150 Rally for Abortion Rights

Approximately 150 people rallied in Harvard Yard yesterday in support of a woman's right to obtain an abortion.

The event, sponsored by Students for Choice, featured speeches, a song and sign-waving in front of Memorial Church.

The demonstrators, mostly undergraduates, waved signs bearing slogans such as "Who Decides, Them or You?--Vote Pro-Choice" and "My Body, My Choice." Some students sold t-shirts and buttons.

The rally commemorated the death of Rosalie Jiminez on October 3, 1978. Jiminez was the first woman to die of an illegal abortion after the Hyde Amendment became effective in 1977. The Hyde Amendment cut off federal funding for abortions.

Speakers

Speakers included Susan Newsom, the executive director of Planned Parenthood; Manuel Varela '94, the president of Harvard Democrats; Matthew Strong '95; and Jessica E. LaPenn '93.

The speakers encouraged spectators to openly support abortion rights, in particular by voting.

"When we speak with legislators the first thing they ask is Did you register?' and Did you vote?''' Newsom said. Newsome also praised sex education, saying, "If less women got pregnant when they didn't want to, then less women would be seeking abortions."

Alexis Toomer '93 closed the function with a rendition of "Amazing Grace."

Organizers, who spent more than three weeks planning the event, said they were pleased with the turnout. The rally drew no counterprotests.

The rally was timed to coincide with another rally staged in downtown Boston by the National Organization for Women.

At the end of the Harvard event, a group of students marched to the subway station en masse, chanting, "Not the court. Not the state. Women must decide our fate."