International Socialist Forward organized a protest outside the American Institute in Taiwan on July 15, to support the feminist movement in the US. ISF stands against the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of women’s right to abortion and joins the call to the U.S. Congress to enact legislation in order to protect abortion rights.
This new attack on women’s reproductive rights is not going to be limited to the US. It will lead to new attacks in different countries in which the conservative establishment will take the lead from the US Supreme Court and extend it further.
It is also clear that this attack is just the beginning. Thomas, a conservative justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, has even said that he will next re-examine the legitimacy of equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans.
As a revolutionary left-wing organization in Taiwan, we cannot turn a blind eye to such attacks and must stand up for women’s rights worldwide. Even though we are in a different country, this does not stop us from launching a solidarity campaign to legalize abortion in Taiwan, nor does it stop us from standing up for women’s rights around the world.
As we have emphasized, in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we believe that countless women are already being persecuted by conservative state governments, which is actually a denial of their body autonomy.
Now, progressive, leftist groups in the United States are trying to re-establish a movement for gender equality, not only to demand equal women’s rights, but also to defend LGBTQI+ rights. The goal is to prevent conservatives from further attacking the gains made by the feminist and LGBTQI+ movements.
In addition to supporting the actions and work of these American activists, we must also support their economic demands, including more adequate health care coverage, as well as workplace pay and benefits, full maternity leave, ect.
We hope that through this symbolic solidarity action, we will open the public discussion in Taiwan for the need to join the international women’s rights movement, so that more women’s rights can be protected worldwide and all women and LGBTQI+ people can enjoy equal rights everywhere.
