In response to impending vacancies in the U.S. Supreme Court, a crusade to bring awareness of the threats to abortion rights will make one of its 12 national stops in Madison Wednesday.
It is called \The Never Go Back"" campaign and is sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation.
""The campaign is geared toward building a momentum around this issue, making sure our senators know abortion rights cannot be compromised,"" Campaign Coordinator Jessica Terlikowski said.
The vote in the Supreme Court currently stands at a 5-to-4 majority in favor of abortion rights. However, a vacancy would leave room for a new appointment.
""There is a real danger that a very conservative justice will be appointed and their views will affect American politics, including [abortion] rights which many take for granted,"" said UW-Madison junior and Sex Out Loud member Meghan Benson. ""We feel that a woman's reproductive rights are an important part of healthy human sexuality.""
Eleanor Smeal, the president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Dr. Dennis Christensen, Madison's leading abortion provider will speak at the event.
""The younger people seem to assume the right will always be available to them because they don't know what it was like 30 years ago when abortion was illegal,"" Christensen said.
According to Terlikowski, the campaign chose Madison as a stop because many young people here share progressive and feminist views.
""We need a grassroots network,"" Terlikowski said. ""We have to lay the groundwork now because after the vacancy there won't be much time.""
The campaign is looking to encourage students, faculty and the rest of the Madison community to mobilize. It will encourage e-mails, phone calls and letters to U.S. senators'a move Terlikowski noted as particularly important in Wisconsin because it has two senators who advocate abortion rights.
Terlikowski said the campaign hopes Madison locals like Christensen can help show the community the important role they play as well as to educate them on the issue at hand.
""Everyday we talk to our patients and tell them to look to things such as electing a pro-choice governor,"" Christensen said. ""Many don't realize that statistically a third of those who have abortions will return for a second.""
Student organizations such as the UW-Madison chapter of the National Organization of Women and Sex Out Loud are co-sponsoring Wednesday's event.
The meeting will take place in the Marquee Room of the Madison Civic Center, 211 State St., at 7 p.m. and will include speeches by Smeal and Christensen as well as the video ""Never Go Back,"" which outlines the political situation in the Supreme Court.
