Westchester NOW

On March 6, Westchester NOW presented a panel at the 6th Annual Women's History Conference organized by Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers. The conference was entitled Orange Alert: Unite to Defeat the Bush Agenda and gathered together civil rights activists, child advocates, union organizers, and others whose causes are threatened relentlessly by the current presidential administration.

Westchester NOW President Arlene Ketchum moderated the panel, which was entitled "We Won't Go Back: The Threat to Reproductive Rights" and was geared toward sharing information and poignant stories of illegal abortions in order to make the personal political.

The discussion began with personal stories of founding mother Audrey Poole and long-time activist Luba Fineson of their illegal abortions. Their experiences drove home the point that we must never return to those bad old days prior to the Roe decision, when 200,000 - 1 million illegal abortions were performed every year in the U.S.

Current board member Cathi Brody recounted the story of Jane Roe, and reminded everyone of Rosie Jimenez and Becky Bell, two young women who died more recently of back-alley abortions because of governmental restrictions denying them safe access.

Chris Novak Micka, director of fund development at Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, spoke of the current attempts by the Bush administration to roll back women's reproductive rights in many different arenas, and why young women and men need to become politically active.

After viewing a video promoting the March for Women's Lives in Washington, DC, the presenters and the audience members engaged in a lively question-and-answer session.

I think I will always remember the remarks made to me by one of the young women at the panel. She thanked us for the presentation and then, looking stunned and shaking her head, said, "I had no idea…" It was just the reaction we had hoped for. After all, the next generation of activists will have to carry this fight forward if reproductive rights are to be preserved.

For more information about Westchester NOW, e-mail us at info@westchesternow.org!