Larchmont/Mamaroneck Bus Heads for
DC:
March For Women's Lives on April 25
by Fran Snedeker
 (March 17, 2003) For most of us, April 25 seems far away, as
we clear snow off our front steps once again. Yet many people
in the
Larchmont/
Mamaroneck area are already intensely focused on that day
as they register for the national March for Women’s
Lives in Washington, DC, and rally their friends and neighbors
to do the same.
Millions of pro-choice advocates
from across the country are expected to converge on
Washington on April 25 to advocate for reproductive health
care and rights.
The March for Women’s Lives has evoked such an enthusiastic
local response that Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic has
offered to provide bus transportation directly from Harbor
Island in Mamaroneck for everyone who registers before April
2. There will be as many buses as needed. Local organizers
posit that "being pro-actively pro-choice, pro-privacy
and pro-family is ultimately the most pro-American thing
we can do."
Larchmont resident Anne Golub was an early registrant. “Once
I heard about the Mamaroneck buses,” Ms. Golub said, “I
got right on the phone to recruit a of my friends to
sign up, too. It will be great to be able to spend some quality
time with them while performing an important political service
for women and their families.” From the outset, she
reported, she wanted to be part of the march and to carry
the message to Washington that a woman’s right to choose
safe, legal abortion and birth control has overwhelming support
in this country.
The march will begin at noon from the Lincoln Memorial,
although participants may begin assembling as early as 10
am. To reach Washington in time to fully participate in these
activities, the Larchmont/ Mamaroneck contingent will leave
at 5:00 a.m. After the march, a rally will be held from 1:00
to 4:00 pm on the National Mall. That means a return to Westchester
not much earlier than 10 pm.
“Under any other circumstances I would consider this
an absurdly long day,” commented Judy Widmann of Larchmont, “but
clearly this is going to be a historically significant day,
and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Registration for round-trip bus transportation is $30 for
adults and $10 for students and children. (For details and
the registration form, click
here.)
Planned Parenthood Board member Lisa Perry of Larchmont
asserted, "It is so important that women, men, families
go to Washington for this March. From Day 1, the Bush Administration
has turned its back on scientific evidence and public opinion
in advancing its own narrow agenda on women's health and
reproductive rights. We must show the strength of our movement
in this election year.”
“Plus, if you can go, you will never forget the experience!" she
added.
Already, the March has inspired over 1,000 co-sponsors
including the League of Women Voters of New York State.The
seven principal organizers are: Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, Black Women's Health Imperative,
NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Latina Institute for Reproductive
Health, NOW, the Feminist Majority Foundation, and ACLU.
Locally, Planned Parenthood
Hudson Peconic is organizing buses leaving from Mamaroneck,
and others from White
Plains and Suffolk
County
to
accommodate
residents
from those
communities.
“I'm proud that the LWV of New York State is co-sponsoring
this march, says Anne Herman, President of the Larchmont/
Mamaroneck League of Women Voters. "I hope there
will be many League members on the bus from Harbor Island,"
she added.
Fran
Snedeker is a member of the board of EngenderHealth,
an international NGO that for 60 years has worked to
improve the lives
of women and men in the world's poorest countries by
making safe, available, and sustainable reproductive
health services both a right and a reality.
Print This Article--For best results, highlight text, print selection
Email
this article
|
