Thanks Feministing for the coverage of our initiative “Banners for Reproductive Justice” on Market St. For those in San Fransisco, please join us for a Walk For Choice on Jan. 22, 2012, 1-3pm to admire the banners — celebrating the 28th anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on January 22 — before they take them down at the end of the month. Join us! And please contribute a donation to our campaign.
For more on that initiative, listen to a radio interview with Dr. Sophia Yen, MD, co-founder of the Silver Ribbon Campaign to Trust Women, with Kris Welch on Radio KPFA on Dec. 23.
And here is an article in MS Magazine on the initiative: “In 2012, Trust Women!“
“The official toll from 2011′s War on Women is in. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a record-breaking 92 new state-level restrictions on abortion were passed last year, the most ever. In response, reproductive-rights groups hope to make 2012 the year that women fought back — and won.”
Critics of the banner initiative were quick to react: “[The] Life Legal Defense Foundation has demanded that the city remove the offending signage or face the possibility of legal action.”
In a statement, Dr. Yen wrote:
“When the House of Representatives votes that it is okay for doctors to allow pregnant women to die in the emergency room rather than perform an abortion, it’s time for women to wake up and fight back. As a mother and a pediatrician who specializes in adolescent medicine, I want to insure that my patients and my own daughters continue to enjoy the right to plan their families and pursue their career goals,” she said. “For women, that means protecting and expanding reproductive rights.”
Also the Huffington Post has coverage of our initiative: “Silver Ribbon Campaign To Trust Women: Market Street Banners Advocate Reproductive Rights” and it covers the vehement opposition to the banners by pro-life groups under the headline “San Francisco Abortion Ads Draw Ire Of Pro-Life Group”:
“The campaign marks the first time in San Francisco history that the city has displayed banners advocating reproductive rights, [but the] series of pro-choice banners posted on city-operated utility poles running up and down San Francisco’s Market Street have drawn the ire of an anti-abortion group. Life Legal Defense Foundation has demanded that the city remove the offending signage or face the possibility of legal action.”