Harvard Students Tell Senate: Don’t Roll Back Women’s Reproductive Rights!

(Cambridge, MA)- In Harvard Square today, nearly one hundred students took action against the challenge to women’s healthcare rights represented in the Stupak-Pitts amendment to the healthcare reform bill, using their cell-phones to make calls to congressmen and pass on the message of anger and disbelief.

“I never thought in my life time I would have to defend the very rights won by my mother and grandmother’s generations,” said Leah Reis-Dennis, Director of Harvard Students for Choice.

The activity in Harvard Square today echoes a massive nationwide lobbying and demonstration effort to focus the Senate’s attention on protecting women’s reproductive health rights.  Students from over 70 colleges, including Jenny Ye, a freshman at Harvard College, stormed the halls of the Senate office buildings in DC to lobby their Senators on this important issue.  Jenny is in the attached photo holding the white sign with “Harvard” in red letters. 

“This is one of the most important political fights in my life-time. I’m in DC today to show my support, and the support of hundreds of students at Harvard, for protecting access to abortion services for women and for passing a real health care reform bill in the Senate.” Said Jenny Ye. 

Due to the work of these students, their allies in Planned Parenthood and other women’s healthcare organizations, the Stupak amendment has disappeared from the current formulation of the healthcare reform bill. But the timely action of student leaders around the U.S. is no less desperate today. The bill could be voted on as early as next week, and advocates are focused on preventing a Stupak like amendment to the Senate bill

“We’re not asking for much,” said Taylor Poor, Harvard College student and StudentsStopStupak member who helped organize the demonstration in Harvard Square today. “We’re just asking to keep the rights we have and for health care reform.”

The movement started two weeks ago with a rally in the Harvard Square T-stop. While astonished to find themselves pushed back almost forty years in time, to the era before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion—and the alternatives were illegal, life-threatening back-alley procedures—pro-choice students have lost no time in gathering forces.

“These students have gone from angry about an issue to taking action and creating a movement in one week’s time,” said Kim Gandy, former NOW president and longtime women’s rights activist.

Raising awareness with flyers and drawing attention with posters—ABORTION IS NOT A CLASS-BASED RIGHT!—students demonstrated on November 18^th that they knew exactly what the Stupak amendment would do to reproductive rights in the United States. Since then, almost 100 college campuses across the country have joined the struggle.

"The students are acting on what we all want—reform which will ensure affordable, quality health care for all, including comprehensive reproductive health care for women,” said Gina Glantz, Chair of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment, a last-minute add-in to the House's Health Care bill, effectively bans abortion coverage in public and private plans once carriers buy into the new insurance exchange, going further than previous anti-abortion insurance measures. The amendment will prevent women from buying private plans out-of-pocket, and will remove coverage from millions of women already receiving abortion coverage. The original healthcare reform bill would have maintained the status quo on access to reproductive health services. However, while the students against Stupak strongly support healthcare reform, the bill passed out of the House goes far beyond a compromise—beyond the Hyde amendment passed in the 70’s that eliminated federal funding for abortions.

The Stupak amendment crept onto the House version of the healthcare bill weeks ago because of pressure—pressure from voters who called their representatives complaining about abortion coverage, pressure from powerful politicians who had an agenda to fulfill, and pressure from weak politicians who voted to satisfy their constituents. Harvard students and their supporters began two weeks ago to pull together an opposing force, and today have taken action to match the anti-choice efforts. They must be able to show their congressmen and congresswomen that they care more than the anti-choice constituency.

For more information please visit: www.StudentsStopStupak.org