"The Government Does Not Belong in Our Bedrooms," ACLU Chief Romero Declares at Historic March for Women's Lives
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Anthony Romero, ACLU
March for Women's Lives
Washington, DC
Welcome my friends.
The American Civil Liberties Union is proud to join you today as we stand together in the name of reproductive freedom for all.
As a democratic and free nation, we are at a critical moment in our history. In recent years we have witnessed an unequalled attack on our civil liberties, and the right to reproductive freedom has been a prime target. We are here today to demand an end to the government's incursion into our personal lives and to stop the political assault on reproductive rights.
The government does not belong in our bedrooms. It does not belong in our doctors' offices. It does not belong in the bank accounts of innocent Americans, and should not have the power to monitor their e-mail, or track their bookstore purchases, or scrutinize the books they check out of local libraries. Our fundamental right to privacy is under serious attack by this government.
The decision of whether or not to have a child is among the most private decisions a person can make. This is true no matter who you are or where you live. And yet, our government continues to enact laws and polices that deny this basic human right. The assault on reproductive freedom must end now.
I was a young boy when I first heard the whispered stories of a beloved family member's self-induced abortion. She had had four children and worked long hours in a nearby factory to support them. One day, she found herself pregnant again. She couldn't even begin to imagine how she could provide for another child. But this was decades before the U.S. Supreme Court declared a woman's fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Desperate to end the pregnancy, she took an extreme measure that put her own life at risk. Thankfully, she was one of the lucky ones. She lived to speak about her experience. But her health bore the scars of this tragic event until the day she died.
]The policies of the current administration threaten to make this story the story of future generations of American women. Anti-choice forces currently control the White House. They control both houses of Congress. And they control many state legislatures. Our opponents are more determined than ever to undermine women's autonomy and extend the government's reach into our private lives. We say today that the assault on reproductive freedom must end now.
Women of color, poor women, young women, and women living in rural areas have been hardest hit by the war on reproductive rights. Already, because of the policies and laws passed since our last march, the ability to obtain basic reproductive health care has all but vanished for too many women.
Reproductive freedom means not only access to safe and legal abortion. It means access to contraceptives, access to prenatal care, access to treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and access to accurate sexuality education.
The ACLU is marching to stop government-imposed roadblocks to basic health care. Thousands of card-carrying members are here today to ensure that all women - regardless of race, age, ethnicity, or income - have access to the full range of reproductive health services. We march so that all women will live in a world in which they can make decisions - free from government interference - about their own health care and private reproductive lives.
Growing up, I often heard my grandmother use her favorite saying from her native Puerto Rico: "Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres." (Tell me who you walk with and I will tell you who you are.")
Today, we walk among an enormous crowd of friends. Hundreds of thousands of pro-choice supporters, including thousands of ACLU members and allies, are here today to send John Ashcroft and President Bush a message: Women's private decisions are none of your business. But our voices must be even stronger. When you return to Nebraska, California, Maine, Illinois, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, the Carolinas, take our message to your friends, family members, colleagues.
Tell them:
If you believe that every woman, regardless of her economic status, should have access to birth control, walk with us.
If you believe that prenatal care must be extended to all women, walk with us.
If you believe that all women and men must have access to the full range of reproductive health services, walk with us.
If you believe that politicians should stay out of our bedrooms and out of our doctors' offices, walk with us.
If you believe that reproductive freedom is a basic human right, walk with us.
March with us. Fight with us. And keep on fighting. Thank you for being here.