WASHINGTON - Thousands of people are expected here in a march Sunday to press complaints that the administration of President George W. Bush is interfering in women's rights, especially those linked to abortion.

Announcing the launch of a campaign at a press conference, the organizers, heralding what they claim will be a huge protest march here in Washington, said they aim to counter policies they consider "dangerous" for the rights of women.

Thousands of people are expected to converge in the Nation's capital on Sunday to press complaints that the administration of President George W. Bush is interfering in women's rights, especially those linked to abortion. (AFP/File/Tim Sloan) March for Women's Lives

They say restrictions imposed by the administration threaten to prevent poor women access to information on contraception or to abortion clinics.

Particular focus of the groups' ire are US Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General John Ashcroft, as well as Bush -- all conservatives who disagree strongly with abortion at will.

The march will be a "wake up call" to let the public know that back street abortions still claim the lives of 80,000 women each year, the organizers said.

They expect women from around the United States and 53 foreign countries to attend.

"Women's lives are at stake," NOW president Kim Gandy said.

Seven groups, including the National Organization for Women, who are organizing the event accuse the Bush administration of warring against a woman's right to abort a fetus, guaranteed in a 1973 US Supreme Court decision.

"In the past few years, federal and state governments have systematically stripped away women's reproductive rights," charged Kate Michelman, head of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

"The American people deserve to know what steps Vice President Cheney had in mind when he told an audience of anti-choice activists that 'America still has some distance to travel,'" said Michelman, in reference to comments made by Cheney late Tuesday.

She noted Justice Department efforts to gain access to women's medical records in a lawsuit involving late-term abortions, and nominations of US federal judges opposed to abortion.

Michelman said the development amounts to an effort by Bush to remove women's right to choose between motherhood or not.

"This is just the beginning," said Feminist Majority president Eleanor Smeal. "We will make sure no one will step on us again."

Smeal warned that forced closure of abortion clinics -- either because of violence from anti-abortion activists, or through lack of funds -- could happen. Around 2,000 such clinics operate in the United States, she said.

"The government's attacks have been relentless," added Michelman.

Measures criticized include Bush signing on April 1 a law that designates the fetus as a victim separate from its mother during a violent crime.

The move has drawn fire from opponents who believe it could erode pro-abortion legislation.

Under existing US federal law, an individual who committed a crime of violence against a pregnant woman received no additional punishment for killing or injuring the unborn child.

In late 2003, Bush also promoted a bill that would ban late-term abortions. A number of lawsuits are making their way through the courts aimed at stopping the new legislation.

Personalities including movie stars Ashley Judd, Julianne Moore and Susan Sarandon, are expected to attend the march.

However, Bush's rival in the November 2 presidential election, liberal Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, will not attend, according to his campaign spokesman.

© 2004 AFP

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