Women and men joined together nationwide Sunday to march for reproductive freedom in the first ever March for Women's Lives.
The primary march, held in Washington D.C., was a collaborative effort of seven of the nation's leading women's rights groups.
From a local perspective, around 200 men, women and children gathered at 10 a.m., for a local march and speeches were held in downtown Phoenix on the Arizona State Legislature House Lawn.
The march was held to demand an end to government attacks on reproductive rights.
"The rising number of state level attacks on Roe v. Wade, along with the disturbing trend of anti-choice rhetoric and directives streaming from the current Whitehouse administration, only confirm my belief that choice advocates cannot afford to let the debate linger any longer," Rep. Bill Brotherton, D-Ariz., said in a letter.
Eric Ehst, spokesperson for the Phoenix/Scottsdale National Organization for Women, said that the Bush Administration "has taken a stealth program to roll back women's rights around the world."
In 2001, the administration reinstated the Mexico City Policy which requires nongovernmental organizations to agree to neither perform nor promote abortion as a method of family planning in exchange for Federal funds.
The administration pushes for abstinence-only sexual education and for insurance providers to not cover contraceptives, Ehst said.
A main concern at the March was that a one-vote change on the Supreme Court could reverse Roe v. Wade, the case that overruled state laws banning abortion.
The March for Women's Lives website states that several of the Supreme Court Justices are close to retirement and the President appoints new justices to fill those vacancies.
"George W. Bush has shown that he has little regard for women, their rights, their health or their well-being," said Ehst. "We've been complacent for too long; our rights and liberties are under attack. Its time to stand-up, organize and take to the streets in defense of liberty."
Protesters held signs such as, "Keep the government out of my uterus", "My voice is my choice", and "My body is not public property".
Organizations at the local march endorsed John Kerry for presidential candidate and compared Kerry's stance on equality and justice for women against Bush's.
According to literature handed out by the League of Women Voters, Kerry will protect a woman's right to choose by opposing judicial nominees who refuse to uphold Roe v. Wade.
"He believes that the Constitution protects a woman's right to choose and to make their reproductive choices in consultation with their doctor, their conscience, and their God."
Kerry will also expand business opportunities for women and close the pay gap by "improving enforcement of discriminatory practices and requiring disclosure of payment practices," said the literature.
Many women at the March were personally offended by Bush's lack of compassion.
"There are forces at work in our nation today that are trying to erode the basic choices that we have as women," said ASU theatre major Megan Brice-Heames. "Not only when it comes to abortion, but when it comes to everything. [Bush] would rather we be at home chained to the oven."
