Women’s Health Action and Mobilization

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Women’s Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!) is an American activist organization based in New York City, established in 1989 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services that states may bar the use of public money and public facilities for abortions.

WHAM! used direct action tactics such as draping the Statue of Liberty with a protest banner and disrupting the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, and took part in actions protecting abortion clinic from pro-life violence and disruptive picketing.

WHAM! worked closely with to combat homophobia and discrimination. In 1989 members of WHAM! and ACT UP took part in a controversial action at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral to protest the church’s position on homosexuality, safe-sex education and the use of condoms. WHAM! helped to form two additional activist groups, the New York Clinic Defense Task Force and the Church Ladies for Choice.