Wellesley Women for Choice Make Preemptive Strike in Tennessee via 'Hang on To Choice' Campaign -- Governor's Office Flooded with Pro Choice Messages on Hangers
Last week, pro choice students at Wellesley College began flooding Governor Bredesen’s office with letters urging him to veto any and all future anti choice legislation. As you can see from the photos here, the letters were attached to coat hangers – long the symbol of the dangerous back alley abortions that were common in the U.S. before the passage of Roe v. Wade. Today, dangerous back alley abortions continue to be common in countries that outlaw abortion.
To date, the Women for Choice group at Wellesley have mailed 660 Hang on to Choice letters to Governor Phil Bredesen. The letters are part of the Hang on to Choice campaign. Similar campaigns targeting Tennessee and other at risk states such as Louisiana are being conducted at a number of campuses.
Women for Choice have made their materials available online for the convenience of other campuses that wish to join the Hang on to Choice campaign.
In the words of the Wellesley Women for Choice:
The women of Tennessee deserve access to safe health services, and we must stand up with them to fight these laws. Governor Bredesen is a Democrat who has a history of letting anti-choice laws pass his desk without a signature. We believe it is time for the Democratic Party to stand up and protect women’s rights!
Hang On To Choice is a campaign started by the Women for Choice group at Wellesley College to encourage Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen to veto any state legislation that will ban abortion. This attack on women's rights will do nothing to enhance the culture of life. Rather, passing these bans will simply force women to resort to dangerous alternatives to safe medical abortions.
The campaign is designed to demonstrate this opposition to the proposed ban by canvassing college campuses and other public areas and inviting people to send hanger-messages to the Governor. The hanger is a symbol of the unsafe abortions which occurred before abortion was legalized and which will undoubtedly occur again if the bills are passed, particularly in Tennessee where they are the most severe. The purpose is to collect as many hanger-messages as possible and send them to Governor Bredesen's office; the idea is to flood his office with thousands of hangers so that he gets the message about how unpopular the bill is, and hopefully decides not to sign it.
We cannot stand by and allow political agendas to overwhelm a woman's right to make safe and healthy decisions. Now is the time to take a stand – Hang On To Choice. (via email to this blogger)
While the Democratic Governor is said to be pro choice, he has yet to take any action that demonstrates a pro choice stance. Phil Bredesen did not sign or veto the Choose Life specialty license legislation, thereby passively permitting it to become the law.
The bill that would outlaw abortion in this state -- and permit NO exceptions for rape, incest or to save the life of a woman – passed in the senate by a vote of 24 to 9! While SJR 127 was voted down in a House committee, there is still time in this session for the bill to be resurrected. If lawmakers decide to revive the bill and are able to get it to the House floor, SJR 127 will likely end up on Phil Bredesen’s desk.
If you'd like to conduct your own Hang on to Choice campaign in Tennessee, or any other state, you can download the campaign materials at Hang on to Choice.
For more info, or to thank the wonderful Wellesley Women for Choice for standing with the women of Tennessee, email womenforchoicemail@wellesley.edu.
Also, see Pro Choice Native Woman Runs for South Dakota Senate.
Hang on to Choice Women for Choice Wellesley College Reproductive Rights Feminism Abortion SJR 127 Democrats Pro Choice Tennessee Bredesen South Dakota
