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The large list of co-sponsors included many interesting groups, such as the Democratic National Committee, the Communist Party USA, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Human Rights Campaign (America’s largest homosexuality advocacy group), the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, Global Goddess, the Ladies’ Misbehavior Society and Bitch magazine. Several religious bodies also offered their unqualified endorsement and financial support to the event, marching side-by-side with their secular counterparts in the abortion rights movement. Among the officially participating denominations were the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ (UCC), the American Friends Service Committee, the Unitarian Universalists Association and the United Methodist Church (through the General Board of Church and Society and the Women’s Division of the GBGM). The Women’s Division contributed $5,000 as a co-sponsor of the event. Those not in attendance will have little idea of the amount of extreme vulgarity evident in the signs and slogans of the demonstrators, as well as in some official speeches from the podium. Respectable sources are unable to print or broadcast the many lewd references to female anatomy and sexual acts. The event had an unmistakably partisan tone. Many of the official speakers made explicit exhortations urging the crowd to “put a Democrat in the White House.” The agenda of the event clearly went far beyond what even many “pro-choice” Americans believe, as countless speakers denounced the federal ban on partial-birth-abortions, called for increased taxpayer funds for abortion and attacked laws requiring minor girls to notify their parents before undergoing abortion surgery. They also resorted to name-calling, denouncing pro-life people as “cowards,” “peckerwood anti-choice fanatics,” and people “who have no shame,” among many other epithets. (“Peckerwood” is a derogatory term for a rural white southerner.) While speaker after speaker claimed that “most Americans support us,” a Zogby poll taken one week before the march revealed that 49 percent of Americans self-identify as “pro-life” while only 45 percent self-identify as “pro-choice.” Furthermore, 70 percent of Americans oppose partial-birth abortion, according to a CNN poll from January 2003. (Excerpted from a report by John Lomperis, Research Assistant, UMAction. You may view the full report at www.ird-renew.org. Or, use the form in this newsletter to request a copy.)
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