Women’s March Wants to ‘Send Statement’ to Trump: More Abortion

By Nancy Flory Published on December 28, 2016

Planned for the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, a Women’s March on Washington will try to push the “human right” of abortion against an incoming administration they believe will try to limit abortion rights and defund Planned Parenthood. “We want to ensure that this country knows women are not happy,” a co-founder told NPR. “And when we get angry, change happens. We make things happen.”

Originating in a plan by a group of friends that went viral, the event will include honorary co-chairs Harry Belafonte and Gloria Steinem, comedians Amy Schumer and Samantha Bee, and other pro-abortion heavyweights. Organizers say it will include “women and people who identify as women.”

The march is scheduled six days before before the 2017 March for Life.

A Loud Political Statement

While organizers said it isn’t about the president, the effort is a loud political statement on January 21, coming just one day after President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration and in response to his statements vowing to defund Planned Parenthood. The march’s official statement declared:

The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us — immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights.

Planned Parenthood’s CEO Cecile Richards said: “We will send a strong message to the incoming administration that millions of people across this country are prepared to fight attacks on reproductive health care, abortion services, and access to Planned Parenthood.”

Kelley Robinson, deputy national organizing director for Planned Parenthood, admits that the abortion-giant faces an uphill battle. “It’s no secret Planned Parenthood is expecting the fight of our lives,” she said. She said she hopes that this march will motivate and mobilize protesters not only for the event but for years to come.

The Women’s March on Washington is “a[n] historic and necessary affirmation that women’s rights are human rights,” said the National Organization for Women (NOW) in its official statement. NOW affirmed that its “activists and leaders will be on the front lines with our sisters in the struggle, supporting their leadership.”

The Women’s March on Washington will begin at 10 a.m. at the Lincoln Memorial and end at 5:00 p.m. Organizers say they expect around 200,000 people to participate across 30 cities.

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