The wheels on the bus go round & round…

Long sleepless night filled with anticipation….

Waiting and wondering, watching the sun rise…

Arrival at last, look at all the buses….

One last stretch and the journey begins….

People everywhere, women, girls, babies, men & boys….

Famous people talking, chanting & singing….

Marchers talking, chanting, singing, sighing & crying….

Herstory in the making, one million people, one thought, one cause….

Tears of joy, years of believing, years of support….

All one thought, all one people, black, brown, white, red & yellow….

Mind racing with new ideas and old ones rekindled….

New connections, New friends, New perspectives….

Tired, dirty, hungry and feeling ALIVE!....

The wheels of the bus go round & round…..

Heading home.

Peace out,

My friend Andrea told me about the March because she knew I had been involved with Voter’s for Choice and thought I might be interested in going.

The March was an amazing event to be a part of.  To see so many people from across the country join together in support of reproductive rights was inspiring.

Being the only male from our group, I was proud to see how many men were at the March.  We will not let the government and the religious right interfere with the health and well being of our mothers, daughters and wives.

I know we didn’t change any minds in the White House.  But we did send a clear message to the Congress: We will not tolerate pro-life bills.  We will not stand for pro-life judges.

Some brief memories:

·         The Med Students in Lab coats being thanked in chant by a group of law students.  And their returning the acknowledgement and praise.

·         “Cheese heads for Choice”

·         Cybill Shepard’s use of the word “peckerwood”, largely unappreciated in today’s world.

Steve Lundberg     4/25/04

Today we made history!

To be a part of the March for Women’s Lives was inspiring, invigorating and rewarding.

To see the thousands of Americans (and even a few Canadians), both men and women, who are supporters of choice and reproductive health rights for women, simply strengthened my resolve to continue the struggle.

With our rights being more and more “chipped away”, it is my hope that we sent a message to legislators, the President and the Court that the right to choose is a right that the majority of Americans support and it should – and must – be protected.

I am proud to have been a part of this historic event!

And I thank PPSA for coordinating this event.  It allowed me to put my $ - and my feet – where my beliefs are!  I could not allow this opportunity to pass me by!

Thank you,

Kathryn Harris

(Long time PPSA supporter & Past Board President)

A once in a lifetime experience!
Anxious to hear the analysis of the #’s; the banner’s messages, the chants; and all the additional causes.

Liked the emphasis on March for Women’s Lives.

Speakers were articulated and dynamic.

How can this administration continue as is or continue????

A. Eileen Cunningham

It was so amazing to see all the different age groups and types of groups.  No one was crabby, everyone said hi and helped everyone out.  Even though we were tired beyond belief, everyone had a smile in their hearts.  :o)

What an experience!  So many like minded people!  The diversity of races, gender, age, etc. was great!

I was concerned it would be all 35-50 year olds, but not so!  Many young people!

It was hard to stay together but 3 of us managed to.  The clever chants and signs were fun:  “Wax Bush – Vote 2004”, “The only Bush I trust is my own”, “I can’t tell my daughters what to do, what makes Bush think he can?” (Sign held by a man).  People chant: “Pro-life that s a lie, you don’t care if women die”

Thanks for giving me a chance experience this!

Patti Pace-Halpin

I was disappointed that there were few pro-choice women of national stature other than movie, music personalities.  I’m glad that Gloria Steinam and Barbara Boxer appeared.  And a couple of the presenters, e.g. Kathy Nijimy, too strongly personalized and focused on politics.  I felt the March wasn’t a political rally for Kerry, but a rally on principles and the issue of choice.  (There are, after all, some Republicans who are pro-choice.)

The bus was fairly clean and the drivers courteous, but seating was very cramped and uncomfortable going out (e.g. there were no air vents and the lights didn’t focus on the reader below, but shown into the eyes of the persons seated)

Taking the trolley saved the day for me, after the long walk to the metro and the broken escalator which meant a long, steep descent into the station.

Claudia Pruitt should be congratulated for her hard work in coordinating the trip logistics.  Ruth Ann Bertram (and helpers) did a good job of responding to the riders’ needs.

Peggy Fenley

As someone born post-Roe, I can honestly say that for a long time, the freedom to choose was something I took for granted.  I wasn’t worried about it being turned over until Bush was elected and the Court became so firmly 5-4 on abortion rights issues.

            This coming election is absolutely critical to the future of this issue and many others that I care about, but I was burnt out on activism this semester.  It was too hard to keep doing things and speaking up when it felt like I was essentially alone.  Seeing all the people gathered at the Mall today was re-invigorating.  I’m not alone—there were close to two million standing with me today, and each of those stand for so many more back home that couldn’t come to D.C.  I’m ready to do and be so much more, and to take charge of our collective future.

 Thank you so much for this opportunity,

 Carly Hawkins

It was a sunny summer day in Providence, Rhode Island, when Candi Clouse (my co-facilitator of the University of IL’s Women’s Issues Caucus) and I were leaving one of the many workshops taking place there at the AAUW Conference for Women Student Leaders when it happened. “So you hear they’re having some giant march for choice next year?” Candi asked me.  “Oh yeah, and I think we should do it, even if it’s just you and me”, I replied.  Little could we have known…..

            As reality would have it appear, here I am sitting in a bus with Ms. Candi AND a handful of other UIS women on my way back from attending the 2004 March for Women’s Lives.  WE DID IT:  Candi and I made our crazy idea come true!  With enough help from others (Lynn Otterson of the UIS Women’s Center, Planned Parenthood, Dr. Nelson, etc.) delegates from Springpatch, IL were able to partake in the “largest march in the history of the universe” all the way in Washington, D.C.  There we all marched and made our own imprint in history.

            I feel honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to experience such a landmark event.  This was not only what our anti-choice administration needed, this IS the exact sort of consciousness-raising students and friends of bubble-brained Springfield, IL so desperately needed.

A women’s right to control her own body will not be taken away—we did our part, along with an estimated 2 million others, to make sure that it won’t. 
WE ARE NOT APATHETIC!!!

This was such a fabulous experience!

The sea of people was amazing.

I was so gratified to see such vast diversity in the crowd.

The fact that we had marchers from every walk of life, every age range, the multitude of men who came to march, the children who were there…..I am so optimistic now that reason and fairness will win out over fanaticism, and that we can retain the ground that so many women (and men) fought and died to gain.

This was the most incredible experience of my life!!!

Thank you for the opportunity!

I was so excited to see so many women and men at the March today.

It gave me hope.  Only recently, within the last year, have I become a feminist. 

I have slowly started to look around and realize the injustices that take place towards women every day.  Even small things such as shaving are unfair. 

I felt so inspired by all of the camaraderie of my fellow sisters today.  I wish I could feel this liberated everyday.  Freedom is taken for granted so often that at times even the most underprivileged forget that freedom is a right that should be allocated at birth.

Today made me want to make change for all women everywhere!  I am a feminist.  I am a bitch and most of all I am proud!

Carrie Bauer

March for Women’s Lives was an awesome experience.  It gave me insight into the power there are in numbers.

The weather was great, the company was terrific!!!

                                                Thanks for coordinating.

I am so glad that I had the chance to participate in this march!

The march was inspiring-empowering-invigorating.

So many young women, men, children & older women standing up for rights of women every where.  Must tell the radical right to keep their damn hands off our bodies.

Thanks for letting me be part of history with you!

See you at the polls in November!

Claire McKinney

HOME | PHOTO GALLERY