|
New York, NY (October 26, 2016) -
Last night,
Center for Reproductive Rights,
the only global legal advocacy organization dedicated
exclusively
to advancing and defending
reproductive rights, hosted their fifth Annual Gala
Celebration at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. The Center
honored renowned Chilean author Isabel Allende, a
feminist force in Latin America’s male-dominated literary world,
for her work to empower women and children worldwide, as well as
documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter for shedding light on
the impact of restrictive abortion clinic regulations across the
South in her latest film “Trapped,” which won the Special Jury
Award for Social Impact Filmmaking at the 2016 Sundance Film
Festival.
The evening kicked off with a red
carpet photoshoot with notable attendees such as champions of
the recent Texas Supreme Court ruling which struck down two
parts of a controversial anti-abortion, Stephanie Toti,
senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights and Amy
Hagstrom Miller, chief executive officer and founder of
Whole Woman's Health and lead plaintiff in the case. The
elaborate cocktail reception segued into the program, in which
John Oliver,
Peabody award-winning host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with
John Oliver, introduced Dawn Porter and reaffirmed his
commitment to women’s rights and feminist issues, having
popularized Porter’s documentary film on his show and bringing
awareness to his viewers.
Senior Advisor on Global Strategy for
the Ford Foundation and former president
and chief executive officer of Global Fund for Women, Kavita
Ramdas, introduced honoree
Isabel Allende, calling her a “proud feminist who detests
the relentless patronizing, discrimination and devaluation of
women in the world.” Allende delivered heartfelt, personal
remarks, recalling growing up in Chile and having “always defied
male authority,” which grew her into the advocate she is today,
“I was a feminist before the word even existed in Chile!”
Nancy Northup,
president and chief executive officer, Center for Reproductive
Rights said, “at the heart of all progress towards our vision
for reproductive rights globally is someone willing to stand up
and challenge an unjust law. This year’s gala celebrates the
brave plaintiffs, great lawyers, pro bono support, coalition
partners and generous donors who support and make possible our
victories worldwide.”
The event raised over $1
million, including the $100,000 Espíritu Award from the Isabel
Allende Foundation, and drew a crowd of over 500
in celebration of the Center’s
groundbreaking work in defending the lives and rights of women
worldwide. Recent victories in women’s rights across the globe
include the U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects abortion
access for the women of Texas; the new amendment introduced in
El Salvador to decriminalize abortion; and the groundbreaking
United Nations ruling in Ireland that recognizes that the
criminalization of abortion violated a woman’s human rights.
The Center - a legal
innovator seeking to fundamentally transform the landscape of
reproductive health and rights worldwide - envisions a world
where every woman participates with full dignity as an equal
member of society. The Center has worked for nearly 25 years to
define legal advocacy for reproductive rights through victories
in regional, federal, and local Courts around the world, as well
as at the United Nations.
For more information on
Center for Reproductive Rights, please visit
www.reproductiverights.org
# # #
Founded in 1992,
the
Center for Reproductive Rights
is a global legal advocacy organization
that fights to ensure
reproductive rights are guaranteed in law as fundamental human
rights.
With
expertise in both U.S. constitutional and
international human rights law, the Center fights to ensure
strong legal protections for the full range of reproductive
rights and affordable and unhindered access to the full range of
reproductive health care.
|