Columbia University Democrats

Allison’s creativity knows no bounds.  (Well, there’s tequila: stay tuned for next week.)  She’s here tonight with the rest of Alma’s List painting giant signs in preparation for our activist event on Low Plaza, April 26.

The cause: New York’s Reproductive Health Act.

The issue:  This is a very technical statute, so it’s especially important to get the message across clearly.  And what does that take? CREATIVITY. Using bright colors and catchy (we hope!) slogans, we’re trying to convey to stressed out students that the RHA, though decidedly unsexy, is necessary.  RHA takes rights that are currently stated only negatively and states them positively.  In the current criminal code, abortion is codified only as an exception to homicide law. In other words, murder is illegal except in the case of a fetus.  This makes it difficult for potential abortion providers to determine whether or not an abortion is legal, even though Roe v. Wade protects the fundamental right to an abortion. The statute would reframe the protection of abortion into a positive guarantee of the right to an abortion.  It would do the same thing with a woman’s right to use or refuse birth control.

Nothing too radical, right?  But extremely important, for women, for health care providers, and, most importantly, for shifting the discourse on women’s reproductive health away from a discussion that stigmatizes a woman’s right to choose.  That’s a pretty big project for a bunch of kids sitting around in a dorm painting signs.  But, from our proclamation of CHOICE! CHOICE! CHOICE! to our commitment to “Cut through the Red Tape on a Woman’s Right to Choose,”  we’re taking it one step at a time.