Abortion Pioneer: At Age 100 plus, Still Telling the Truth

Ruth Proskauer Smith was one of the founders and leaders in the movement in the legalization of birth control and abortion. A founder of NARAL, she was 102 years old when she died on January 21, 2010.

In a video made only a year ago, Smith recounted with great clarity her involvement in the reproductive rights, dating back to 1946. NARAL has now released the video on YouTube and the 4.21 minutes are well worth watching and listening.

At age 101, this beautiful woman describes her early involvement in birth control rights in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950s, and her later willingness to help get NARAL going in the same city in 1969.

NARAL Pro-Choice America was then defined by its initials which stood for the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. The name reflected the fact that laws at the time made abortion illegal, or only allowed abortion if a woman were going to die in the pregnancy.

In the video, Smith says, "I got interested in abortion rights in 1952." She had worked at Mt. Sinai clinic, she says, and "there were a number of incidents that pushed me along."

She helped to found NARAL to push for change. "We wanted to go to the trustees of hospitals and try to get them to change the policy. We believe in demonstrations and rallies," she says. "When I heard about the Roe v Wade decision (in 1973) of course ther was much jumping up and down and we all felt that we had won a very strong point."

But she also knew it wasn't the end of the road. As Kelli Conlin, president of NARAL ProChoice New York noted on Huffington Post, "she also recognized the unrealized promise of full access and the challenges that remain."

In the video, Smith says, "I’m very worried about the people who are complacent about their so called right to choose because it’s very endangered … and I don’t think that people understand that all their rights are endangered, along with other civil liberties."

The video also has some lovely historic photographs of abortion rights rallies and of Smith herself as a young woman. It's really nicely done.

This is a video worth earmarking (although while I support the development of video communications by nonprofit organizations, I continue to beg them to name the filmmakers ... this one deserves great credit.) Find the video here.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Screen shot, "Remembering NARAL Co-Founder Ruth Proskauer Smith"

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Without you, I'm nothing: To Doe from Roe on Our Day

Dear Doe:

Can you believe it? We're 37 today!I thought I would drop you a little Happy Birthday note. People always seem to remember me ... and just forget all about you, even though we came out twins on the same day from the same court, wrapped up in one parchment blanket.

I mean,I just Googled me and came up with 1,270,000 hits in .013 seconds for Roe v. Wade. And you--I only came up with 74,700 in 0.15 seconds for Doe v. Bolton. It's not totally fair that I should get 17-18 times the hits that you get, especially with everything you've been through. So I thought I would give you a holler on our day!

Still, when you think about it, Doe, we both should be more popular. After all, there's over 45 million women who've used us since 1973. That's one out of three women in the U.S. ... so why aren't more of them saying so on the Internet? We could use the support ... don't you think!

After all, dear Doe, I don't have to tell you how much we've both been slammed around in the past 37 years. Sometimes it just makes me want to cry. I mean they've been battering me so hard, every year, cutting out one chunk, and then another. And this goes way back to Henry Hyde in '76 and all his anti-abortion antics, stopping Medicaid funding and trying to make life miserable for women and girls. And then the courts letting those attacks stand, even when I thought I was supposed to be safe and protected. It's been rough, Doe, definitely hard times.

But I never imagined they'd get away with going after you -- after protections for women's life and health. I honestly don't understand how these people come off saying women can't make their own decisions about abortion even when a pregnancy might kill them or make them sick or make them go crazy. And that's all about you, Doe, my lovely twin, my best friend. (Face it, without you, I'm nothing!) And that last Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v Carhart when the Supreme Court said you didn't matter and that Congress could make certain abortion procedures illegal, no matter what it meant for a woman's health-- wow. I never thought the country could get so mean.

And then there was the last year, my dear Doe. What can I say? We lost our wonderful friend, our comrade, our ally -- Dr. George Tiller. Hard for both of us. But especially for you: Dr. Tiller was all about saving women's lives and health.(And what good is your holding, Doe, if there aren't docs like George Tiller to make it a reality.) He helped women facing the most difficult circumstances. It was an incalculable loss, Doe, no other way to say it. I'm real sorry.

"Trust women." It was so simple, so wise, what Dr. Tiller used to say. Maybe as we head to 40 (40!) in the next few years, more people will hear his words. Let's trust the women of this country to step up for us like Dr. Tiller stepped up for them -- the women who've used us and those who might have and those who understand that we're part of women's fundamental rights.

I really believe, in the end, they'll come through for us, Doe. I'll make a wish on a candle -- or two! So hang in there, partner, and see you next year!

Your loving friend,
Roe

Written on participation with Blog for Choice Day 2010Posted by Cindy Cooper, for Roe,
Pictured above: Blog for Choice logo

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The First Amnesty Human Rights Art Festival Brightens 2010

April will mark the exciting First Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival. The festival will be in Silver Spring, Maryland from April 23-25. Among the mix of visual art, music, dance, film and theater, Words of Choice is delighted to be one of the participants.

Words of Choice will present a live performance at 4:30 pm on Sunday, April 25 at Montgomery College (Takoma/Silver Spring), Health Sciences Center, HC 122, (Georgia Ave. betw King St. and Jesup Blair). In a discussion following the performance, Words of Choice will be joined by speakers from the National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood Maryland/Washington, and Feminist Studies journal. On that same day, Sunday, April 25, Words of Choice will also present a Creativity and Women's Rights workshop at 12:30 pm at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, 8230 Georgia Ave., also in Silver Spring. Filmmaker Angie Young of The Coat Hanger Project will join it, as well.

In this dynamic confluence of human rights and the arts, Words of Choice joins 140 organizations, arts groups and individuals artists who will present work related to human rights. A dozen theater performances are scheduled.

All events are free of charge.

Words of Choice will also join a Theater Panel on Saturday, April 24 at 11:30 a.m. at the Montgomery College Performing Arts Center, Room 203. Nelson Pressley will moderate.

The idea for the Human Rights Art Festival is the brainchild of Tom Block, a visual artist in Maryland, who has also been the festival organizer. In 2002, Block began a human rights painting project.

What will it be? As the website for the festival explains:

Each day will include a variety of events including visual art shows, new media
events, performance art, spoken word, theater, book readings, panel discussions,
film, music, hands-on workshops, art walks from exhibit to exhibit,
participatory parades, international foods etc. throughout the Arts and
Entertainment District of Silver Spring, all centered on raising awareness of
human rights issues. Venues will include local restaurants, art spaces, theaters
and community spaces.

The festival will run from 4 pm to late night Friday, April 23, and then 10 am to late night Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25. Amnesty International will have a presence at all of the events.

Among the other groups participating are Liz Lehrman Dance Group, International Domestic Violence Memorial, Girls Gotta Run, Red Collaborative, and individuals artists that include playwright Catherine Filloux, visual artist Taryn Wells and storyteller Dovie Thomasson.

For this exciting collaboration, Tom Block has gathered an impressive honorary committee of U.S., state and country elected officials, as well as volunteer organizers.

The event will not only draw attention to the work of Amnesty International, which coordinates and supports actions for justice around the world, but is one of the strongest recognitions of the unique nexus between art and human rights. This incredible and vital effort is well-worth support, and that women's rights will be integral makes it all the stronger. Thanks, Tom Block, for kicking this off in 2010.

Tom Block announced that writer and producer Norman Lear (Maude, All in the Family, Sanford and Son) has been named the Executive Producer of the Human Rights Art Festival. Lear was a co-founder of People for the American Way.

Posted by Cindy Cooper (updated 1/18; 2/25; 3/18)
Pictured above: clip of the logo for the first Amnesty Human Rights Art Festival

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New Year Writing Opportunity: Feminists for Choice

Feminists for Choice, a group that organized less than a year ago, has announced a call for essays about activism, which it intends to publish in an e-book.

Feminists For Choice describes itself as a "collective of women’s rights advocates" which selected the name "a very deliberate statement that feminism is inherently linked to the right a woman has to control her own body." And, of course, the name serves as an antidote to Feminists for Life, a virulently anti-choice organization that opposes abortion and even contraception for all women but still wants to claim the mantle of feminism.

On the Feminists for Choice website the 20 listed founders each describe why they believe in feminism and why they believe in choice. It's a refreshing relief. They founders come from across the country and are mostly in the 20s and 30s age category.

The call for writings seeks works of 5,000 words or less from "pro-choice activists of all ages, gender identities, races, and experience levels." The deadline is February 15, 2010.

Under the central theme of drives feminists to activism, topics that interest Feminists For Choice are: "When did you first call yourself a feminist? What does feminism mean to you? Did you grow up in a pro-choice household, or was your family anti-choice? If you grew up in an anti-choice household, what influenced your decision to become involved in the pro-choice movement? What does the pro-choice movement mean to you? What does activism look like to you? What do you envision as the future for the pro-choice movement?"

And how does Feminists for Choice answer these questions?

What is Feminism?
“Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” ~Paula Treichler

“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.” ~Rebecca West

“Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” ~bell hooks

What is Choice?
The pro-choice movement supports a woman’s right to control her own body. “Because once a woman has the ability to determine her reproductive destiny, she can aspire to control her destiny in every other area as well. Reproductive self-determination is the most fundamental civil and human right a woman can have. It’s the key to enjoying full equality, liberty, and justice. And that’s the very right that the right-wing extremists are fighting so hard to take away.

We must speak out about what is happening, and protest the fact that our country is being hijacked by the far right. This is not a partisan matter; it is a human matter that touches all of our lives.” ~Gloria Feldt, former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America

More details about the call for writings and submission requirements are on the Feminists for Choice website, and questions can be addressed to Serena Freewomyn at serena@feministsforchoice.com.
Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Screen shot from Feminists for Choice website

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