ovements tomobilize. Some organizations used their own experts to refute the “scientific” argumentswhile other groups attempted to reframe the debate.NARAL formed its own tactic through “Abortion Rights: Silent No More”. Thisstrategy involved asking women around the nation to write letters about their experienceswith abortion. The letters were addressed to President Reagan and other elected officials. The letters were read at an open forum on a scheduled day and it aroused much mediaattention. The NARAL message: “We are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters,your friends, and abortion is a choice we have made” became a battle cry.NARAL was effective in the reframing of the debate. Emphasis had been taken offthe fetus and placed on the role of the woman. Also, feminist groups used this time todevelop responses, including some feminist films, to the anti-abortion strategy. Althoughthe outrage and activism produced by the countermovement’s tactics could not sustain thepro-choice movement indefinitely, it came along at a critical time. It providedopportunities which utilized the energies of activists and helped revive the sense ofimmediately felt grievances that had rallied the activists prior to the legalization ofabortion in 1973.Following the Silent Scream strategy, the countermovement continued to usetactics that helped to keep the pro-choice movement on the alert. Direct action techniqueswere developed by the countermovement during this time. These tactics were often aimedat abortion services, their workers, and their clients. They often employed the use ofbombs and other forms of harassment. The countermovement, by engaging in directaction and bringing the abortion conflict back to the level of women’s experiences, helpedthe pro-choice movement revitalize it’s grass-roots movement.In July of 1989 the Supreme Court, now including Reagan appointees, upheldprovisions ...
