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Women’s March on Washington drops feminist pro-life group
Diana Chandler, Baptist Press
January 18, 2017
3 MIN READ TIME

Women’s March on Washington drops feminist pro-life group

Women’s March on Washington drops feminist pro-life group
Diana Chandler, Baptist Press
January 18, 2017

A self-described pro-life feminist group has been removed as one of hundreds of partners of the Jan. 21 Women’s March on Washington, but many pro-life advocates are still expected to participate in the event.

New Wave Feminists were removed from the march’s list of partners after leading feminists complained on social media, the Texas Tribune reported Jan. 16. Women from across the U.S. are expected to rally and march in Washington, D.C., for women’s rights the day after president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Hundreds of similar, local demonstrations are scheduled nationally.

“The Women’s March’s platform is pro-choice and that has been our stance from day one,” the Texas Tribune quoted a written statement from March on Washington organizers. “We want to assure all of our partners, as well as participants, that we are pro-choice as clearly stated in our Unity Principles. … The anti-choice organization is not a partner of the Women’s March on Washington. We apologize for the error.”

But New Wave Feminists will still participate in the march, though not as an official partner, New Wave president Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa of Dallas told the Tribune.

“It’s not like we’re trying to take abortion away,” Herndon-De La Rosa said. “We’re trying to get out there and help women. … Because it’s not pro-choice when a woman goes into an abortion clinic because she feels like she has no other choice.”

Controversy arose among event participants after a Jan. 15 article in The Atlantic included statements from event organizers welcoming pro-life groups to the march and listing New Wave Feminists as an event partner.

The Women’s March on Washington is billed as “a grassroots effort comprised of dozens of independent coordinators at the state level,” on the event website. “The effort is helmed by four national co-chairs and a national coordinating committee who are working around the clock to pull it all together.”

Organizers say the march is intended to “send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and the world, that women’s rights are human rights.”

The rally will begin at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Independence Avenue and Third Street, will feature nationally recognized advocates, artists, entertainers, entrepreneurs and others and will end with a 1:15 p.m. march, according to the website.

Among some 400 diverse march partners listed on the website are Planned Parenthood, the AFL-CIO, People for the American Way, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Capitol Hill, Amnesty International and American Atheists.

The march occurs a week before the Jan. 27 March for Life, held annually near the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the U.S. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and Focus on the Family will also be hosting Evangelicals for Life events, evangelicals.life, Jan. 26-28.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ general assignment writer/editor.)