Actress Kathleen Tuner said women need to continue to fight for their reproductive choice Friday at a benefit for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts at the Four Seasons Hotel.
“Are terrorist attacks against Planned Parenthood clinics any less wrong than those against the nation?” asked Turner, national chair of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Board of Advocates.
Declaring she wanted to “speak [her] mind,” Turner emphasized the importance of fighting for a woman’s right of reproductive choice in a 10-minute speech.
“Reproductive choice is a pivotal issue of the times,” Turner said. “It is a basic right — that of when to have a child.”
Turner drew parallels between the United States’ fight against terrorist threats and Planned Parenthood’s own battles.
“The nation has been shocked and frightened by the bioterrorist threat,” Turner said. “This is nothing new to Planned Parenthood. We have been opening our mail with gloves for the past five years.”
PPLM President and CEO Dianne Luby echoed this sentiment in her introduction of Turner, saying she anticipates the day when she would not have to “scan the crowd for people who shouldn’t be” there.
“I hope in 35 years things will have moved in a dramatic direction,” Luby said. “I hope we won’t have to be so concerned with security at events like these.”
Turner agreed with Luby’s statement, saying in a free country there should be always be the right to choose.
“We are a country that stands for freedom. We are fighting a war to defend that freedom right now. Without the right for reproductive choices, we are liars,” Turner said.
Turner also discussed her role as a lobbyist and political spokesman and encouraged each woman in attendance to do her part.
“We have to make the issue of women’s choice known to every elected official,” Turner said.
“We need to ask, ‘Are you pro-choice?’ and let them know if they aren’t, they will be defeated. If they are pro-choice, we need to let them know they will be supported,” Turner said as the audience broke into applause.
The all-female audience of about 100 spanned many generations of Planned Parenthood friends, supporters and staff. Many expressed their satisfaction with recent political referenda as well as concern about potential decisions by the Bush administration.
“It took until 1972 for unmarried women to legally obtain contraceptives,” Luby said. “Now we are waiting for the last hurdle. We’re waiting for Gov. Swift to pass the [Contraception Coverage Bill], something that makes sense and should have been passed 35 years ago.”
Several women called the bill, which will require all healthcare plans providing prescription coverage to pay for contraceptives, a leap forward for Planned Parenthood. However, they also shared concern over other recent bills in Congress.
Turner remarked on the Ashcroft-supported Unborn Victims of Violence Act, a bill that for the first time considers an “unborn child” — at any stage of prenatal development — a separate person for purposes of federal law.
“It’s pretty awful if the fetus gets rights before we do. To me, it is a nightmare,” Turner said.
Luby and Turner both stressed Planned Parenthood as a resource for women’s health services and not just abortions.
“Abortion is not the main issue,” Turner said. “Ninety-three percent of our budget goes to women’s health services. We have an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases. That’s what kills me. None of this is necessary.
“When people bomb clinics or protest, they’re taking away what options women can get,” Turner added.
Education is an important service that Planned Parenthood hopes to continue to build, Luby said.
“We have an interest in prevention and teaching the young adults good, responsible decisions,” Luby said. “Obviously we are worried about abstinence-only education. While it is an option, studies have shown that it does not do the trick.”
Turner, who has served as national chair for PPFA since 1995, is presently in Boston playing Mrs. Robinson in the theatrical version The Graduate.
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