abortion caravan proposals, (6)

e

women in unions, women who are already organizing around their own oppression
like women in the Just Society, and women in educational institutions of
technical training (nurses, community colleges etc.) This would mean that we
do not see our prime task. as getting numbers, but to build a strategy that
goes beyond this campaign.)

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other areas:

a. street theatre: both the witch group and bread and roses might want to

be involved in planning street actions as part of the campaign. Lib Spry has
agreed to co-ordinate for Bread and Roses. Someone from the witch group might .
do the same, and they could work this out themselves. “

b. tapes: Tapes might be especially useful for outéof-town groups, but these
should be made for the use of WLM women, not for the media at large, and for

use in conjunction with meetings and, other speakers. Tapes-might include
personal experiences around abortion, women who would not want to speak publicly
but have powerful things to say about how the laws have affected them, perhaps -
a more general tape on our political stand on abortion.

c. media: The present media committee should include someone from the
abortion campaign, and should be in charge of making decisions about the press
in conjunction with the whole abortion caravan planning committee. One place
to reach people is through the underground press, and through the community
newspapers that are springing up (This Paper Belongs to the People in Kingston,
The Prairie Fire in Regina, The Spark in CalSary, the Pedestal etc.) Mary.
Anne Code has suggested that we spend some time interviewing each other with

a tape recorder, so that a lot of women could learn how to speak to the press.

One issue of the Pedestal (women's lib paper from Vancouver which we have
agreed to take on every other month) might do an issue on the abortion caravan.

d. hospital action: We will need a focus for the campaign in Toronto to build
up in the last month or so before the Ottawa action. We suggest that one way
of doing this might be to do a co-ordinated action against the hospitals
attacking them on all the ways in which they oppress and exploit women. A lot
of material for this attack will come out of the research proposed. The foll-
owing areas might be included in an attack -n the hospitals: _ : :

who runs the hospitals - corporate connections of the directors :

birth control - treatment of women who go to hospital clinics for birth control
abortion: foiiioe .d, oka | seal real rei :
exploitation of workers, particularly women - low pay, terrible working conditions
etc.

hierarchical structure of the medical profession, with women at the bottom,
exclusion of women, from medical school. , et de he |
treatment of women in maternity wards

high cost of medical care

male chauvinist attitudes of doctors towards women '- phoney moralism and
refusal’.to give women information about their own bodies.

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