WASHINGTON - April 24 - GWENDOLYN MINK, grmink@earthlink.net, www.marchforwomen.org, www.wpunj.edu/~newpol/issue31/mink31.htm

Mink is the author of the book 'Welfare's End' and is scheduled as a speaker at the March for Women's Lives on April 25 in Washington. She said today: "On Sunday, women of color of all classes and low income women of all races will raise new voices in the struggle for reproductive liberty. The March for Women's Lives will transform the politics of 'choice' into a politics for reproductive justice. The struggle for reproductive justice is about more than Roe v. Wade. It's about securing both rights and resources that assure every woman equality as a reproductive decision-maker. It's about ensuring access to reproductive health care services so that every woman has a right to choose. It's about ensuring that every woman has a right to bear a child. And it's about securing social policies that ensure economic security for every mother raising a child."

LIZ ACCLES, accles@yahoo.com, www.wmadcampaign.org

Director of the Welfare Made a Difference Campaign, Accles is on the board of Planned Parenthood. She said today: "Choice is not just about protecting a woman's ability to end a pregnancy but is also about guaranteeing that women have the financial resources to care for children who she chooses to have. Some of the most significant attacks on women's reproductive rights over the past eight years have been encompassed in federal welfare policy. The target has been one of the most stigmatized, stereotype-plagued groups, welfare recipients. In doing so, these attacks remain under the radar of many people who care about issues of 'choice' -- and this dulls the public perception of the broader implications these policies have on the reproductive rights of all women and the control of women's sexuality."

ALEX LEADER and ERIN MAHONEY, alexleader@mindspring.com, ctrain3@hotmail.com, www.mapconspiracy.org

Leader is chair of the Redstockings Allies and Veterans, NYC; Mahoney is chair of the National Organization for Women New York State Reproductive Rights Task Force. Leader said today: "Last December, two FDA advisory panels overwhelmingly recommended (23 to 4) that the Morning-After Pill be made over-the-counter, but on Feb. 20, then-FDA-Commissioner Mark McClellan stalled the decision. Under the guise of concern for young women's health, the FDA has bowed to political pressure ... In the tradition of women like Margaret Sanger, who passed out information about birth control when it was illegal to do so, women will break the law by giving out the Morning-After Pill in front of the public and press on April 25 at 11:30 a.m. on the corner of Jefferson Drive and 12th Street (near the Metro station) in Washington."

BARBARA GAULT, gault@iwpr.org, www.iwpr.org

Director of research for the Institute for Women's Policy Research, which released the report "Status of Women in the States," Gault said today: "Indicators of women's status are profoundly interconnected. Poverty status is strongly related to access to healthcare, reproductive healthcare and health status. Health status influences employment and employment affects family economics. Economics influences political engagement and representation. And the number of women in elected office influences reproductive freedoms. These factors are all inextricably interwoven and each alone can't be understood without considering the others."

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