A group of 11 DU law students organized DU’s second Reproductive Rights Week, which included 10 on-campus events such as lunchtime panels, evening lectures and forum films advocating the pro-choice position.
Second year law student Olivia Holcombe chaired this year’s Reproductive Rights Week Committee.B
She said it took her and the committee about two and a half months to plan the entire week of events.
“From the looks of things and the responses we have from people that participated, everyone enjoyed it,” Holcombe said.
On average, about 40 people attended each event.
According to Holcombe, most attendees were law students, although the keynote and religious lecture panels drew a larger number of undergraduates and community adults.
“The purpose of the week is to educate and inform, inspire debate, and encourage a greater commitment to protecting our most fundamental rights,” Holcombe said.
The timing of the events coincides with the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973.
The week’s keynote event was a Wednesday evening lecture in the Sturm College of Law featuring two poets and keynote speaker Latifa Lyles, member vice president of the National Organization for Women.
Lyles said that rights are being compromised by the government because, although most people believe women have the right to choose, their voices are not heard or represented accurately by those in office.
Lyles also mentioned Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito, saying that “his record proves a very strong disregard for the rights we hold dear.”
“We are at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” she said in her speech titled “What’s at Stake?”
Lyles encouraged the crowd to seek out their representatives because it is possible to be heard through lobbying, writing letters, organizing meetings and protests.
She said that it is not radical to contact your representatives and demand that rights be upheld.
Poet Day Acoli performed “Mister, Wherever you are” and “The Right to Choose.” Poet and DU law student Nitche Ward, ranked North Carolina’s number one poet, performed “I Hate the Mountains.” The poems dealt with love, woman’s choice, male chauvinism and feminism.
“Poetry has been my healing process,” Ward said.
The other evening lecture, “Religious Perspectives on Reproductive Rights,” was held Thursday in the Sturm College of Law and drew the largest attendance of about 50 people.
Religious leaders from Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Buddhist and Unitarian backgrounds shared their beliefs about abortion.
The three lunchtime panels addressed reproductive rights and the Constitution, the alternative reproductive rights of gays and lesbians and the disabled, and current pro-life legislation in Colorado.
Kate Horle, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, led Thursday’s panel discussion, “Legislative Issues with Reproductive Rights” in the DU Sturm College of Law along with Jessie Danielson, political director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) pro-choice Colorado.
“There are two methods legislators use to undermine Roe v. Wade: the ‘chipping away’ method and the outright ban method,” Horle said.
According to Horle, legislation ‘chips away’ at Roe vs. Wade by reducing access to abortion with the “Misinformed Consent” and parental consent clauses, and by causing abortion providers to go out of business due to hard-to-meet regulations.
“These chipping away methods are frustrating for Planned Parenthood and NARAL because we spend a lot of time educating parents and women about the choice of abortion, as well as how to prevent pregnancy and STDs,” said Horle.
Current pro-life legislation pending in Colorado includes an affirmative defense law for any abortion, wherein the doctor must go to court after performing an abortion with the woman and mutually testify that it was by her consent.
House Bill 1128, titled “Fetal Murder,” would make abortion a capital crime. Another bill involves the obligation of hospitals to inform rape victims about Emergency Contraception (EC). This bill was passed in the state legislature last year, but was vetoed by Governor Owens.
“We agree abortion should be reduced. It’s a common goal to keep families, women and babies healthy,” said Danielson. “We made a call to everyone [in the 2004 Pro-choice America conference] to help women plan, but that call was unanswered.”
The week’s events united students who support the pro-choice position and reproductive rights.
Robyn Kashiwa, a second year law student who attended the Thursday lunchtime panel discussion, emphasized reproductive rights apart from abortion.
“The denial of birth control and EC has often had a disproportionate impact on women of lower socioeconomic status,” she said. “This evokes a lot of social injustice issues, as many women stricken by poverty do not have access to information [on reproductive planning] or healthcare services, and frequently end up on Medicade.”
The four films shown during the week included “Soldiers in the Army of God,” “The Last Abortion Clinic” and “Sacred Choices.”
The week of events was sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and co-sponsored by a number of other student organizations, including the American Constitution Society, DU Outlaws, Legal Association of Women, DU NARAL, Law Students for Choice, Christian Legal Society, Disability Rights Group, Graduate Women’s Council and the Jewish Law Student Association. Financial Support from the Student Bar Association, which is the law school’s student government, was cut in half compared to last year’s Reproductive Rights Week.
According to Holcombe, attendance and support for the events was about the same as last year, with a slight improvement.
Holcombe said that in the first few weeks of planning, a few on-campus pro-life groups wanted to play a dominant role.
Because of this, pro-life groups split off from the Reproductive Rights week, had no protests either this year or last, and are planning to hold pro-life events next month.
“The week was a success,” said Holcombe.
