Activists Gather to Challenge Right-Wing Attacks on Reproductive Rights

Over 500 student and community activists from across the U.S. will gather at
Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts from April 1-3, 2005 for the 19th
annual conference “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the
Movement for Reproductive Freedom.” This year, they will come together in the
wake of a Presidential election in which it was widely argued that Bush
supporters’ top reasons for going to the polls were “moral values.” The
conference, featuring over 60 women leaders from the U.S., Africa, Latin
America and South Asia, will offer an alternative vision of moral values based
on reproductive freedom, social justice, peace and equality.

The conference will address pressing concerns such as the Bush Administration’s
recent attacks on reproductive and sexual rights at home and abroad, increasing
militarism, the erosion of civil liberties, and the impact of the AIDS
pandemic. Workshop topics include: women of color organizing for reproductive
justice, international women’s health, the new eugenics, abortion access,
population control, violence against women, queer and transgender issues, and
human rights. Speakers will make the connection between grassroots, national
and transnational activism.

Registration for the conference can be found online at
clpp.hampshire.edu. For more information and to schedule interviews
with conference speakers and organizers, please contact Juno Obedin-Maliver at
413-559-5416 (phone), 413-559-5826 (fax) or email at joCLPP (at) hampshire.edu.