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Greens to Participate in April 25 March for Women's Lives in D.C. |
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004 Contacts: WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Greens, citing the Green Party's dedication to feminist principles of human rights, equality, and freedom, will participate in the national March For Women's Lives on Sunday, April 25 in Washington, D.C. "The Green Party of the United States embraces feminism as one of our key values," said Morgen D'Arc, co-founder of the Women's Caucus of the Green Party of the United States. "Greens support full reproductive rights, including unrestricted abortion rights and access and family planning assistance, removal of restrictions on foreign aid to nations that provide abortion, protection from domestic abuse and other kinds of violence and coercion based on gender and sexuality, equal rights in the workplace and equal pay, and strengthening the social safety net -- single mothers comprise the largest percentage of Americans living in poverty." "We also call for universal health coverage, under a single-payer national health insurance, a matter of women's rights, since denial of health care has disproportionately affected women, as well as the families that millions of women care for," added D'Arc. "Similarly, the movement for equal legal status for same-sex marriages is also a matter of equal rights for lesbian and bisexual women." "It is outrageous that life-threatening policies to take away the reproductive freedom of women are back," said Carol Miller, co-chair of the New Mexico Green Party and leader in the founding of the women's health movement since the late 1960's. "Women's lives were saved when the Supreme Court ruled that women have a fundamental right to make decisions about their own bodies. Members of both major parties have conspired to limit options for women and their health care providers. Women will not stand for a return to back-alley health care." Green candidates and activists have also spoken up for the rights of women in other nations, expressing special concern for women living under oppressive governments -- including U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia -- and in Iraq, where the emergence of religious radicals in reaction to the U.S. invasion threatens Iraqi women. "The Bush Administration is allying itself with Iraqi leaders, including members of the Bush-appointed Interim Governing Council and Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who believe women should be subservient, second class citizens," said Annie Goeke of the Green Party's International Committee. "We fear that President Bush's devotion to the rights of Iraqi women may prove as much a deception as his pretexts for invading and occupying Iraq in the first place. Greens intend to see this crisis addressed at the April 25 march and in the 2004 elections." MORE INFORMATION The Green Party of the United States Forward! 2004: Green Party Presidential Nomination search: rgt |