Backed by Big Oil and War Profiteers; They All Lie, Don’t Care if Children Die
Protesters say: We Won’t Go Back!
The push for laws banning abortion is led mainly by rich white men and funded by ultra-rich capitalists. These are the same people who oppose equal pay for women, civil rights laws, raising the minimum wage, and funding for programs that help women and families raise children. These are the same people that cheer for wars that kill thousands of children. They encourage their buddy war profiteers to raid the federal budget while they try to end programs like Food Stamps and WIC. They are for profit-making jails, religious intolerance and environmental destruction. They deny funds for programs that would address Louisiana’s maternal mortality crisis, where more women die in childbirth than anywhere else in the country—the number of deaths being twice as high among Black women. While they wrap themselves in the cloak of religion, their real motive is to increase profits by further driving women down.
These immoral forces have hidden hands and deep pockets. Their funders include the Koch brothers—oil billionaires and extreme racists responsible for widespread voter suppression—who run the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC gives politicians money in exchange for passing prewritten laws. A majority of the Louisiana legislature are recipients of ALEC funds and are members. Gov. Edwards gave the keynote address at their recent convention. These hypocritical men have always used their wealth to fly “their” wives and mistresses to have abortions no matter what they proclaim. They want to limit the number of heirs to their wealth. Banning abortions will not stop them; it will just mean that more working class women will die.
WOMEN CANNOT THRIVE OR BE EQUAL WITHOUT REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE
RICH MEN WANT TO FORCE WOMEN INTO CHILDBEARING
Women should be free to choose whether to have an abortion, use birth control, or raise children. Whether her decision is based on concern for the rest of her children, her religious beliefs, health, rape or incest or timing, this is a fundamental right. Without this right, women are deprived of full participation in every aspect of society. Without this right, women will die and be driven to desperation.
At the same time that abortion access is criminalized, women are being driven deeper into poverty, especially single moms. The Catholic Church, like all other institutional religions, has already declared women second class to preserve male white supremacy. They even ban birth control, which most Catholic women use because they are smart and care about their families.
REAL CHOICE IS ABOUT HAVING ABORTION ACCESS, BIRTH CONTROL, LIVING WAGES AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS TO HELP RAISE HEALTHY CHILDREN
The recent demonstration in New Orleans organized by Women With a Vision, the New Orleans Abortion Fund, Black Youth Project 100, Peoples’ Assembly, New Orleans Workers Group and the Hospitality Workers Alliance demanded full funding for all the programs that help women raise children if they choose to do so, while so called right-to-lifers are part of the right wing forces opposing this. Pro-choice means fighting family separation by mass incarceration and imprisonment of our immigrant sisters and brothers. Pro-choice means good schools, early childhood education, full-service free neighborhood childcare centers and sex education and abortion access. It means standing against racism, homophobia and transphobia. There are two movements here. The pro-choice movement stands for uplifting the people in all regards. Those behind the abortion bans are also behind every other right wing attack on the people.
NO SHAME IN HAVING AN ABORTION.
THE SHAME IS ON THE IMMORAL FORCES THAT IMPOVERISH AND CRIMINALIZE WOMEN FOR PURSUING OUR ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE
More and more, women workers and youth are coming into movements for social change: unions, community organizations and revolutionary groups. The anti-choice forces want women to be chained, desperate and unable to participate. But Orleans Parish women and women across the U.S. are declaring that whatever laws they pass, we are still the greatest power. Our voices are being raised, louder and clearer—let the ground shake under these greedy, rotten, rich men.