Generations March For Choice
Synopsis: NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts mobilizes people of all ages and backgrounds for the March for Women’s Lives.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Unveils MBTA Ad Campaign
Boston, MA – Billie Rosoff, an 80-year-old grandmother, is just one of the tens of thousands of women who will attend the March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C. on April 25, 2004. When she travels to Washington this spring, she’ll be accompanied by her daughter, Leslie Kenney, 57, and her granddaughter Elizabeth Kenney, 24, all of Brookline, MA. Rosoff told her story at a recent Choice Conversation, gatherings of pro-choice friends and neighbors sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts where women discuss threats to reproductive freedom and learn what they can do to protect their rights.
Billie Rosoff was just 19 when her cousin and best friend Sylvia died from complications of an illegal abortion. It was the early 1940’s and Sylvia’s husband had just shipped out for overseas duty in WWII when the young mother of two learned she was pregnant. “She felt desperate and alone,” Rosoff explained. “Sylvia decided to have an abortion and died soon after from acute infection,” she told the group of women. “During those decades, it never ever occurred to me or other desperate women like Sylvia that it would be possible to have a safe, affordable, legal abortion.”
“Reproductive rights are basic civil rights,” said Melissa Kogut, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. “Women of all ages have come forth to demonstrate their commitment to freedom of choice. From 18 to 85, women are speaking out and preparing to take action. They’ll travel to D.C. by any means necessary – by bus, car, plane and train.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, the state’s leading political advocate for a woman’s right to choose, has organized more than 30 Choice Conversations this year to build participation in the April 25th demonstration, anticipated to be the largest pro-choice march ever. More than 50 buses will depart from Massachusetts for Washington, D.C. and the overall Massachusetts delegation is expected to exceed 10,000. The march will unite hundreds of thousands of people from across the nation on the national mall in a show of support for reproductive choice.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts also announced the launch of an advertising campaign to educate the public about pervasive threats to privacy and reproductive freedom posed by President Bush and his administration. With hundreds of placards posted today on the MBTA Red and Orange Lines, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts will mobilize thousands of Massachusetts citizens to attend the March for Women’s Lives.
The T ads feature an image of a newspaper headline that reads: “ABORTION CRIMINALIZED,” followed by the words, “Before it’s too late,” and an incitement to attend the March on Washington, D.C. Coupled with extensive grassroots organizing efforts, the campaign highlights the urgent need to mobilize the pro-choice public to fight for their fundamental rights.
“The time is right for a massive show of pro-choice support,” said Melissa Kogut. “As we face the greatest threats to reproductive freedom since the Roe v. Wade decision, we must act now to preserve our rights to privacy and choice. By sending a Massachusetts delegation of historic size to Washington, D.C., we’ll demonstrate the power of our state’s pro-choice movement and send a clear message to those who seek to deny women their constitutional rights,” Kogut added.
The NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts statewide organizing plan includes Choice Conversations, visibility and outreach at public events, and online advocacy and organizing via the Choice Action Network, an e-mail list of more than 12,000 Massachusetts choice activists.
Choice Conversations to build support for the March have been scheduled in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, Jamaica Plain, Watertown, Allston, West Newton, Dedham, South Boston and on Cape Cod. Events will culminate in a public rally on Boston Common to send off busses departing for D.C. on April 24th.
News media are invited to attend upcoming Choice Conversations, speak to participants and film these events. For information about attending a Choice Conversation or to arrange an interview, please contact Melissa Kogut at (617) 556-8800, ext 12.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts also proudly announced its Women of Color Organizing Initiative, a grassroots effort to further participation and collaboration within Boston’s communities of color before the March for Women’s Lives. By raising funds in support of the organizing efforts of the Boston Black Women’s Health Institute, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts hopes to broaden the pro-choice movement and include the perspectives and voices of all women.
Sen. Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston) has been instrumental in this effort and underscored the need for a broad, inclusive movement. "The time to march is now. We cannot stand by and watch as a fundamental civil right is under assault with the threat of being taken away from us. I am committed to making sure that women in greater Boston know about this march and know how to get there," Sen. Wilkerson said.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts works to develop and sustain a grassroots constituency that uses the political process to guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices.
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