Detroit
Action Committee to Defend Abortion Rights
Phone (313) 837-2369
E-mail us at: detroitaction@netscape.net
April 12, 2006
Dear Friend:
A woman's right to choose abortion is
under attack
like never before. Abortion has been outlawed in
South Dakota. Anti-choice forces in Mississippi and
other states hope to do the same and have legislation
pending. Rightwing petition drives for ballot
initiatives to rollback abortion rights are underway
not only here in Michigan but in other states around
the country.
Before Roe, five to ten thousand women
in the U.S. per
year died due to illegal botched abortions. A federal
ban on abortions for women on Medicaid was upheld by
the Supreme Court in 1980. Michigan and other states
have laws curbing abortion rights for young women by
requiring them to get parental consent or go before a
judge in a court of law before they can obtain an
abortion. Michigan is among states with laws
requiring women to submit to a so-called "24 hour
waiting period" before undergoing a termination
procedure. Now South Dakota has outlawed abortion
altogether, a move the rightwing hopes will cause a
review of Roe in the Supreme Court and finally
overturn our right to choice.
It is a dire situation for the rights
of women to
control our own bodies and our destinies. At the same
time, jobs at livable wages are hard to find,
healthcare benefits are non-existent or being slashed,
our schools are in shambles, and more and more money
goes to fund a war and occupation in Iraq. The right
of women to bear and raise children is a sham when
jobs, benefits and social services are being cut to
the bone, when decent education, jobs, childcare and
healthcare are out of the reach of millions of women.
We think saving Roe and reproductive
rights for women
takes more than emailing your legislator, signing an
electronic petition, or trying to vote someone new
into office. We see that presidents and legislators
have come and gone, yet anti-choice forces have
steadily continued their efforts to roll back abortion
rights. We cannot rely on politicians or judges to
win this struggle! In fact, they only act in our
favor when forced to by the struggle in the streets,
like the millions of women in the late 1960s and early
1970s that marched and struggled and forced a
reactionary Supreme Court to make the right to
abortion the law of the land.
It's once again time to fight
back! We are a grouping
of women looking to find other women (and sympathetic
male allies) who are ready to organize to begin a
struggle-oriented approach here in Michigan to
defending reproductive rights, to going on the
offensive for women's right to choice, and who want to
ally with us and others to form an action committee to
do just that.
If you feel the need to get out and
take action, and
would like to get involved in this important struggle,
come to an organizing meeting on Saturday, May 6, 2:00
to 4:00 p.m., at 5920 Second Ave., Detroit (just north
of Wayne State University). Please get in touch with
us today!
Yours in the struggle to save our
right to abortion,
Susan Farquhar
Debbie Johnson
Kris Hamel
Jacqueline Jones
Back