Take Action in Akron- Saturday, August 1
Abortion on Demand and Without Apology!
This leaflet is from Revolution Books, Cleveland
Every Saturday morning at the Akron Women’s Medical Group, a brave core of people put their bodies on the line to defend women and the right to abortion. They confront groups of loud and obnoxious anti-abortion protestors, and the intensity of these confrontations have escallated since the killing of Dr. George Tiller. In fact, a number of the anti-abortion protestors in Akron proudly declare that they think it was great that Dr. Tiller got killed, that "he got what he deserved!"
So on Saturday, July 18, a new level of threat and violence occured. The anti-abortion protesters were getting right in the face of the clinic defenders, yelling at them,and waving around their phony bloody fetus posters. Charles Wright, a long time women’s rights advocate, was getting pushed back by one of the anti’s, a very large man who arrived at the scene on a motorcyle, and before anyone knew it, he hit Charles…hard…on the side of the head and he crashed to the ground! He lay in and out of consciousness for about 15 minutes, waiting for an ambulance. In the meantime, the doctor from the clinic came outside and tried to assist. Charles was eventually placed in the Intensive Care Unit of Akron City Hospital, where it was discovered that he had suffered 6 broken ribs! He is in intense pain, and can barely move or sleep.
The guy that assaulted Charles made a quick getaway on his motorcyle. He is described as someone who is not a regular anti-abortion protester, but one they’ve seen many times before. When the police finally came, the only questions that were asked were of Charles’ partner, Tom. Tom told me, "All they wanted to know was Charles’ name, address, phone number, and social security number. The cop also kept complaining, ‘you guys act like children, not adults, and I’m always having to down here…" Tom said he’d never seen this cop at the clinic before, and as of Tuesday, had still not been contacted by the police. Tom also said that at another incident at the clinic, he called the cops and no one ever showed up. At this point, the police are saying the person who assaulted Charles will be charged with felonious assault, but they don’t know who this person is and Tom suspects that the police report is sitting in some detective’s inbox.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Charles told me: "When I was at City Hospital for a couple day, the women working there asked why I was there and I said thatI was attacked by pro-life people. Their attitude was so Republican, they were like the people who were standing against us at the clinic! This scared me even more…I was in their hospital! It was like being cared for by the enemy.
Tom also told me that, months before, he had called his Akron City Councilman to complain about the conduct of the anti’s at the clinic. He was told, "you should pray about it." !!!
I’ve known Charles and Tom for 30 years. These are people who have always stood up for justice. They are activists for women’s rights, gay rights, and proudly promote atheism. They are also good friends of Revolution Books.
We talked more about the incident, why they think it happened, and what should be done:
Charles: I was in a bad mood that Saturday morning, and I didn’t want to go to the clinic because I hate dealing with those people, they’re morons, and I’d rather listen to music. But deep down, I have a commitment that all women should have the right to choose. Abortion is between a woman and her doctor. Any woman should be able to get an abortion if she needs one.
Tom: Or if she wants one.
Charles: Most people are in denial that sometimes women need abortions. Sometimes you hear "These women need to be responsible. Well. People make mistakes, and that’s ok.
Tom: These people (the anti’s) think that they’re so absolutely right that any opposing view can be opposed in any way- from a simple polite discussion, to in-your-face yelling, to the physical. They cause so much trouble at these clinics that people will stay away, they won’t come for abortions, the landlords will cancel their leases or not renew them, the people in the neighborhood get tired of it–so the powers that be say, "let’s just get rid of the clinics."
At this point, there is a LOT of fear among clinic defenders in Akron to go back to the clinic. WE NEED TO STAND WITH THEM. We cannot let this kind of attack go down. It is time to wake up and shake off the illusions that someone else (especially the police and Obama) are going to save us. And if we don’t feel courageous, or feel like stepping into dangerous situations, then we need to struggle with ourselves, and others, to step up, deal with reality, and get out there anyway.
I propose that ALL people from Northeast Ohio who defend the right to abortion BE AT THE CLINIC IN AKRON NEXT SATURDAY, August 1, and stand together against this movement that would reduce women to being slaves.
Revolution Books will bring the 14 foot banner we carried at Notre Dame University during the Obama/abortion controvery, that reads: ABORTION ON DEMAND AND WITHOUT APOLOGY.
BE THERE!
10 am
Akron Women’s Medical Group
839 E. Market St.
Bring banners and signs, and all your friends!
"When it comes to abortion, there is ONLY ONE moral question: Will women be fully emancipated human beings in control of their lives and reproduction OR will we be forced to submit to patriarchal male authority and to breed against our will? A woman who cannot decide for herself, without any shame, judgment or restrictions, when and whether she chooses to have a child, has no more freedom than a slave. The movement to forcibly deny women the right to abortion and to birth control is a movement to enslave women. With its aims, its methods, and its morality, there can be no compromise".
Sunsara Taylor http://www.sunsara.blogspot.com/
Revolution Books, 2804 Mayfield Rd Cleveland Hts
216-932-2543 revbookscle@hotmail.com
Store Hours: 3 – 8pm, Wed – Sat
This article brings into focus a concept which I have been recently considering- there are three camps in the abortion debate: pro-life, pro-choice, and pro-abortion. Pro-lifers hate abortion, pro-choice want a woman’s right to control her own body, and the pro-abortion camp wants every woman to have an abortion. I believe in a woman’s choice to have an abortion, when and if she needs it, for any and all reasons, with no say from the government- but I prefer life. If she must have an abortion, that’s fine, but if she has an abortion because of an inconvenient pregnancy, I would prefer she not get pregnant in the first place. Call it proactive birth control rather than reactive birth control. That said, women are treated like crap in this country, to say nothing of the conditions in other countries. Women’s liberation is not a “movement”, it’s a mindset and a lifestyle that the right to an abortion is only one aspect of.