CHICAGO: Chicago-based feminist organization FURIE is hosting a pro-choice rally in downtown Chicago on January 17th. The event counters March for Life, the annual anti-abortion rally near the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. FURIE members plan to counter-protest the anti-abortion event, in addition to drawing attention to growing clinic violence and efforts to defund reproductive healthcare.
The FURIE event comes nearly two months after the deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado, the alleged gunman of which has recently proclaimed anti-abortion beliefs. FURIE members say activism on these issues is especially expedient, as Republican candidates repeat misinformation about abortion, and state and national bills continue to attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.
“In addition to the lack of access to affordable abortion and other reproductive healthcare services nationally, the right of working families to raise our children is also under attack,” said longtime FURIE member Lauren Bianchi, citing recent cuts to Illinois childcare subsidies and ongoing community violence.
Included in FURIE’s list of demands is free publicly funded childcare, free reproductive healthcare including prenatal care, health screenings, and contraception, and zero cuts to women’s healthcare, childcare, and public education in the 2016 Illinois State Budget.
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