The Rally for Reproductive Justice will take place on January 27th – we begin at the Federal Building (90 7th St.) at 11:30 a.m to voice strong opposition to the Walk for Life, a hypocritically named movement backed by individuals who stand against reproductive justice for women. We ask you to come out on the streets and stand with us as we declare our goals: free contraception; free abortion; on demand; without apology.

In July 2017, SF DSA voted to ratify a statement by our Socialist Feminism Committee which cemented our chapter’s commitment to never compromise on reproductive justice. Our statement made clear that “[T]he socialist society we envision includes support for a full range of reproductive choices. We demand free and universal access to contraception and abortion, free and universal access to fertility support, and free and universal access to transgender healthcare.” In keeping with these principles, at our December chapter meeting, we endorsed the Rally for Reproductive Justice to counter the Walk for Life West Coast. The Walk for Life—a mass march organized by Christian fundamentalists opposed to reproductive justice for women—will attempt to take over the streets of San Francisco on Saturday, January 27, 2018. Their explicit goal is to oppose access to reproductive healthcare, contraception, sex education and, abortion. This march targets the basic human rights of self-determination and bodily autonomy.

SF DSA is joining the Rally for Reproductive Justice not only to defend against this attack on crucial human rights, but also to recognize the importance of reproduce justice as an emblematic movement for personal liberty and social progress. The fight for reproductive justice includes the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children or not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.[1] While indigenous women, women of color, and trans people have always fought for reproductive justice, we want to take this opportunity to recognize that the term was invented in 1994 by a group of black feminists who recognized that the women’s rights movement, led by and representing middle class and wealthy white women, could not defend the needs of all women. Reproductive justice is an active framework that sees reproductive rights in a political context in the fight against racism and gender and class oppression.[2] Fighting for reproductive justice is an integral part of building socialism and equality in this world, and SF DSA is committed to this fight.

We also recognize that the Walk for Life is a complete misnomer. Our comrades in DSA Chicago have said it best:

“There is nothing “pro-life” about these people – they don’t care about babies once they’re born, they’re pro-gun, pro-war, and pro-Trump. They want to ban contraception and comprehensive sex ed. They don’t care that black women are drastically more likely to die in childbirth than white women. They’re perfectly happy to see funding cut for programs that serve disabled infants, children, and adults. They don’t care that folks across America are suffering from lead poisoning and treatable diseases. They don’t care that folks across America are getting murdered by police. They don’t care that trans folks, people of color, and sex workers are getting murdered every day. They don’t care that folks around the world are being killed by American bombs. For these reasons and more, we call them not ‘pro-life’, but ‘pro-lie’.”

The Walk for Life is no different than the fascist threat we stood up to in August last year. It is incumbent upon us to stand against this threat and reaffirm our commitment to reproductive justice. Join us and our coalition partners [3] as we mobilize again to make clear that SF DSA stands with our community in opposing this sexist agenda. Join us as we make our position clear: Free Abortion. On Demand. Without Apology.

Event details: https://www.facebook.com/events/552430751801203/

 

 

 

[1] http://sistersong.net/reproductive-justice/

[2] https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/reproductive-justice-not-just-rights

[3] Our coalition partners include: UC Student-Workers Union – UAW Local 2865, United Educators of San Francisco, International Socialist Organization – Northern California, Workers’ Voice/La Voz de los Trabajadores, CODEPINK San Francisco, Resistance SF, South Beach District 6 Democratic Club of San Francisco, Refuse Fascism Bay Area, Socialist Action, Left Party, The Committee to Elect Stephen R. Jaffe, Bay It Forward and our comrades in Silicon Valley DSA and East Bay DSA.