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The Abortion Caravan
The Abortion Caravan: When Women Shut Down Government in the Battle for the Right to Choose | Karin Wells
1 post | 1 read
In the spring of 1970, seventeen women set out from Vancouver in a big yellow convertible, a Volkswagen bus, and a pickup truck. They called it the Abortion Caravan. Three thousand miles later, they “occupied” the prime minister’s front lawn in Ottawa, led a rally of 500 women on Parliament Hill, chained themselves to their chairs in the visitors’ galleries, and shut down the House of Commons, the first and only time this had ever happened. The seventeen were a motley crew. They argued, they were loud, and they wouldn't take no for an answer. They pulled off a national campaign in an era when there was no social media, and with a budget that didn't stretch to long-distance phone calls. It changed their lives. And at a time when thousands of women in Canada were dying from back street abortions, it pulled women together across the country.
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This was an excellent piece of Canadian women's history I didn't know about: a caravan of 17 women who travelled from BC to Ottawa in 1970, with multiple stops en route, to demand a just law for abortion on demand from the federal government. The climax was a few chaining themselves to seats in the House while 300 more protested outside. Vivid descriptions of people, and dynamics.

#Booked2023 #ReproductiveRights
#Nonfiction2023 #GoodbyeEarl

Amiable Send that caravan down here to the U.S. -- we need it right now! 😣 (edited) 2y
Singout Right? Women and queer people can never be complacent about our victories. 2y
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