The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) Mobilizes (1985)

It is the subject of our next focus segment, which begins with this report on one of the women who spoke. Correspondent June Cross reports. [singing] This rally is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but the same scenes have been occurring in communities across the United States for the last month. They say I had an abortion for convenience sake. They are wrong. The women are housewives, teachers, professionals, politicians, but they share one thing in common: they have each had an abortion, and they have each decided to go public with their private lives. My name is Liz Whaley and this is my letter to President Reagan. Women like high school teacher Elizabeth Whaley have been reading letters to the President, letters asking him to ensure that their right to legal abortions remains alive. They have taken their motto from the anti-abortion film, Silent Scream, a film which graphically depicts an abortion in progress. These women have decided to remain silent no more.

There are many, many thousands of us who made responsible and rational decisions to have abortions, and we want to keep abortion legal and safe. We don't feel that the fetus is the most important issue. We feel that the living woman is. And we are not ashamed to say that, and so we need to speak up about it. In the winter of 1977, when I was 47 years old, I became pregnant after 19 years of marriage and three children, the youngest of whom was 15. There was no way that having a child at my age would have been anything but a complete disaster for all of us. Liz Whaley is 54, the mother of three sons. She had her abortion seven years ago. Our voices have not been heard from sufficiently up until this point. They will be heard from now. Thank you. Ms. Whaley is a member of NARAL, the National Abortion Rights Action League. Last week, the New Hampshire chapter decided to send her to Washington, to voice their concerns.

It's a trip that started last weekend. On Monday, Ms. Whaley met in New York with five other women, who will represent their states at the national speak-out in Washington. At a New York press conference, one woman explained why she is speaking out now. It's been 21 years, and I haven't talked about it. I don't ever want my daughters to go through that. I don't ever want anybody to hold that inside them for 21 years. I don't want to be made to think I did something shameful because I was 16 and more interested in being prom queen than I was in having a baby. After the press conference, the women boarded a train for Washington. On board, NARAL field director Anna Trask gave them some hints on what to expect, including a warning about possible harassment from pro-lifers. Respect right-to-lifers. We certainly need to protect each of you from any personal harassment. You're always to go in pairs from and to the site, and we feel pretty strongly about that. And look out for each other. The first order of business once in Washington was a reception to meet members of the groups sponsoring Tuesdays speak out, as well as the other 45 women from the rest of the states,

women who'd all had abortions. Nanette Falkenberg, the national director of NARAL, explained what brought them here. Because we came out of December and January with our anger over the clinic bombings and our frustration over the credibility that was being given to that piece of incredible propaganda that they call The Silent Scream, that we came out of it with a new sense of resolve and commitment and determination that we were going to set this issue right. And it's wonderful. Bright and early this morning, the women were out telling their stories. It was a small gathering, compared to the hundreds of thousands who have marched against abortion. And many of them were older women, women who remembered going through illegal abortions. The rape had been frightening and confusing. This was worse. I had to wait about an hour from my turn.

I'd been given a shot of something, had been vomiting. There were moments when I thought I was going to die. No woman should ever have to go through the hell on earth that I experienced. The rape was violent, and so was the illegal abortion. During her turn at noon, Liz Whaley took the opportunity to address the President personally. I am sick unto death of the media's hype over the unborn fetus. I am also disgusted with your over-concern for this issue, Mr. President. And with the over-concern of the many men in Congress, who talk so loudly about the need for a human life amendment. And now the Civil Rights Act for the Unborn, Humphrey and Helms. What about my human life? My civil rights? Tomorrow Elizabeth Whaley and others involved in the speak-out will call on their respective