of self-censored?” the CNN host asked.

“I think it’s the agency or someone within the agency that self-censored,” Brinkley replied. “But we are in the age of Donald Trump, if you work in the government are you fearful of a vengeful Trump, it may be very well they want to please him.”

“At all costs, we can’t have a photograph on our display that says something negative about him,” he added sarcastically. “We have to remember this is a president we are dealing with on his inauguration lied about his crowd size and blew up the Interior Department because they weren’t showing a photo that he wanted. This idea of air-brushing anything negative about Donald Trump out of our current government institutions is starting to happen more and more. It’s all the reason why we have to say knock it off, ever louder.”

Watch below:

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Saturday, October 02, 2021

Reproductive justice marches take place in aftermath of Texas abortion ban

Women's March rallies for reproductive freedoms kicked off Saturday.

File Photo courtesy of Women's March/Twitter

Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Over 600 marches took place Saturday across the United States over fear of losing reproductive freedoms in the aftermath of Texas' abortion ban.

The Texas bill banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which doctors say can been as soon as six weeks after conception, took effect last month. Activists fear other states will implement their own version of one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.

"We don't say this lightly: We're at grave risk of losing our reproductive freedoms," the Women's March account tweeted. "All of us need to fight back. That's why on October 2, we're marching in every state."

In Washington, D.C., the "Rally for Abortion Justice," kicked off at 1:30 p.m. from Freedom Plaza with demonstrators marching to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The New Orleans brass band the Soul Rebels and singer-songwriter Adeline performed at Freedom Plaza to energize the crowd ahead of the march.

Latina comedian and activist Cristela Alonzo hosted the rally at Freedom Plaza, along with other speakers across the coalition for abortion justice.

Some other speakers slated to give remarks at the D.C. rally included actress and activist Busy Philipps, known for her role in Dawson's Creek, and transgender swimmer and advocate for other trans athletes, Schuyler Bailar, according to the Women's March website.

The Women's March, which also protested the 2017 inauguration of President Donald Trump after his remarks on a 2005 Access Hollywood tape about "grabbing" women's genitals and other offensive remarks, is organizing the marches. More than 90 groups were also involved, including Planned Parenthood, which provides reproductive healthcare, and the Center for American Progress, a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization, CNN noted.

The National Parks Service confirmed to CNN that organizers applied for a permit for 10,000 in Washington, much smaller than the 2017 Women's March against Trump's inauguration, which drew more than 450,000 people to the capital.

The Women's March website said "everyone is required to wear a mask and practice social distancing" amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and urged anyone feeling ill to attend virtual events instead.

A sister rally in Houston announced that Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons of Top Chef, Shareenduh Tate, executive director of George Floyd Foundation, and Sabrina Greenlee, a community activist, author and domestic violence survivor, would participate, along with local leaders.

Counterprotests were also planned, including a D.C. group called "Take Feminism Back," which hosted an event to "counter pre-born violence" in Wisconsin's capital city Madison, CNN reported.

Battle for abortion rights hits America's streets

By AFP
Published October 2, 2021

Protesters attend a rally in Washington to defend access to abortion, part of a wave of marches planned for Oct 2, 2021 - Copyright AFP KARIM JAAFAR
Maria DANILOVA

Carrying signs with slogans like “my body, my choice, my right” thousands of women rallied Saturday in Washington at the start of a day of nationwide protests aimed at countering a conservative drive to restrict access to abortions.

The perennial fight over the procedure in America has become even more intense since Texas adopted a law on September 1 banning almost all abortions, unleashing a fierce counterattack in the courts and in Congress, but with few public demonstrations until now.

Two days before the US Supreme Court, which will have the final say on the contentious issue, is due to reconvene, nearly 200 organizations have called on abortion rights defenders to make their voices heard from coast to coast.

The flagship event was in the nation’s capital Washington, where a crowd of all ages — mostly women but men too — rallied under sunny skies at a square near the White House, many wearing purple masks with the words “bans off my body.”

Protesters danced to pop music blared from loudspeakers, as activists addressed the crowd in recorded interviews broadcast on large screens, and slogans like “abortion is healthcare” or “abort the Texas Taliban” were held aloft on signs, or daubed on protesters’ bodies.

A handful of counter protesters shouted “abortion is murder” but there was no violence.

Later the crowd was to march toward the Supreme Court, which nearly 50 years ago recognized the right of women to have an abortion in its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

Now the court, stacked by former president Donald Trump with conservative justices, seems ready to head in the opposite direction.

“Women are humans, we are full humans, and we need to be treated like full humans,” said Laura Bushwitz, a 66-year-old retired teacher from Florida, wearing a dress with portraits of women activists and politicians, like Michelle Obama.

“We should be able to have our own choice on what we want to do with our bodies. Period,” she said. “Hear that, SCOTUS,?” she asked, referring to the US Supreme Court.

The court has already refused to block the Texas law and has agreed to review a restrictive Mississippi law that could provide an opportunity to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade precedent, that guaranteed the legal right to an abortion up until a fetus is viable outside the womb.

Rallies were planned in at least two conservative states’ capitals, Austin and Jackson, as well as in more than 600 cities in all 50 states. According to the organizers, nearly a quarter million people are expected to turn out across the United States.

“Together, we are joining hands to advocate for a country where abortion isn’t just legal — it’s accessible, affordable and destigmatized,” said the organizers of the Rally for Abortion Justice in a statement.

The group called on Congress to enshrine the right to abortion in federal law, to protect it from any possible reversal by the Supreme Court.

A bill to that effect was adopted a week ago in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats, but has no chance of passing the Senate where Republicans have enough votes to block it.

– ‘Patriarchal desire’ –

In 2017, a first “Women’s March” was held the day after Trump’s inauguration, rallying millions of opponents of the Republican billionaire who had been accused of sexism.

Since then, other demonstrations have failed to turn out such huge numbers, in part due to internal divisions over accusations of anti-Semitism leveled at one of the organizers.

But that page seems to have been turned.

Saturday’s participants are a broad coalition including small feminist groups, community and local organizations as well as the giant of family planning, Planned Parenthood.

“We’re taking to the streets once again, for the first time in the (Joe) Biden era,” the statement said. “Because a change in the Oval Office hasn’t stopped the politicized, perverse, and patriarchal desire to regulate our bodies. If anything, it’s only gotten even more intense.”

That escalation has been spurred on by Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, emboldening local conservative elected officials across to the country to embark on an anti-abortion offensive.

So far this year, 19 states have adopted 63 laws restricting access to abortions.

If the high court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, every state would be free to ban or allow abortions.

That would mean 36 million women in 26 states — nearly half of American women of reproductive age — would likely lose the legal right to an abortion, according to a Planned Parenthood report released Friday.

Thousands march for abortion rights in US amid increased restrictions

ByAFP
Published October 2, 2021

Protesters march past the US Capitol as they take part in the Women's March and Rally for Abortion Justice in Washington on October 2, 2021 - Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Maria DANILOVA

Wearing pink hats and T-shirts and shouting “Hands off my body,” tens of thousands of women took to the streets across the United States on Saturday in nationwide protests aimed at countering a conservative drive to restrict access to abortions.

In Washington, close to 10,000 protesters rallied in a square near the White House under sunny skies before marching to the US Supreme Court, which will have the final say on the contentious issue.

The protesters held signs that read “Mind your uterus” and “Make abortion legal,” with several women — and men — dressed like late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, America’s iconic women’s rights crusader, who died last year.

The perennial fight over the procedure in America has become even more intense since Texas adopted a law on September 1 banning almost all abortions, unleashing a fierce counterattack in the courts and in Congress, but with few public demonstrations until now.

Two days before the Supreme Court is due to reconvene, rallies took place in several hundred American cities from coast to coast.

“Women are humans, we are full humans, and we need to be treated like full humans,” said Laura Bushwitz, a 66-year-old retired teacher from Florida, wearing a dress with portraits of women activists and politicians.

“We should be able to have our own choice on what we want to do with our bodies. Period,” she said. “Hear that, SCOTUS,?” she asked, referring to the US Supreme Court.

Michaellyn Martinez, a woman in her seventies with closely cropped hair, told AFP she got pregnant at the age of 19, several years before the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case, when the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to an abortion up until a fetus is viable outside the womb.

Martinez ended up having a daughter and getting married only to divorce two years later. “It changed my whole life — not having access to birth control and abortion,” she said. “I don’t want us to go back to the time when I was a young woman.”

At the Supreme Court, the marchers were met by counterprotests. A chain of riot police kept the two groups apart.

– ‘A long and ugly fight’ –

In New York, activists gathered in Manhattan’s Foley Square holding signs that read “We are not ovary-acting” and “I have a vagenda.”

Juliette O’Shea, 17, organized about 30 teens from her Manhattan high school to attend the rally to “show solidarity” with Texas.

“We’re trying to show that we are a strong and unified group of people who will not be silent when crazy abortion bans like the one in Texas are put into place,” O’Shea told AFP. “I think that this will be a long and ugly fight.”

The Supreme Court has already refused to block the Texas law and has agreed to review a restrictive Mississippi law that could provide an opportunity to overturn Roe v Wade.

So far this year, 19 states have adopted 63 laws restricting access to abortions.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, told protesters in Washington the story of a Texas woman who had to drive more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), six hours one way, across three state lines, to get an abortion in Colorado — alone, because she was afraid that anybody helping her might get sued.

“No matter where you are, this fight is at your doorstep right now,” McGill Johnson said. “This moment is dark, but that is why we are here.”

The organizers of the Rally for Abortion Justice have called on Congress to enshrine the right to abortion in federal law, to protect it from any possible reversal by the Supreme Court.

A bill to that effect was adopted a week ago in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats, but has no chance of passing the Senate where Republicans have enough votes to block it.

Former president Donald Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court emboldened local conservative elected officials across the country to embark on an anti-abortion offensive.

If the high court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, every state would be free to ban or allow abortions.

That would mean 36 million women in 26 states — nearly half of American women of reproductive age — would likely lose the legal right to an abortion, according to a Planned Parenthood report released Friday.

Hundreds of marches begin nationwide as protesters decry 'unprecedented attack' on reproductive rights

Christine Fernando Savannah Behrmann Jeanine Santucci
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Protesters are gathering in support of reproductive rights Saturday at hundreds of Women's March protests planned across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The marches come a month since a Texas law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy took effect.

In Washington's Rally for Abortion Justice, a crowd of protesters gathered Saturday morning around a banner proclaiming "Bans off our bodies!" as Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" blasted from speakers.

A baby in a stroller nibbled at a sign saying "I can't believe I'm a baby and I have to protest already," and volunteers passed out masks with “I march for abortion access” on them.

Teresa Hamlin from Chesapeake, Virginia, said she finds it “unbelievable that we have to be back out here."

“I did this in the '70s and '60s and now we're back out again," Hamlin said. "It breaks my heart, but they've kicked the hornet's nest, and we're not going back”

In Texas, Democrat Mike Collier, who is running for lieutenant governor, joined protesters, tweeting "men need to shut up, sit down, and listen."

In addition to the Texas law, the possibility of other states passing similar legislation and a Mississippi challenge to the landmark Roe v. Wade decision have created an "unprecedented attack" on reproductive freedoms, said Women's March executive director Rachel O'Leary Carmona.

"For a long time, groups of us were ringing the alarm bell around abortion access and many of us were told we were hysterical and Roe v. Wade will never be overturned," Carmona said. "But now it's clear that our fears were both rational and proportional."

The Supreme Court in September declined to block Texas' abortion law – a move the Women's March said "effectively took the next step towards overturning Roe v. Wade," according to its website. The marches were planned ahead of the Supreme Court reconvening Oct. 4.

More than 400 protesters gathered in Savannah, Georgia, for Saturday's Women's March. Melissa Nadia Viviana, co-organizer of the local march, said the message she wanted to communicate is that women need to have control of their bodies and their future.

“It's the only way we can spread equality throughout this country, so there's no going back to having other people make decisions for our uterus in the 21st century,” Viviana said. “We cannot progress at the same level as men if we don't have control of our reproductive freedom.”

'Women rising,' but numbers falling: 2020 March tries to reenergize amid flagging enthusiasm

'Shadow docket':Senate battles over Supreme Court 'shadow docket' in the wake of Texas abortion law

In Indianapolis, hundreds protested the Texas law and worried about a ripple effect felt closer to home. Some dressed as handmaids from "The Handmaid's Tale," and 27-year-old Van Wijk dressed as the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Indiana has passed laws restricting abortion access over the last few years. The laws have been both upheld and overturned by various courts, but the state Legislature has not definitively outlined any next steps.

Republicans in the state, including House Speaker Todd Huston, say they are "closely watching" the Texas ban and they will "continue to examine ways to further protect life at all stages."

“I think right now, compared to recent years, this is a very frightening moment,” Karen Celestino-Horseman, one of the Indianapolis rally organizers, told the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.

The marches have drawn opposition for years from conservatives who say the Women's March doesn't represent the views of all women. Among the critics of this year's march was Jeanne Mancini, president of an anti-abortion group called March for Life.

Smaller groups of counterprotesters showed up at some of the demonstrations. In D.C., about 100 anti-abortion protesters met the marchers near the Supreme Court. Blasting Christian rock, they yelled “abortion is murder,” prompting the marchers to respond: “abortion is health care.”

In Ocala, Florida, anti-abortion protesters stood opposite an intersection from the pro-abortion rights group. Police were on scene to intervene between the opposing demonstrators, who sometimes crossed the road and engaged in disagreements.

Carmona called the abortion rights marches a "coalition effort" with the Women's March partnering with more than 90 other organizations, including Planned Parenthood, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice and the Working Families Party.

The inaugural Women's March in 2017 started to protest against the election of then-President Donald Trump. Last fall, a march protested now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

"This is a moment to consolidate our movements and to demonstrate to policymakers and to the Supreme Court that we will not go quietly, that this is going to be a fight," Carmona said.

Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

Contributing: Austin Miller, The Ocala Star-Banner; Laura Nwogu, Savannah Morning News; Rashika Jaipuriar, Indianapolis Star

WOMENS MARCH

Watch Live: Women's March Returns to DC to Rally for Abortion Rights

The Women’s March Rally for Abortion Justice is set for Saturday in Washington, D.C. and an anti-abortion rights group has planed a counterdemonstration.

By Sophia Barnes, NBC Washington Staff and Associated Press

• Published 2 hours ago • Updated 32 mins ago

The Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, is set to rally crowds of demonstrators in support of abortion rights and against a Texas law that bans most abortions.

Streams of protesters, many carrying signs reading "bans off our bodies," converged at Freedom Plaza for a rally before a planned march to the Supreme Court building. Up to 100,000 people are expected to attend rallies in the District and across the country, the Women’s March said

Numerous demonstrators paid homage to former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, highlighting the movement's current effort pressuring the courts to uphold abortion rights.

The march is part of “a fight to secure, safeguard, and strengthen our constitutional right to an abortion,” Rachel O'Leary Carmona, executive director of the Women's March, said in a statement. “And it’s a fight against the Supreme Court justices, state lawmakers, and senators who aren’t on our side — or aren’t acting with the urgency this moment demands.”

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This year, the demonstration is dubbed the Rally for Abortion Justice. Organizers planned this march for early October because the Supreme Court of the United States is set to reconvene on Monday, and a key abortion case is on their docket.

The march comes a day after the Biden administration urged a federal judge to block the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, which has banned most abortions in Texas since early September.

It's one of a series of cases that will give the nation's divided high court occasion to uphold or overrule the landmark Roe v. Wade decision from 1973, which made abortion legal for generations of American women.

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 02: Protesters attend the Rally For Abortion Justice on October 02, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Women’s March)

An opponent of women's access to abortion called this year's march theme “macabre.”

“What about equal rights for unborn women?” tweeted Jeanne Mancini, president of an anti-abortion group called March for Life.

Anti-abortion rights group Students for Life of America has planned a counter-demonstration across the street from the Women's March in D.C.

The Women's March has become a regular event — although interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic — since millions of women turned out in the United States and around the world the day after the January 2017 inauguration of Trump. Trump endorsed punishing women for getting abortions and made the appointment of conservative judges a mission of his presidency.

Without Trump as a central figure for women of varied political beliefs to rally against, and with the pandemic still going strong, organizers talk of hundreds of thousands of participants nationally Saturday, not the millions of 2017.

In a medication abortion, a pregnant person can end their pregnancy by taking mifepristone and misoprostol pills after medical consultation. Danielle Campoamor explains how the drugs work and how to check if they are legal in your state.

Latina comedian and activist Cristela Alonzo will host the rally in the capital, which will feature speakers from Planned Parenthood and other advocates and providers of abortion access. Actress Busy Philipps and swimmer Schuyler Bailar are due to take part.

Groups that planned to attend include the National Organization of Women (NOW) and Texas pro-abortion rights coalition Trust Respect Access.

Attendees are asked to follow COVID-19 protocols, including wearing masks and social distancing.

In Photos: Women's March in DC Rallies for Abortion Rights

Thousands of women march in Southern California as abortion-rights showdowns loom

In Southern California, the largest protest is in Los Angeles, a gathering that has typically drawn thousands of people. But demonstrations are planned throughout the region, from Orange County to the Inland Empire, from Redondo Beach to the San Gabriel Valley.

Demonstrators gather at the Los Angeles Women’s March from Pershing Square to City Hall on Saturday, October 17, 2020. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)

By RYAN CARTER | rcarter@scng.com, BRENNON DIXSON | bdixson@scng.com, HUNTER LEE | hlee@scng.com and PIERCE SINGGIH | psinggih@scng.com | Daily News
PUBLISHED: October 2, 2021 at 7:59 a.m. | UPDATED: October 2, 2021 at 9:15 a.m.

Myriad “sister marches,” spinoffs of the fifth annual Women’s March in Washington D.C. today, were expected to fill the streets of Southern California. At least 600 marches are planned around the nation.

Local protesters joined activists across the nation, aiming to decry a restrictive Texas abortion law and draw attention to an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision on Mississippi’s abortion laws — a case that pro choice advocates fear could overturn Roe v. Wade.

The marches trace their roots to protests that arose after President Donald Trump’s election, but these will be the first since he left office. During his tenure, key Supreme Court appointments shifted the court into a conservative direction and the table for abortion-rights showdowns in years to come.

In Southern California, the largest protest is planned in Los Angeles, a gathering that has typically drawn thousands of people. But demonstrations are planned throughout the region, from Orange County to the Inland Empire, from Redondo Beach to the San Gabriel Valley.

Demonstrations were expected in Riverside, Temecula, Redlands Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, Malibu, North Hollywood, Redondo Beach, San Pedro, Simi Valley, Westchester and West Hollywood. And there are more: map.womensmarch.com/.

Some of these rallies were planned by larger women’s or political groups, but others are more grassroots, including those planned by individuals who say they feel a responsibility to protect the futures of young women and teach them about the importance of reproductive rights.

“Abortion care is a critical component of healthcare. It needs to be equitable and accessible for everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status,” said state Sen. Lena Gonzales, who was expected to participate in the Long Beach event. Her district encompasses parts of Long Beach and the South Bay. “California has been a leader in reproductive freedom and we will continue fighting these national attacks that threaten the quality of life for so many in our state and country.”

“This is not just for us. It’s for our children and our children’s children,” Emiliana Guereca, president of the Women’s March Foundation, said in an emailed statement. “It’s beyond time for the United States to recognize that access to abortion care is a key part of access to human rights.”

Opponents of legal abortions have won significant victories in court and in houses of government in recent months.

A recent Texas law banned abortions after six weeks, which is when healthcare providers can detect a fetal heartbeat but before most women know that they’re pregnant. It has been described as the strictest abortion law since the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade in 1973, and it provides no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.

The law also allows state residents to sue medical clinics, doctors, nurses and people who drive women to get an abortion for damages of up to $10,000. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to keep the law in place, though the reasoning from the majority was one of standing.

And in December, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court will hear arguments from Mississippi lawmakers who want to ban abortions in that state after 15 weeks.

In Los Angeles, a collection of Downtown streets were scheduled to be closed for the march, which was set to wind from Pershing Square and concluding with a rally at City Hall.

Participants planned to gather at 9 a.m. at Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., with the march at 10 a.m. to City Hall, 200 N. Spring St. Organizers, including Women’s March Foundation, will hold a program with guest speakers, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation announced these street closures in the area:

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Olive and Hill streets between First and Fifth streets
First Street between Hill and Spring streets

From 2 to 8 p.m.
Spring Street between First and Temple streets

The LADOT adds that if the crowd reaches into the thousands, there may be more impacted streets that will require closures. For updates, LADOT’s Facebook, www.facebook.com/ladotofficial. Website: bit.ly/3F6Fzu2.

Tuesday, March 08, 2022

Aurat March: Women rally in Pakistan despite attempts to shut down protest

Aurat March protesters hold placards and shout slogans as they gather to mark International Womens Day in Islamabad — Farooq Naeem/ AFP — Aurat March protesters hold placards and shout slogans as they gather to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad — Farooq Naeem/ AFP

Rallies on International Women's Day have received fierce backlash since they were embraced four years ago.
Women march through streets in a jovial atmosphere, chanting slogans such as "Give respect to women" and "End the patriarchy".
March was guarded by riot police — and greeted by a small band of men chanting "end this obscenity".

LAHORE: Around 2,000 women rallied Tuesday in the Pakistan city of Lahore despite efforts by authorities to bar the protest and withdraw security for an event frequently the target of violence.

Rallies on International Women's Day have received fierce backlash since they were embraced four years ago.

In a society where women have been shot, stabbed, stoned, set alight and strangled for damaging family "honour", critics accuse rights activists of promoting liberal Western values and disrespecting religious and cultural mores.

On Tuesday dozens of events marking International Women's Day — known as the Aurat March in Pakistan — were held across the country.

Non-violent counter-protests, dubbed "hijab marches", were also staged by women from conservative religious groups in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad where participants called for the preservation of Islamic values.

In the eastern city of Lahore, city authorities urged organisers to cancel the rally over safety concerns and threatened to not provide security.

Following a legal challenge, the Lahore High Court ruled the event could go ahead and authorities agreed to provide protection.

The women marched through the streets in a jovial atmosphere, chanting slogans such as "Give respect to women" and "End the patriarchy".

They were guarded by riot police — and greeted by a small band of men chanting "end this obscenity".

Student Sairah Khan, 23, cited recent high-profile cases of brutal violence against women "without consequences" for her attendance.

In Karachi — Pakistan's largest city — around 1,000 women gathered in a festival atmosphere with organisers conducting security checks as police stood by idly.

"We have only one slogan: equal wages, protection and peace," one woman chanted from a stage.

In the capital of Islamabad, around 200 women rallied outside the city's press club.

"We have come to raise our voices and highlight our issues," said student Fatima Shahzad.

They were outmatched by more than 400 counter-protesters from religious parties.

But organiser Farzana Bari pledged "we will continue to assert ourselves".

"These are the women who refused to bow down," she told AFP.

In 2020, groups of men from a religious party turned up in vans and hurled stones at women as they marched through Islamabad.

Doctored videos and photos of last year's events were spread online and even appeared on popular television shows falsely accusing women of chanting or carrying blasphemous slogans — an act that carries the death penalty in Pakistan.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Class War In Iran

I find it interesting that the right wing embraces feminism in Iran while denoucing it at home. They embrace unions in Iran while attacking them at home. Yep don't ask for consitency out of the right the only consitency they show is the one that says the enemy of my enemy is my friend. For a little while.

Once the working class becomes revolutionary and threatens capitalism and its state, the right quickly returns to its fascist roots to deal with the threat of Bolshevism.

Recently the right wing has taken to reporting on womens and workers struggles in Iran. However the struggle for womens rights ,which is the class struggle, challenges the very nature of the family whether in North America or Iran.
It is the struggle of women as proletarians which is the challenge of this age.
See:Whose Family Values?

The right wings support of unions abroad is not unusual remember Ronald Reagan declaring we are all Solidarity Now, in support of the Polish labour movement, while busting the striking PATCO union which represented air controlers.

The right likes to challenge the left to show solidarity with Women and workers in Iran, which we do contrary to their allegations, such as the case in Canada with support for Nazanin Fateh. Which I have seen no Blogging Tories write about.

Islamic Regime's thugs attack and assault attendants of the peaceful Women's March Iran Press News: It is estimated that approximately 5000 women and supporting men showed up to the General Women's March at Haft'eh Teer Square in Tehran today. The march which was meant to be a peaceful protest against the misogynist rule of the Islamic Republic was slated for 5 to 6 pm Tehran time (9 to 10 am eastern standard time in the U.S.). The participants carried placards, signs and banners protesting the medieval regulations imposed on women and continued to chant slogans supporting women's, children's and human rights.Among those present at the march were academics, well-known human and women's rights activists, student leaders, members of the greater Tehran bus drivers union etc.

Women held up banners calling for equal rights

Demonstration by women in Iran capital – photo report

Iran police beat women activists

Because of course they were protesting without a permit.

No permit issued to women's rally: Official

RIGHTS-IRAN : Braving Threats, Women Demand Legal Reforms

"Women's organisations have not asked for permission for this peaceful event, which is not political at all. Out right to protest peacefully has been recognised by the constitution," one of the organisers of Monday's rally told IPS.

Feminists who organised the event will form a follow-up committee, in hopes that the larger civil society will continue to bring pressure on the government. So far, none of Iran's 12 conservative women MPs have acknowledged the Jun. 12 protest. No group has taken responsibility for this event, because of security fears. Last year, the organisers of a similar event were threatened by unknown security forces.

"One of the security entities has summoned some of the women activists. They have not pointed out any reason," an Iranian woman activist told IPS on condition of anonymity. "They probably asked them to cancel the protest," she added.

The workers movement around the world recognizes the importance of womens rights in civil society. And the womens struggle has been essential to any successful revolution in the past. Whether it was the Paris Commune, the Bolshevik Revolution or the revolution in Tehran that was subverted by the fascist counterrevolution of the Mullahs.

In these revolutions women took the lead over the issue of Bread and Roses, wanting food and being recognized as persons.. And the demonstration the other day in Tehran had that same theme again. The crowd chanted "Rights, Bread & Justice for women".

This is the call of women since the turn of last century as they were exploited in the dark satanic mills of American manufacturing. And as they are today around the world in the new tigers of capitalism.

This is why workers rights and womens rights are the key elements in any proletarian program for revolution.

Unions Around World to Protest Iran's Treatment of Bus Workers

Campaign to Support Workers Fund Iran
The idea to set up an Iranian workers fund has been discussed for a number of years, however, over the last few months the unprecedented escalation in workers struggles to save their jobs against privatisation, or against non payment of wages and the subsequent attacks by security forces and agents of the Iranian Government, have forced us to act urgently. About half of Iran’s workers are currently employed with either temporary or “blank” contracts, depriving them of any rights.

Workers Fund Iran was set up in December 2005 and aims to reduce and relieve poverty amongst Iranian workers (both employed and unemployed) who are victims of the economic policies of the Iranian regime including privatisation. It aims to put at the center of its activities the need to rebuild international working class solidarity, directly with the workers of Iran, in contrast to the funds set up by the US administration to support those Iranian NGOs who follow US policy in the region (including Regime change from above) and its Neo Liberal economic agenda.

Labor Rights Now Blasts Iran Labor Repression
Labor Rights Now blasted the Iranian government for sentencing worker activists to long prison terms for exercising fundamental trade union rights.

"American workers are outraged at the sentencing of Mahmoud Salehi to five years in prison and three years of exile in the city of Ghorvey," LRN President Don Stillman said in a letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Salehi is the former president of the Bakery Workers' Association of the city of Saqez and a co-founder of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers' Organizations.

"We also condemn the sentence of Jalal Hosseini, a member of the Bakery Workers' Association, to three years imprisonment and the two-year sentences given to Mohsen Hakimi, Mohammad Adipour, and Borhan Divangar," Stillman said.

According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), Salehi and Hosseini were sentenced for their trade union activities.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association urged Iran to drop the charges against the worker activists. Iran is a member of the ILO and is obligated to uphold the right to freedom of association, but failed to do so in these cases.

"Labor Rights Now condemns the utter disregard that the government of Iran has displayed toward internationally recognized worker rights," Stillman's letter to Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

"American workers call upon you to recognize the innocence of Salehi, Hosseini, Hakimi, Adipour, and Divangar and to free them from prison immediately."
More Information

• ICFTU's Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights in Iran

Of course the greatest impediment to independent labour and womens movements in Iran and other countries in the Middle East is the appearance of their being used as puppets of US Imperialism. the enemies of our ememies are NOT our friends. No matter how much they want to be.

Reaching Out to (and messing with) the People of Iran
By fubar
Feb 15 2006 - 1:41pm

From a State Department press release:Reaching Out to the People of Iran

As the Secretary noted in her February 15 Senate testimony, we will work with our friends and allies on a range of measures to reach out to the Iranian people and support their calls for freedom. These will include:

* Empowering Iranian Civil Society: The Administration will spend at least $10 million in FY06 funds to support the cause of freedom in Iran this year. These funds will be used to support political dissidents, labor union leaders and human rights activists. We will also work with NGOs to help build networks of support inside and outside Iran.

How to Stop Iran (Without Firing a Shot)
Current diplomacy isn't working. Here's Plan B.

BY BRET STEPHENS

Support an independent labor movement. On May Day, 10,000 workers took to Tehran's streets to demand the resignation of Iran's labor minister. And despite last year's $60 billion oil-revenue bonanza, the Iranian government routinely fails to pay its civil servants, leading to chronic, spontaneous work stoppages.
Workers' rights got a boost in January when Tehran's bus drivers went on strike to demand the release of their imprisoned and tortured leader Mansour Ossanloo. In a state that bans independent labor unions, the strike was an unprecedented event, calling to mind the 1980 Gdansk dock strike that became Poland's Solidarity movement. That movement succeeded largely thanks to the support of Lane Kirkland's AFL-CIO, which in turn received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy. The same model needs to be energetically applied to Iran today.

"The neat thing about the labor movement is that wherever it goes, it's welcomed," says a source familiar with Iranian workers' groups. "It actually makes America look good."

The real workers movement in Iran and Iraq is represented by the Workers Communist Party of Iran, a group which is left communist and beleives that workers need to create workers councils as an alternative to State Power. This organization will never serve the needs of U.S. Imperialism.

International Labour Solidarity Page of the Worker-communist Party of Iran

References:

Labour and taxation (from Iran) -- Encyclopædia Britannica
Although Iranian workers have, in theory, a right to form labour unions, there is, in actuality, no union system in the country. Workers are represented ostensibly by the Workers' House, a state-sponsored institution that nevertheless attempts to challenge some state policies. Guild unions operate locally in most areas but are limited largely to issuing credentials and licenses. The right of workers to strike is generally not respected by the state, and since 1979 strikes have often been met by police action.

Durham e-Prints - Labour unions, law and conditions in Iran (1900 -1941)

Amazon.com: Labor Unions and Autocracy in Iran (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East):

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