[Med-privacy] Dallas Morning News: March for Women's Lives was a march for medical privacy

Thu, 6 May 2004 22:34:09 EDT

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Mary Pat Higgins: We women weren't alone in Washington 
12:02 AM CDT on Sunday, May 2, 2004 
By MARY PAT HIGGINS 
Upon meeting me, one wouldn't think I am someone who felt the sense of 
urgency to uproot my 73-year-old mother and my two sisters and meet them in 
Washington for a march. But for me and the nearly 500 other North Texans who feel just 
as passionately, we are proud we participated in the March for Women's Lives 
and proud we helped bring attention to a person's right to health care, 
freedom and privacy. 
Since returning from the march, I have realized that what happened on the 
National Mall wasn't fully reported. Something that couldn't have been reported 
through any news article was the unmistakable notion that every person there 
was going to return home more motivated to stand up for a multitude of issues 
impacting the quality of life for women in this country and around the world. 
Many newspaper readers saw the photo of the angry woman shouting at 
anti-choice protesters and wearing a T-shirt that read, "This is what a feminist looks 
like," as well as the headline that read, "Abortion backers march." But the 
media missed the point. The march wasn't just female participants, and it wasn't 
just to protect legal abortion. 
I saw Texans from Galveston, San Antonio and Highland Park sitting together 
on the Mall and listening to guest speakers as they discussed how North Texas 
pharmacies recently denied women prescriptions. I heard one woman say to 
another, "Oh, you brought your son with you." The mother responded, "I didn't bring 
anyone. He asked me to come." 
Suddenly, I couldn't hear anything due to the applause and cheers for the 
300-plus members of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice who were 
marching by, followed by a cluster of medical students holding signs reading, "We 
are tomorrow's abortion providers." 
About halfway through the march, I paused on a median on Pennsylvania Avenue 
to soak in all that was happening around me. 
A woman over 80 strolled by me with a wire hanger in her hand, a symbol of 
the only kind of abortion she knew as a young woman. A father was carrying his 
daughter, who was waving a sign that read, "Sex ed saves lives." Two mothers 
braved the crowds, pushing strollers and wearing shirts that read, "I had access 
to birth control, and my daughters should, too." Most significantly, I saw 
thousands of college students genuinely concerned about what the future holds 
for them. 
After observing all of those participants, I realized a few things. 
People were marching for medical privacy because, for the first time, the 
U.S. attorney general, an office that was established to protect Americans, has 
attempted to obtain patients' private medical records. 
Families were marching for accessible health care because, for the first 
time, the Texas Legislature has yanked federal funding for medical clinics that 
provide basic health care to uninsured men and women. 
Moderate Republicans who support abortion rights were marching because they 
want to take back their party and want less government intrusion into their 
private lives. 
Parents and children marched together for comprehensive sexual education, 
which receives no federal money, because $137 million in federal funds was put 
into abstinence-only sexual education last year. 
That amount is unsettling, considering the No Child Left Behind Act fell $8 
billion short of the federal funds it originally was authorized to receive last 
year. 
No matter what photo or headline you saw in your paper, hundreds of Texans 
marched who are steadfast in their belief that when the quality of life improves 
for women, it improves for their entire family. 
Nearly 90 years have passed since the first birth-control clinic opened in 
this country, and people continue to reaffirm that women deserve more, even in 
the face of state legislatures regressing on many issues. 
My greatest hope is that my sons and their wives won't have to ask me at age 
73 to join them to march to improve my granddaughters' quality of life. We 
won't go back, and we shouldn't have to. 
Mary Pat Higgins of Dallas is the assistant head and chief financial officer 
of The Hockaday School. She chairs the Planned Parenthood of North Texas board 
of directors. 

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<DIV>Mary Pat Higgins:=
 We women weren't alone in Washington 
12:02 AM CDT on Sunday=
, May 2, 2004 
By MARY PAT HIGGINS </SPA=
N>

Upon meeting me, one wouldn't think I am someone who felt the sense of ur=
gency to uproot my 73-year-old mother and my two sisters and meet them in Wa=
shington for a march. But for me and the nearly 500 other North Texans who f=
eel just as passionately, we are proud we participated in the March for Wome=
n's Lives and proud we helped bring attention to a person's right to health=20=
care, freedom and privacy. 
Since returning from the march, I have realized that what happened on the=
 National Mall wasn't fully reported. Something that couldn't have been repo=
rted through any news article was the unmistakable notion that every person=20=
there was going to return home more motivated to stand up for a multitude of=
 issues impacting the quality of life for women in this country and around t=
he world. 
Many newspaper readers saw the photo of the angry woman shouting at anti-=
choice protesters and wearing a T-shirt that read, "This is what a feminist=20=
looks like," as well as the headline that read, "Abortion backers march." Bu=
t the media missed the point. The march wasn't just female participants, and=
 it wasn't just to protect legal abortion. 
I saw Texans from Galveston, San Antonio and Highland Park sitting togeth=
er on the Mall and listening to guest speakers as they discussed how North T=
exas pharmacies recently denied women prescriptions. I heard one woman say t=
o another, "Oh, you brought your son with you." The mother responded, "I did=
n't bring anyone. He asked me to come." 
Suddenly, I couldn't hear anything due to the applause and cheers for the=
 300-plus members of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice who wer=
e marching by, followed by a cluster of medical students holding signs readi=
ng, "We are tomorrow's abortion providers." 
About halfway through the march, I paused on a median on Pennsylvania Ave=
nue to soak in all that was happening around me. 
A woman over 80 strolled by me with a wire hanger in her hand, a symbol o=
f the only kind of abortion she knew as a young woman. A father was carrying=
 his daughter, who was waving a sign that read, "Sex ed saves lives." Two mo=
thers braved the crowds, pushing strollers and wearing shirts that read, "I=20=
had access to birth control, and my daughters should, too." Most significant=
ly, I saw thousands of college students genuinely concerned about what the f=
uture holds for them. 
After observing all of those participants, I realized a few things. 
People were marching for medical privacy be=
cause, for the first time, the U.S. attorney general, an office that was est=
ablished to protect Americans, has attempted to obtain patients' private med=
ical records. 
Families were marching for accessible health care because, for the first=20=
time, the Texas Legislature has yanked federal funding for medical clinics t=
hat provide basic health care to uninsured men and women. 
Moderate Republicans who support abortion rights were marching because th=
ey want to take back their party and want less government intrusion into the=
ir private lives. 
Parents and children marched together for comprehensive sexual education,=
 which receives no federal money, because $137 million in federal funds was=20=
put into abstinence-only sexual education last year. 
That amount is unsettling, considering the No Child Left Behind Act fell=20=
$8 billion short of the federal funds it originally was authorized to receiv=
e last year. 
No matter what photo or headline you saw in your paper, hundreds of Texan=
s marched who are steadfast in their belief that when the quality of life im=
proves for women, it improves for their entire family. 
Nearly 90 years have passed since the first birth-control clinic opened i=
n this country, and people continue to reaffirm that women deserve more, eve=
n in the face of state legislatures regressing on many issues. 
My greatest hope is that my sons and their wives won't have to ask me at=20=
age 73 to join them to march to improve my granddaughters' quality of life.=20=
We won't go back, and we shouldn't have to. 

Mary Pat Higgins of Dallas is the assistant head and chief financial o=
fficer of The Hockaday School. She chairs the Planned Parenthood of North Te=
xas board of directors. </DIV></BODY></HTML>

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