Posts Categorized: Abortion
Meet one of the litigators who will be fighting for abortion rights at the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the biggest abortion case of this generation, a challenge to HB2, an anti-choice Texas law enacted in 2013. HB2 forces clinics to meet expensive and medically unnecessary standards, including turning clinics into “mini-hospitals” and requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. David Brown, a staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, is part of the team fighting to end HB2 in what is the biggest abortion case since 1992. I had the opportunity to talk with Brown about the impact of this case and how the team is preparing for the historic legal battle ahead. Kristen Barton is 20 years old, a Texas native, and a student at Texas Tech University.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz Under Fire for Comments About Young Women
Kierra Johnson, the executive director of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, an abortion rights group, suggested young people view women’s health issues from a different perspective. “There is energy among young people around these issues — it just may not be happening in the way that Rep. Wasserman Shultz is used to seeing,” she said in a statement. “The young people that are drawn into this movement today don’t see reproductive justice as wholly separate from LGBTQ equality or from racial justice or economic justice or a host of other issues.”
Wasserman Schultz gets heat for calling young women ‘complacent’ on abortion rights
“Not only are young people engaged in pro-choice activism, but they’re embracing abortion as something positive. They are more unapologetic about it and are really frustrated with many politicians including pro-choice ones who let abortion be used as a bargaining chip in legislative negotiations,” said Kierra Johnson, executive director of URGE, a group that focuses on encouraging young people to advocate “reproductive and gender equity.” Johnson added that she thinks Wasserman Schultz was relaying an “urban legend.” “I don’t think the intention is to blame young people, but I do think … the rhetoric, unfortunately, feeds this issue that young people don’t care,” she said.
University of Toledo Feminist Alliance holds successful counter-protest
The University of Toledo Feminist Alliance held a successful counter protest against an anti-choice group on campus this week. Chapter leaders passed out condoms, had conversations with other students and recruited more students to get involved with their activist work on campus.
University of Alabama works clinic defense
This summer Feminist Caucus (UAFC), a chapter at The University of Alabama, participated in legal observation, escorting, and clinic defense at Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery, Alabama during the Operation Save America (OSA) siege of the city. UAFC had nearly ten members attend a legal observation training in late June where they learned skills that were not only applicable to the OSA defense, but also for defending the clinic in Tuscaloosa near campus. Four UA Feminists turned out to work with the clinic during the week of the siege. Back in the spring, UAFC held several events, including Silhouette: From the Shadows to the Spotlight, an open mic and spoken-word event, and a town hall meeting about campus sexual assault, which about 40 students attended.
UT- El Paso Starts a New Abortion Fund!
In 2012, there were 41 abortion providers in Texas. Today there are 19. Under the Texas law HB2, 12 more will close starting Sept 1st, 2014. That’s why our chapter at the University of Texas, El Paso led the effort to create a new abortion fund to serve their community. With help from URGE staff, the new West Fund has been working to raise money for pregnant people seeking abortions. The West Fund is busy fundraising and building relationships with abortion clinics and advocates in the area. They plan to launch in early September. If you are interested in giving to the West Fund, you can donate here.
Accessing Abortion Without Barriers
Almost as soon as abortion became legal nationwide, the coordinated campaign to roll-back that right began. In 1977, poor women were the first to be targeted and have their rights targeted. Since then, young people, low-income women, those serving in the military, and indigenous women are among the many people, domestically and globally, who have been systematically denied access to abortion because of anti-choice U.S. policies. You may have guessed that URGE activists don’t just sit back while abortion access is stripped away. We work – often in the states with the most persistent challenges – to fight like hell against the threats to abortion access. We also push our uncompromising vision to expand access, including repealing forced parental involvement laws and restoring insurance coverage of abortion for all people…. Read more »
University of Georgia Blocks Anti-Choice Protest
The University of Georgia-Athens chapter proudly helped students walk across campus without harassment from anti-choice demonstrators. Image via Randy Schafer. Take a look at their campus newspaper for more pictures from the protest here: http://bit.ly/1n36dZW
Alabama Acts to Block Anti-Choice Laws
On April 2, students held an event to lobby their state legislators, asking them to oppose the new TRAP laws moving through the legislature. The chapter’s leader, Amanda, spoke specifically about the impact of these laws on young people.
Alabama Amendment 2
On the November 6, 2018 ballot, Alabamians will vote on Amendment 2, an anti-abortion constitutional amendment proposed by the state legislature. This amendment would enshrine a “right to life” in the Alabama state constitution.
