NCJW President to Address March for Women’s Lives


April 21, 2004, New York, NY – The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) has announced that NCJW President Marsha Atkind will address the March for Women’s Lives in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2004. The March, co-sponsored by over 1400 organizations, including NCJW, is expected to draw a record numbers of participants.

NCJW marchers will gather at 9 am on April 25, 2004, at the Capitol Reflecting Pool for a short kick-off program before taking their places in the March line-up. Rabbi Balfour Brickner, Senior Rabbi Emeritus of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York and a long-time pro-choice leader, will keynote the NCJW morning program which will be led by NCJW Board Member and March Chairperson Patti Cohen-Hecht.

A strong delegation of nearly one thousand NCJW members and friends is expected to be part of the official NCJW delegation for the March for Women’s Lives. Speaking about NCJW’s commitment to the March, Marsha Atkind said:

"As Jews, we understand what it means to have fundamental rights and liberties stripped away. The erosion of freedom is a slippery slope. If we lose reproductive rights, other core rights like religious liberty and civil rights may be close behind. On April 25, NCJW will join the nearly one million marchers speaking out in defense of women’s reproductive rights and health. We are proud that NCJW members and supporters from all across the country will be joining marchers from the US and more than 50 countries to show decision-makers in Washington the breadth and strength of the pro-choice movement. April 25, 2004 promises to be an historic moment in the history of the struggle for women’s rights."

NCJW is a volunteer organization, inspired by Jewish values, that works to improve the quality of life for women, children, and families and to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all through its network of 90,000 members, supporters, and volunteers nationwide. It has launched BenchMark: NCJW's Campaign to Save Roe, a national effort to educate and mobilize NCJW members, the Jewish community, and friends and allies everywhere to promote a federal bench with judges that support fundamental freedoms, including a woman's right to choose.