Repro Health Heroes of the Week: SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW!
Starting tomorrow, extremist anti-choice groups Operation Save America and Operation Rescue (OSA/OR) will descend on Atlanta for a week of protesting the right to choose, harassing clinic staffers, and intimidating women. I would provide the hyperlink to their website, but I’d rather not contribute to increasing their page hits. Just picture a site full of fundamentalist vitriol about the “holocaust” of the unborn, with the specter of a menacing eagle overlooking the Atlanta skyline. (So much for the image of the dove representing Christianity.)
OSA/OR’s week of protests comes hot on the heels of their protest of Atlanta’s Gay Pride—a parade the OSA/OR website describes was “put on by the devil” for “those enslaved by homosexuality.” The coming week’s festivities of fear represent the continuation of what OSA/OR calls the “Battle for Atlanta.”
In response to the influx of anti-choice wing-nuts, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW!, a group that works toward reproductive justice in Georgia and throughout the South, is organizing a week of activities for pro-choice advocates and anyone who values the safety and well-being of women in Atlanta. SPARK’s campaign, “Say NO to OSA,” will not include counter-protests at clinics, which could contribute to unnecessary chaos for clinic patients, but rather activist trainings, nighttime rallies, and supportive gatherings of people, all in the effort to wait out the OSA/OR storm of illogicality.
As SPARK puts it,
Operation Save America continues to play on a history of shaming and blaming women of color. As reproductive justice advocates and activists, we recognize our choices are dictated by our circumstances; and the discussion regarding abortion requires that we talk honestly about racism, health care, education, sexuality, and poverty. OSA’s presence is just another overt reign of terror felt by women of color and our communities by an organization whose membership and message aim only to point the finger without addressing the real issues that impact the lives of women of color and our families.
For this week and beyond, women of color and our allies unite to say NO to OSA. Calling on the prophetic traditions of the Black church, civil rights movement, and our women of color’s historical commitment to freedom and liberation, we have a firm understanding that fight for our bodily autonomy, the safety of our communities, and the demise of oppression and exploitation requires that everyone Stand for Justice and Say NO to Operation Save America.
For their bravery and sensible response to OSA/OR, SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW! members are our Repro Health Heroes of the week. We wish our friends in Atlanta the best in saying NO to OSA/OR.
By Tara Sweeney