Pro-choice activists in Texas and across the nation are hard at work putting together the final arrangements for the April 25 “March for Women’s Lives” in Washington, D.C. According to Sarah Wheat, director of public affairs for the Texas Abortion Rights Action League, organizers are expecting nearly 500,000 people to participate, which would make the march the largest pro-choice march and rally in history. It also represents the first time that women’s rights groups – including Planned Parenthood, the Black Women’s Health Imperative, and the Latina Institute for Reproductive Health – have collaborated on an event. Organizers have joined forces to counter the Bush administration’s constant attacks on reproductive rights, Wheat said. “We are ready to make our voices heard.”
So far, 400 Texans have signed up to join TARAL at the march, including former Gov. Ann Richards and former Austin state representative and Roe v. Wade attorney Sarah Weddington. Wheat said TARAL has arranged for discounted airfare and hotel rooms for Texans interested in joining the march and will be awarding four “Pass the Torch awards” to post-Roe (that is, women born since 1973) pro-choice activists. For more info, or to apply for the Torch awards, go to www.taral.org.
This article appears in February 27 • 2004.