Operation Save America/ Operation Rescue members are
converging in Jackson this week (July 15th – July 22nd),
with plans to shut down Mississippi’s last abortion clinic as the nation
reaches a decisive hour in the political battle over abortion. After spending only one day with Operation
Save America (OSA) it is clear that their agenda goes far beyond overturning
Roe v. Wade, and the outcome of this conflict over abortion will determine
whether or not women will be stamped as incubators. OSA are foot soldiers in the Christian Fascist movement to
establish a theocracy, a government whose structures and decisions are informed
by a literal interpretation of the bible, in 21st century
America. Take a look at the official
OSA t- shirt: “Homosexuality is a sin. Islam is a lie. Abortion is
murder.” Imagine what kind of
conversations they have in private.
Feeling the Need to Bring This to a Halt
Local news is buzzing about the political showdown around
abortion and stores downtown are closing up shop in anticipation of the
protests. We are meeting pro-choice
activists who have come to Jackson from all over the country to defend the
abortion clinic and oppose the war on contraception. There are people from Portland, Texas, Georgia and towns all over
Mississippi. There is a feeling in the
air that something historic is unfolding, and we need to seize the moment.
On the first day, the local chapter of National Organization
for Women (NOW) organized a rally in Jackson to protest OSA’s attempt to block
the women’s medical clinic that drew 100-150 people. Sunsara Taylor spoke for World Can’t Wait and left the stage with
the crowd chanting THE WORLD CAN’T WAIT – DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME! It was heartening to see so many people at
the rally from Mississippi, especially the young Black women who came to
rally. You could see the anger and
defiance in their eyes when they chanted and the contempt they held for anyone
who would try to steal their humanity.
We talked to a Women’s Studies professor from the
University
of Alabama who felt very isolated on the conservative campus and was
the first
professor in several years who taught about reproductive rights.
A young woman with an Anti Racist Action t-shirt approached our table
and read over the World Can’t Wait Call. She said that she was
infuriated by the
patriarchy she had to put up with every day, and thought banning
abortion and
other forms of contraception was sign of fascism. She remarked
that she did not learn anything about sex or
contraception in school and that everything she knew about sex was
because of
her friend. The professor at U of A
also commented that most of her students were in the dark about sex and
STDs.
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This seemed to be a common theme that people brought up when
we talked with them about the struggle around abortion and powerful role the
Christian Right exerts on society.
People who are against abortion had a stunning lack of knowledge about
sexual reproduction and did not understand the difference between a fetus and a
human being.
While the crowd was united on the right for a woman to have
an abortion, there was a mix of views on abortion. We talked to some people who thought that abortion should be a
choice for women, but it should be a last option. They suggested we promote ways to prevent pregnancy, so that we
could decrease the amount of abortions that are performed. Why?
The underlying message in these comments is that
there is
something wrong with having an abortion.
But in a situation when so many women are today denied access to
abortion
(there is only one clinic in Mississippi after all) we don’t need fewer
abortions, we need more abortions. This
is a healthy and moral choice that is a process of removing a clump of
cells,
not killing a human baby. The fact that
by the development of abortion and contraception humanity has reached a
place where women do not have to be subordinated to the process of
child bearing is a good thing,
and we should not condemn having an abortion as a cruel and selfish act
of
women who cannot maintain self control.
Bomb Threat Clears the Park
The Operation Save America theocrats were bold and vicious
from the get-go as they entered the rally site with signs and bibles. Crowds from the audience immediately encircled
and confronted OSA members in the crowd.
Although there were only a few of them at the rally, a series of events
followed their arrival that felt orchestrated and set a new precedent in a
decades long political battle over abortion.
First a few OSA foot soldiers arrived to agitate and
aggravate people with their gruesome and faulty photos of fetus carnage. Then the police showed up and surveyed the
park where the rally was taking place.
The police began moving the crowd toward the stage and claimed that
there was a bomb threat in the park.
There was a succession of the crowd moving from place to place, further
from the park and finally behind the Governor’s mansion. People walked out into the empty, sun-baked
streets; angered and demobilized. The
bomb threat overshadowed the rally in the media, and local news outlets even
reported the NOW demonstration as an anti- Abortion rally!?!?
Nighttime
Night falls and pro-choice people are gathering at a local church. Large southern trees add shade to shade and
crickets fill the air. Youth sit
cross-legged in circles rolling cigarettes in the driveway, while others paint
banners in the basement. People are
reflecting on the day and trying to figure out what is driving groups like OSA
to such extreme forms of Christian Fundamentalism. Many of the World Can’t Wait volunteers commented that they knew
that groups like Operation Save America were intense, but they did not grasp
how extreme, unrelenting and powerful the Christian Fascists are in their
political impact and ideology.
We circulate the World Can’t Wait Call and talk to people
about the Bus Tour. People’s eyes light
up when I point over to the World Can’t Wait Tour Bus and tell them about our
plans to drive right into the centers of the controversy to take on the Bush
Agenda and call on people to mobilize for October 5th. I give them a stack of Calls and encourage
them to do the same. The times are
calling on all of us to take action; get a box of flyers, some friends and take
the message of driving out the Bush Regime on the road.