A low hum of quiet conversation settles over the rows of chairs in Ernst Common Room. A few people are milling about, pinning support buttons onto their coats and mixing coffee as they talk amongst themselves. Despite the small number of people, this sun-drenched room doesn't feel empty in the least. Each man and woman in attendance seems to have a very strong presence and an understanding that everyone is there for the same reason.
Appropriately, the symposium When Justice Has a Body is being held on a date close to the thirtieth anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, the landmark Supreme Court decision that forever changed the landscape of the debate on women's health and abortion. Ages of the attendees range from those who have only lived in a post-Roe America, to people who can recall the conditions of reproductive rights before abortion was legalized.
Some of the students have extensive knowledge of the issues and have followed the crusade: Fred McNulty ‘15 has been an advocate for Planned Parenthood since his sophomore year of high school. Older members of the New London community in attendance offer a view of an America unfamiliar to Conn students: one where women were not given choices concerning their own reproductive health or decisions. Others are just beginning to develop an interest in the debate. "The topic is interesting. I want to know more. This is an issue that effects everyone but has been oversimplified," says freshman Nora Britton.
Edgar has a passion for reproductive rights that compelled her to organize this event. "After working with women, I am interested in answering the questions ‘Why did this happen and why are things this way?' I want to provide a better life for my daughters and examine structures so we can change them."
While each of the speakers had their own specialties within the issue, from economics to health, each emphasized what reproductive justice means beyond the common conception of simply meaning "pro-choice."
Professor Joan Chrisler stated "Contraception and abortion are important elements at the core of Reproductive Justice but not the sum total." Reproductive justice, according to the women's organization SisterSong is defined as the right to reproduce, be pregnant,LangenCanada Goose jackets 50 off discount women canada goose coats online Shop. and chose when to have a family and with whom to have children with; the right to make the choice to not have children, and finally, the right to be able to parent the children they do have in a safe and healthy environment.
These standards are embodied in the eight basic human rights categories: civil, political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, developmental and sexual rights.
Each of the speakers sought to prove that reproductive rights are indeed something that need to be broadened beyond the compartmentalization of women's rights and included in the broader category of human rights. Another issue they each addressed was the need to focus on women holistically rather than only focusing on them when they are faced with injustice and eradicating the mentality that they are only important when they are pregnant.
The first speaker of the day was Loretta Ross. She began her talk by assuring the audience that she is indeed a force to be reckoned with by declaring "I am a great-grandmother. I have earned the right to sit while I talk and do basically whatever the hell I want."
Apart from being a forceful speaker, Ross has worked tirelessly on behalf of women of color to gain rights and equality. However, what she focused on through much of her talk was the work done by the foundation she founded in 1997, SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. SisterSong is a group women from every ethnic and political background. They each have a different voice but collectively create a harmony of their differences.
Her battle against reproductive injustice began at the young age of 15, when she was impregnated by way of incest and forced to keep the child because at that point abortion was not an option. For Ross, the experience of teen pregnancy and motherhood disproved the myths and reasoning used by pro-life activists: have the child and just give it up for adoption.
"But then something happened," said Ross. "I saw my child's face." While she was unable to give up her child to adoption, she had to contend with an issue that many face: learning to love her rapist's child and understanding the ambiguity of loving and hating her child at the same time.
Since that experience she has dedicated her life to activism to ensure that future generations would have the choices she wasn't given. Recently she has been involved in the battle against race-targeted abortion. In 2010, a billboard campaign advertising a website, TooManyAborted.com with the slogan "Black Children are endangered" with the aim, Ross argued, of manipulating black women into believing they are somehow participating in a genocide, therefore taking away their ability to direct their own lives. Ross sought to connect the issue of reproductive justice with issues about race in American society.
The second speaker was Conn psychology professor Joan Chrisler. Professor Chrisler is the author of numerous writings on abortion including the forthcoming Reproductive Justice: A Global Concern.
Chrisler argues that women's rights are abused across the globe in order to enforce the power of others. Nicaragua has completely illegalized abortion and Ghana officially removed marital rape from its Domestic Violence Act on the grounds that according to tradition marriage meant permanent consent to the husband. Even here in the U.S., women's rights have been used as a political tool, for example by pro-life Republican presidential candidates.
Appropriately, the symposium When Justice Has a Body is being held on a date close to the thirtieth anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, the landmark Supreme Court decision that forever changed the landscape of the debate on women's health and abortion. Ages of the attendees range from those who have only lived in a post-Roe America, to people who can recall the conditions of reproductive rights before abortion was legalized.
Some of the students have extensive knowledge of the issues and have followed the crusade: Fred McNulty ‘15 has been an advocate for Planned Parenthood since his sophomore year of high school. Older members of the New London community in attendance offer a view of an America unfamiliar to Conn students: one where women were not given choices concerning their own reproductive health or decisions. Others are just beginning to develop an interest in the debate. "The topic is interesting. I want to know more. This is an issue that effects everyone but has been oversimplified," says freshman Nora Britton.
Edgar has a passion for reproductive rights that compelled her to organize this event. "After working with women, I am interested in answering the questions ‘Why did this happen and why are things this way?' I want to provide a better life for my daughters and examine structures so we can change them."
While each of the speakers had their own specialties within the issue, from economics to health, each emphasized what reproductive justice means beyond the common conception of simply meaning "pro-choice."
Professor Joan Chrisler stated "Contraception and abortion are important elements at the core of Reproductive Justice but not the sum total." Reproductive justice, according to the women's organization SisterSong is defined as the right to reproduce, be pregnant,LangenCanada Goose jackets 50 off discount women canada goose coats online Shop. and chose when to have a family and with whom to have children with; the right to make the choice to not have children, and finally, the right to be able to parent the children they do have in a safe and healthy environment.
These standards are embodied in the eight basic human rights categories: civil, political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, developmental and sexual rights.
Each of the speakers sought to prove that reproductive rights are indeed something that need to be broadened beyond the compartmentalization of women's rights and included in the broader category of human rights. Another issue they each addressed was the need to focus on women holistically rather than only focusing on them when they are faced with injustice and eradicating the mentality that they are only important when they are pregnant.
The first speaker of the day was Loretta Ross. She began her talk by assuring the audience that she is indeed a force to be reckoned with by declaring "I am a great-grandmother. I have earned the right to sit while I talk and do basically whatever the hell I want."
Apart from being a forceful speaker, Ross has worked tirelessly on behalf of women of color to gain rights and equality. However, what she focused on through much of her talk was the work done by the foundation she founded in 1997, SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. SisterSong is a group women from every ethnic and political background. They each have a different voice but collectively create a harmony of their differences.
Her battle against reproductive injustice began at the young age of 15, when she was impregnated by way of incest and forced to keep the child because at that point abortion was not an option. For Ross, the experience of teen pregnancy and motherhood disproved the myths and reasoning used by pro-life activists: have the child and just give it up for adoption.
"But then something happened," said Ross. "I saw my child's face." While she was unable to give up her child to adoption, she had to contend with an issue that many face: learning to love her rapist's child and understanding the ambiguity of loving and hating her child at the same time.
Since that experience she has dedicated her life to activism to ensure that future generations would have the choices she wasn't given. Recently she has been involved in the battle against race-targeted abortion. In 2010, a billboard campaign advertising a website, TooManyAborted.com with the slogan "Black Children are endangered" with the aim, Ross argued, of manipulating black women into believing they are somehow participating in a genocide, therefore taking away their ability to direct their own lives. Ross sought to connect the issue of reproductive justice with issues about race in American society.
The second speaker was Conn psychology professor Joan Chrisler. Professor Chrisler is the author of numerous writings on abortion including the forthcoming Reproductive Justice: A Global Concern.
Chrisler argues that women's rights are abused across the globe in order to enforce the power of others. Nicaragua has completely illegalized abortion and Ghana officially removed marital rape from its Domestic Violence Act on the grounds that according to tradition marriage meant permanent consent to the husband. Even here in the U.S., women's rights have been used as a political tool, for example by pro-life Republican presidential candidates.
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