By Taylor Long
University students marched for pro-choice rights with thousands of protestors in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.
More than 50 students from Women of Action, Students Against Injustice and some sororities attended the rally. Several men and even some parents of students marched.
“I was really impressed by how many people came. There was a diversity of people, even just among those from Hofstra,” said Beth Puma, a member of WOA and one of the handful of students who helped organize the trip.
Students from WOA wore chains on their wrists and sang songs, including the hymn “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”
Puma dressed as a pregnant Lady Liberty and another student dressed as Lady Liberty with a gold condom as a torch.
Two buses sponsored by Planned Parenthood and Nassau County transported the group, along with approximately 20 students from Adelphi University, to Washington D.C. early Sunday morning.
“The energy at the protest was amazing. It felt like thousands of women were bonding together, and all because of one belief,” Anna Piazza, a freshman Italian major said.
People wearing shirts that read “Make History, Create the Future,” were conscious of the importance and historical significance of the march.
“There’s so much on the line in the next election,” Puma said. “People are coming from across the country. I wanted to be a part of something that historical and beautiful.”
Celebrities such as Cybill Shepard, Whoopi Goldberg, feminist icon Gloria Steinem and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton also spoke at the march. They focused on the risks taken by women before abortion was legalized.
“Before Roe vs. Wade, more women died from illegal abortions than soldiers in the Vietnam War,” Ana Gasteyer of “Saturday Night Live” said.
Though abortion was the main focus of the rally, some addressed reproductive rights issues such as the morning after pill and sexual education in schools.
“Al Queda keeps their women veiled, Bush wants to keep ours in the dark,” read one of many signs.
President George W. Bush was the target of many slogans, though the President was out of town. Popular chants included, “George Bush, he’s a sexist, send that bastard back to Texas,” and “Hey-Hey, Ho-Ho, George Bush has got to go!”
Pro-life activists were scattered along the sidelines of the march, holding signs that read “Women Need Love, Not Abortion” with large pictures of aborted babies. However, the amount of confrontation seemed to be low and the rally remained largely peaceful.
According to The New York Times, the rally was the first large scale abortion rights demonstration in Washington, D.C. in 12 years.