Volunteer Forum
No Time for Complacency
By Karen Strassler

I grew up post-Roe v. Wade  and, like most of my generation, I had 
assumed that the right to safe and legal abortion could not be taken away 
from me. I believed that my motherÕs generation had successfully fought 
for and guaranteed reproductive freedom just as her grandmothersÕ 
struggle had guaranteed American women the right to vote. Naively, I 
believed that my right to control my body was beyond question, until the 
setbacks of the last twelve years shocked me into action.

When I decided to get involved in the struggle for womenÕs rights, I 
chose to volunteer at CARAL because its focus on abortion rights seemed 
to me the most effective way to work for womenÕs rights. While I am 
committed to progress on a range of womenÕs issues, the right to control 
our bodies is absolutely fundamental. Without this solid foundation the 
entire structure of womenÕs rights - job opportunity, equal pay, health 
care - cannot be solidly built. My volunteer work at CARAL gave me a 
sense of concrete contribution and the inspiring experience of working 
with others towards a common goal.  

Although the 1992 elections will go down in history as a victory for the 
pro-choice movement, we can not afford to become complacent. I urge you 
to continue your support  of CARAL. If youÕve never volunteered, perhaps 
now is the time to contribute your much-needed talents. Remember that 
hope is the springboard to action. The hope that the election results 
have rekindled in pro-choice Americans must inspire us to greater 
activism,  so that we can secure, once and for all, this fundamental 
right. o