Carlene Wilson, Melbourne
When the Coalition takes control of the Senate in July, abortion rights will be one thing likely to come under attack.
The Campaign for Women's Reproductive Rights (CWRR) has been collecting signatures for a petition that calls not just for the defence of existing rights, but for extending those rights to give all women access to free, safe abortion. The petition links this with basic demands for child care and paid maternity leave. The CWRR is making a conscious effort to offer a working-class solution.
On April 30, the CWRR will present the petition to federal Wills MP Kelvin Thomson. A rally in Coburg Mall is being organised by the coalition of students, unionists, queers and socialists to conclude the petition campaign in honour of May Day. The CWRR hopes to collect more than 2000 signatures.
The rally will be at 11am on April 30, at Coburg Mall on Sydney Road. It will call for free, safe abortion on demand; free, quality 24-hour child care; pay equity for childcare workers; employer-funded paid maternity leave for all women; and equal pay, equal employment opportunity and secure jobs for women.
After the petition is presented, the CWRR plans to continue to campaign for the rights of all women and all workers, following the example of one of the group's spokespeople, Paola Uliana, who was part of the struggle for women's rights in Italy in the 1960s. She said: "Thousands of women protested to make abortion legal. We carried placards, chanted 'Our bodies, our right!' and even had sit-ins at government buildings. We won that right, and Italian women [now] also enjoy the benefits of paid maternity leave."
For more information, to obtain copies of the petition or to endorse the rally, phone Debbie on (03) 9388 0062, Angela on 0409 076 978 or Paola (03) 9350 4725. Those endorsing the rally will be invited to speak on the day.
[Carlene Wilson is an activist in the CWRR, and the Workers Power representative on the Socialist Alliance national executive.]
From Green Left Weekly, April 13, 2005.
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