By Bobby Hankinson
The issue of reproductive rights is heating up to an intense boil, both on campus and across the country, as Northeastern students and activists from 50 states prepare to march.
Recently, the Budget Review Committee (BRC) allocated $4,250 to the Northeastern University Feminist Student Organization (NUFSO) and the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) to send a delegation of 150 students to the March for Women’s Lives, a demonstration for reproductive rights April 25 in Washington, D.C.
“I want to see social expression part of education,” said BRC Chair Michael Benson. “The Student Activities Fee should be used as a robust driver for student programming, student education and student social interactions.”
Lihua Wang, the women’s studies coordinator, said there would be a profound educational impact on the participants for this event.
“When they come back, they will have lots to say,” Wang said. “Not necessarily about reproductive rights, but about civil engagement, activism, how to make a difference, political participation … we don’t know what kind of greater impact we’ll have.”
Wang also recognized why this is such a growing issue of concern among college-aged students. According to the 2000 U.S. census, 18 to 24-year- olds have the lowest voter turn out.
“After students graduate from college, many begin to think about starting families,” Wang said. “I will be taking my 10-year-old daughter (to the march) because it’s important for younger girls to think, eventually, these will be their choices.”
The march itself is set to be the largest of its kind worldwide. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, one of the groups organizing the march, discussed the magnitude of the event in a conference call.
“This is a very exciting undertaking,” Smeal said. “With well over 1,000 organizations, we have a really broad coalition of groups. We’re organizing at a level like never before.”
Actress and comedienne Janeane Garofalo also participated in the conference call and expressed her growing concern for the future of women’s rights.
“I have no idea what it will take (for) certain people to go beyond voting,” Garofalo said. “Most people are not even aware about what their government is doing.
“There has to be a way to make people understand that this fight is constant; it doesn’t end and we need to fight political machines and white male patriarchy and fight for women’s rights, human rights. Government and powerful bodies must be watched at all times,” she said.
Smeal and Garofalo also touched upon the global gag rule, Attorney General John Ashcroft’s recent subpoenaing of medical documents from abortion providers (which they referred to as “medical McCarthyism”) and the “partial birth abortion ban,” which is actually called a late term abortion or dilation and extraction in the medical world.
“I find it anti-intellectual, cynical and dishonest to outlaw a procedure that does not exist,” Garofalo said. “Anytime a politician uses ‘partial birth abortion,’ they are lying to us and embarrassing us.”
As reproductive rights and women’s rights become a growing concern on Northeastern’s campus, the Council for University Programs (CUP) invited Sarah Weddington, the attorney who successfully argued Roe v. Wade, to speak to students on March 16. Weddington spoke about the danger of losing Roe v. Wade as well as her experience establishing it. The Supreme Court’s decision in 1973 legalized abortion.
Weddington paced confidently in front of the crowd of roughly 200 students in the Raytheon Amphitheater, as she paused to answer questions and make the occasional joke.
Through the humor, Weddington addressed the possibility of losing Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights and women’s civil rights.
“Now, 31 years (after Roe v. Wade), I’m afraid people are taking it for granted,” Weddington said. “Women today haven’t had the resistance training; they haven’t been told ‘no.'”
Attempting to awaken an inherently apathetic generation, Weddington also drew on her own personal experiences to motivate young women to breakdown the stereotypes.
“We were told ‘women can’t run full court (in basketball). Women can’t teach (when they’re) pregnant. Women can’t get a credit card without their husband’s signature and women can’t be lawyers,’ but we said, ‘you watch,’ and we got stronger,” Weddington said. “I may not have made as much money as some of my male colleagues, but you haven’t heard of any of them.”
Weddington also discussed Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s last minute swing vote that saved Roe v. Wade from being overturned in 1992 in the Casey v. Reproductive Services of Southeastern Pennsylvania case, and the threat of an “anti-choice” administration continuing to jeopardize the historic Roe v. Wade decision.
Among the recent acts working against women’s civil liberties, Weddington addressed the recent partial birth abortion ban, the subpoenaing of medical records and abstinence only education, which Weddington called “terribly detrimental to society.”
Brooke Roberts, a senior international affairs and political science major, said she was originally drawn to the event because of interest in politics. However, after hearing Weddington speak, Roberts said she left with a better understanding of the issue and how it is being affected today.
“I learned the fact that Roe v. Wade isn’t the pinnacle and there is still a lot to do and a lot at risk,” Roberts said.
CUP President Tom Kneafsey, who organized the event, said he watched as a law student approached Weddington. The student relayed to Weddington a story she heard from one of her professors in class. The professor told the class that after hearing Weddington speak, it inspired her to stay in law school.
“It was nice to see someone basically meet their idol and an idol meet one of their great admirers,” Kneafsey said. “They were obviously both touched.”
Elizabeth Ridge, a sophomore sociology major in attendance, said she is already beginning to get involved by registering for the March for Women’s Lives and by becoming a member of the NUFSO.
“I hope our generation steps up,” Ridge said. “I hope to be a leader.”
Before spending an extra two hours signing books and taking time to speak with each student individually, Weddington reiterated the urgency of this matter to the audience.
“We are at a critical turning point. If (President) George W. Bush gets re-elected, we will lose Roe forever,” she said.
Turning to a reference from the recent film trilogy “The Lord of the Rings,” Weddington ended her speech with a call to action.
“At the end of the film, the good people retreat with the ring to their defensive structure and they are backed against a wall. The enemy is coming with superior numbers and superior weaponry,” she said. “I sat in the theater wondering if they would be saved, but on the fifth day, reinforcements were on top of the hill. Will Roe v. Wade be saved? Well, it depends if those reinforcements will be waiting on top of the hill.”
With a crucial election approaching in November and the March for Women’s Lives less than one month away, it is yet to be seen if those “reinforcements” will be waiting. However, contrary to the stereotype of college students being generally apathetic, Northeastern students, as well as students across the country, are organizing like never before and preparing for the long battle that lies ahead.
– Glenn Yoder, News Staff, compiled timeline.
