March for Women's Lives

March Photo

Episcopalians Make Good Showing in Washington

by Matthew Davies and Maureen Shea for ENS

Episcopalians joined more than one million people, rep resenting 100 religious and religiously-affiliated organizations and congregations, to march on Washington, D.C., April 25 in support of women's reproductive rights at home and abroad. The march recorded the largest ever crowd count for women's rights in the nation's capital.

The "March for Women's Lives" was co-sponsored by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), an alliance of national organizations from major faith groups, local affiliates, the national Clergy for Choice Network, Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, and the Black Church Initiative. Ac cording to its mission statement, RCRC supports the constitutional right to abortion and advocates solutions to such problems as the spread of HIV/AIDS, inadequate health care and health insurance, and the "severe reduction" in reproductive health care services. The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Women's Caucus are both members of RCRC.

RCRC's president, the Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, welcomed the gathering with assurances that the religious community is behind them. "You can't sustain a movement on outrage," she said. "We are here to support the providers, politicians, women and activists, and let them know that we respect them for their work and their commitment." Ragsdale, an Episcopal priest, added that a punk rock concert was held in Washington April 24 to enlist young people in the movement.

Also marching behind the Episcopal Church banner were the Rev. Margaret Rose, director of the Episcopal Church Office of Women's Ministries; Executive Council members Louie Crew and John Vanderstar; long-time women's rights activist and General Convention deputy Marge Christie; and Maureen Shea, director of the Government Relations Office.

Before the march, the RCRC also held a "Prayerfully Pro-Choice Interfaith Worship Service."

In 1994, the 71st General Convention of the Episcopal Church reaffirmed that all human life is sacred from its inception until death and that all abortion is regarded as having a tragic dimension.

"While we acknowledge that in this country it is the legal right of every woman to have a medically safe abortion," the resolution stated, "as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it should be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience."

"General Convention resolutions have expressed unequivocal opposition to any legislation abridging a woman's right to make an informed decision about the termination of pregnancy, as well as offering the support that may be needed for those making difficult life decisions," Rose said, adding that participating in the march shows that advocacy for women's rights is "essential to our call for justice."

"By publicizing this march and other events through our network, we are able to enlist and inform Episcopalians about important events," explained Mary Getz, director of the Episcopal Public Policy Network.

"This is one of the ways we are continuing to build our grassroots network." The march came in for criticism from the Institute on Religion and Democracy, which issued a press release calling it a "scandal" and suggesting that "a majority of church members...would be disgusted if they knew that their denominations have joined...in backing this kind of cause." IRD president Diane Knippers, an Episcopalian, said that "the church's proper role in this issue is to offer godly counsel and ministry to persons involved in crisis pregnancies. But in this case some...are adopting the strident arguments of the secular culture."

Other Episcopalians participating in the march included delegations of women and men from California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Virginia.

Matthew Davies is staff writer of Episcopal News Service.
Maureen Shea is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations.

The politics of Numbers

by Barbara Santee

Politicizing of the estimates on the number of people who attended the Women's March in Washington were not unexpected, but I was there and I can tell you what happened. March volunteers met people as they left the buses or entered the mall. They put small stickers on each person that said, "Count Me In" and asked us to give contact info. They were able to get a handle on the actual numbers of people who were there.

Some 7500 volunteers collected this info. They did this because at the last pro-choice march, the park police gave an estimate only half of what the crowd size actually was. As a matter of fact, the Million Man March organizers sued the park police because they drastically underestimated the numbers for that march. After that, the park police stopped doing estimates, so the organizers of the April march decided to do their own count and validate it with sign-up sheets. Their estimate is 1.15 million.

Always before, the park department would take aerial photos from a helicopter and count bodies per square inch to come up with their estimates. The outer edges of the mall are covered by trees, however, and there were thousands of people under those trees. In addition, many people come late and leave early, or come for a couple of hours and then leave. So making an estimate based on one photo taken at one period of time leaves a lot to be desired.

All I know is that the march last month started at 12 noon at one end of the mall (Washington Monument), went by the White House, and down a long, wide avenue to the other end of the mall (the Capitol) where the march ended.

Four hours later, marchers, 30 to 40 people abreast, were still marching off the avenue onto the mall. That's a lot of people!!

I remember seeing a film about a "right-to-life" rally at the same location some 10 years ago. The male organizers were on the stage discussing the size of the crowd. They didn't know that one microphone was picking up their voices as they were being filmed. They were talking about what numbers they should announce to the crowd. One of them said that he thought there were 200,000. But Wilkey, the head of the National RTL organization said, "No, I'll announce 400,000." And 400,000 was the number that hit the papers. The counts at these demonstrations has become very political, and the opposition is not above lying about their turnout. The pro-choice organizers of this march didn't want that charge made against them, so they did an actual head count. There was an article in the Washington Post the day after the march giving a history of crowd estimates at other Washington demonstrations.

This was the biggest crowd ever to gather in the United States, including the Million Man March, the Million Mother March, the anti-war demos in the '70s, and Martin Luther King's speech.

Barbara Santee is the Moderator of Pro-Choice Oklahoma

Episcopalians Proudly Join in March for Women's Lives

by John Vanderstar

The looks on some of the faces were delightful.

My day began at 8:45 on the morning of April 25 when I walked to the Metro (subway) stop near my home in Arlington, VA, just across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. I had not even gotten on the escalator to enter the station when I was stopped by some women who were wearing t-shirts showing that they had come from Vermont for the March for Women's Lives. They asked if they could take my picture! We all cherish the belief that we are attractive, but I suspect that what prompted the request was my raspberry pink t-shirt that said, in large white letters, "This Is What A Feminist Looks Like."

In fact, I was stopped about 20 times during the course of the day by others who wished to photograph this 70-year-old gray-bearded man who was wearing that t-shirt. The faces always expressed delight. I always said "yes."

The reason my day began so early is that I planned to attend the "Prayerfully Pro-Choice Interfaith Worship Service" at 10 on a section of the Mall right near the Capitol. The service was sponsored by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, which was a co-sponsor of the March.

The RCRC seeks to bring the moral power of religious communities to the defense of reproductive choice. The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Women's Caucus are members of the Coalition. I serve as the Caucus representative on the Coalition's Board of Governors; the Reverend Katherine Ragsdale, the Episcopal Church representative, is President of the Coalition. Other members include The Presbyterian Church; the Unitarian Universalist Association; Catholics For a Free Choice; various components of the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, and a number of Jewish organizations from both the Conservative and Reform traditions; the American Humanist Association, the American Ethical Union, and the YWCA.

After the prayer service, we unfurled our flags and banners and stepped off as part of the Coalition segment of the March. In addition to the various church and church-related members, Harvard Divinity School and Union Theological Seminary in New York displayed their flags. There were also numerous purple signs that contained the Coalition slogan--Pro-Faith, Pro-family, Pro-Choice. We held these high, for the benefit of the many church-goers who are burdened by the popular view that "religion" translates to "anti-choice." There were many delighted faces.

The large Episcopal Church banner produced another set of delightful facial expressions. People would walk near us, see the banner, look somewhat surprised and pleased, and proudly say, "I'm an Episcopalian."

Among those carrying or marching near the banner besides me were the Reverend Margaret Rose, Director of the Office of Women's Ministries at the Church Center in New York; Marge Christie, a longtime activist for women in the Church; Maureen Shea, Director of the Church's Office of Government Relations in Washington; Louie Crew, who is also a Member of Executive Council; and many Episcopalians from (at least) California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and Nebraska.

"People would walk near us, see the banner...and proudly say, 'I'm an Episcopalian.'"

As is well known, the size of the event was staggering. Accurate estimates of these things are hard to come by, but I do believe there were at least 750,000 participants and perhaps many more. The original name, the March for Freedom of Choice, was changed to reflect the broad agenda of those who support women's reproductive health, access to family planning, and accurate sex education. The principal organizers were Feminist Majority, NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Organization for Women (NOW), and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The agenda of the March for Women's Lives fits well within the mission statement of the Episcopal Women's Caucus, which includes "empowering women and men to challenge oppressive structures in the global community, nation, and church" and also "giving visibility and respect to women's perspectives and actions in the work and struggle for justice, peace and the integrity of creation." Those of us who marched on April 25^th were proud to give their time and energy to advance these noble goals.

John Vanderstar is a member of the Executive Council and a former EWC board member.

'Most Diverse' Religious Contingent Meets, Prays and Marches

The largest and most diverse religious contingent ever assembled for a pro-choice march gathered under the banner of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) Sunday, April 25, at the March for Women's Lives. The first event of the day was an interfaith worship service sponsored by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, at the Capitol Reflecting Pool area.

"Christians, Jews, Unitarian Universalists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and many other faiths are speaking up in the face of the Religious Right assault on reproductive choice," said the Rev. Carlton W. Veazey, head of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. "We're marching in unprecedented numbers for justice and equality--and to debunk the notion that the Radical Right speaks for religion."

The RCRC Prayerfully Pro-Choice Interfaith Worship Service featured inspirational songs and prayers from more than a dozen traditions.

Participants included Rabbi Sally Priesand, the first woman rabbi; Rev. Carlton W. Veazey, RCRC President, African American Baptist minister; Rev. William G. Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations; Ms. Genie Bank, President of the 1-million member Women's Division of the United Methodist Church; Rev. Loey Powell of the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries; Rev. Debra Haffner of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing, and Muslim, Buddhist, and Sikh leaders.

More than 70 religious and religiously affiliated groups and churches and synagogues marched. The co-sponsors of the march included the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church USA, General Synod of the United Church of Christ, two agencies of the United Methodist Church, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and official bodies of the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist Jewish movements.

Now with Bill Moyers Features Religious Aspect of March for Women's Lives

Deeply held pro-choice religious beliefs motivated countless numbers of people to take part in the historic March for Women's Lives, as journalist Bill Moyers reported on NOW, his award-winning PBS-TV program.

As Moyers reported, the massive March-- more than 1.15 million strong--was much more than a matter of numbers; for many, it was a pilgrimage, an act of faith, and a witness to profound beliefs about faith and conscience. The report features the crowd roaring its approval as Coalition President Rev. Carlton Veazey says, "Most religious people are pro-choice because of their religious beliefs!"

The report shows the colorfully clad marchers--young and old, women and men, carrying banners and placards--and contrasts them with a few men in all-black clerical garb standing on the sidelines. Moyers comments that, even though the Radical Right seems to vastly outnumber other believers when it comes to views about abortion and reproductive choice, in fact many millions of people of all faiths also read the Bible and come to a vastly different conclusion.

The report shows the Religious Coalition "Prayerfully Pro-Choice" worship service and many of the Coalition member groups that marched, including Methodist, Presbyterian, Unitarian Universalist, Episcopalian, and United Church of Christ. Moyers comments that what these denominations--which together have more than 20 million members--have in common is a belief that "the state should not force a woman to bring a child into the world against her will." [RCRC]

For information about purchasing this video, go to www.pbs.org/now/ and click on Shop PBS at the top of the site.

"Even though the Radical Right seems to vastly out number other believers when it comes to views ...about reproductive choice, in fact many millions of people of all faiths also read the Bible and come to a vastly different conclusion."

Dream of a World, Speak of a Vision

Remarks Made at the March in Washington

by Katherine H. Ragsdale

Good morning, pro-choice America! I come to remind you that this [pointing to collar] too is the face of pro-choice America. The vast majority of religious Americans are behind you--as we have been for decades-since before Roe. We are pro-choice not in spite of our faith but because of it.

We're pro-choice because we know that the scriptures--and any faith worthy of the name--do not give simple and easy answers to complex and difficult questions. They don't promise to spare us from making tough decisions. They just promise that we won't have to face those choices alone.

We're pro-choice because we know that our faith cannot answer the question of when a fetus becomes a person. We also know that the whole question of fetal personhood is a disingenuous, and often malicious, attempt to distract us from the real issue--which is that the woman is a person. She is a person endowed by God, the U.S. Constitution, and common sense and decency with rights and responsibilities which she must exercise to the best of her ability, using her own best judgment.

And while our various religious traditions may teach various things about when, if, and how we should sacrifice ourselves for others, no one--not partner, nor priest, nor politician--no one gets to decide what is, or is not, an appropriate sacrifice for someone else to make.

We're pro-choice because we have a vision.

We have plenty to march against--plenty to be outraged by:

Violence at our clinics, Onerous burdens placed on the poorest, youngest, and sickest among us,

The atrocity of outlawing medical procedures and so threatening the lives of women who are already contending with shattered dreams.

No one with a heart and a conscience can fail to be outraged. But outrage burns fast. It is a powerful force but a finite one.

To sustain us we need a vision--a vision that reminds us of the values and dreams that make us who we are and that brought us here in the first place.

I dream of a world where every person has full access to all the health care they require--provided conveniently and compassionately.

I dream of a world where people don't grasp at the ridiculous and faithless notion that there is, or can be, a rule for every occasion and that knowing and enforcing enough rules will save us from the difficult work of making complex ethical decisions.

I dream of a world that values cooperation over competition, compassion over punishment, respect over control, and the dazzling diversity of creation over conformity.

I dream of a world that not only protects a woman's right to choose--but celebrates it.

And so we march.

But we march also to support you.

You know who you are: Providers who have to wear Kevlar in order to go to work,

Politicians who put your careers on the line to do the right thing,

Activists who refuse to give up and go back,

And women--oh, the women--you who wrestle with these decisions and make the choices that you need to make to honor your own futures or to protect your families....

And you do it all while under assault from the abuse heaped upon you by those who think they have the right to decide the course of other people's lives.

And in your heads you know they're wrong, but sometimes, I suspect, your hearts get bruised anyway.

So we're here to tell you--every one of you --how much we respect and honor you for the work you do and the decisions you make.

And so we march with you--a massive, living prayer for that just and safe world that lives already in the heart of God... that shimmers on the horizon of our hope... and from which we will never turn back! God bless you all--today and always.