Voting for liberals will not protect women’s reproductive rights. This fact was not the atmosphere of the May 21 rally that Planned Parenthood of NYC hosted against the anti-abortion laws. It was the kind of rally the bosses wanted. It was a collection of middle-class white women who believe that the next presidential elections will put an end to the Trump trend. There also were a few white middle class men there. Routine.
Six states passed a six-week abortion ban, including Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa, and North Dakota. Most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant at that time. This includes cases of rape, incest, and human trafficking. Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed a near-full ban on the procedure, the harshest anti-abortion measure in the country (The Cut, 5/21).
The issue of reproductive rights is an attack by the bosses. It’s the same bosses who let police kill Black and brown youth—including young women like
Shantel Davis, Kyam Livingston and more. It’s the same bosses who pay white males more than any other group and pay Black women the least. These workers must take a multiracial stand on all these issues. Working-class women are affected the most. Working-class men need to show up. Once we see the connection, the workers cannot be defeated.
Anything you believe is a feminist issue, we see as a communist issue. The workers cannot win if we are divided. That was our stance as we distributed CHALLENGE. This led to a fairly cool response from the crowd but we stuck to our position.
The workers who unite will be victorious when it comes to reproductive healthcare issues. The answer to the sexism women face is communism. We don’t simply mean that communism is good for women; we mean that women should be leading the fight for communism. It’s the only way sexism, police terror, or any other fascist attacks the workers face will be beaten back.