Building a Stronger Movement: Lessons from the Northeast Regional Conference
I was delighted to attend the Northeast Regional LSRJ Conference at New York Law School on February 13, 2010. Leigh Campbell and Courtney Patterson did an excellent job organizing. The theme was “The New War on Reproductive Justice: The Changing Tactics of the Anti-Choice Movement.” The following are the primary pieces of information I took away from each informative panel.
Jordan Goldberg from the Center for Reproductive Rights and Alexa Kolbi-Molinas from the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project discussed the importance of acting on a state and local level, rather than focusing only on Supreme Court decisions. The state representatives are much more likely to listen to individual members of their constituencies, meaning that time spent contacting legislators is certainly not wasted. Currently, there is legislation in many states throughout the country aimed at redefining life and personhood. If this legislation is passed it could effectively outlaw abortion, many forms of contraception and emergency contraception in that state. Additionally, it would open the doors to criminal charges on behalf of the fetus. Needless to say, the implications are staggering and those developments are worth following.
Sabrina Shulman, the Political Director at NARAL Pro-Choice New York, talked about the latest strategies of the anti-choice movement. Ms. Shulman described the movement as being an “under-the-radar campaign of fear and intimidation.” The most startling aspect to me was the report on the prolific Crisis Prevention Clinics (CPCs). For instance, I learned that, while there are only about 2000 abortion-providers in the United States, over 4000 CPCs exist today. For those of you unfamiliar with CPCs, they are organizations that place themselves in a position to draw in women experiencing unplanned pregnancies in an attempt to influence personal decisions. CPCs rely on misleading names and locations near abortion-providers to get women to enter. This tactic seems to be highly effective and undermines the medical clinics and their factual information. The anti-choice movement is clearly wealthy and willing to spend money on clinics that do not provide any necessary health care. Recently, the city of Baltimore, MD passed a law that requires clinics to directly say whether they provide access to the full array of medical care. This seems to be one effective way of diminishing the mystery surrounding CPC’s for the average person.
Eesha Pandit from Mergerwatch/Raising Women’s Voices and Magda Schaler-Haynes from the New York State Insurance Department talked about the latest developments in the health care debate surrounding reproductive health. The debate around reproductive health care is primarily complicated by the Hyde Amendment, which was originally adopted in 1976. The amendment requires that federal funds not be used to pay for abortion, which effectively removes abortion from Medicaid and Medicare coverage in most states. Many opponents argue that this amendment targets poor women who have difficulty paying for an abortion out of pocket. The Hyde amendment is renewed every year and is arguably the biggest obstacle in the way of comprehensive reproductive healthcare coverage. Senators and House Representatives have introduced amendments relating to this issue, but an appropriate compromise has yet to emerge. Health care reform is clearly a complicated issue and women cannot afford to be complacent about the coverage they receive.
Stephanie Alvarado from the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and Miriam Yeung from the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum spoke about the pieces of grassroots advocacy and building a successful movement. Ms. Alvarado stressed the dual importance of understanding the needs of each specific community and of keeping the members of any advocacy group energized. Ms. Yeung spoke about the challenges of a having new administration in the White House that is more concerned with national human rights issues but that still has a long way to go to produce positive change. Ultimately, it is up to each of us to shape the world into a place of which we are proud. We cannot assume that a new administration means that our work is over.
I left New York City with four major themes bouncing around in my head:
1. It is time for the pro-choice movement to reclaim the offense in the struggle for reproductive justice. This can be done through redefining the vocabulary and taking some bigger risks in and out of the courtroom. We need to remind people about why this fight is so important.
2. A comprehensive reproductive justice movement will include more voices. The LGBT community and the environmental justice community are two examples of voices that need to be brought more inclusively to the table.
3. Reproductive Rights are Human Rights!
4. The big components of the contemporary discussion are about access; the anti-choice movement appears to have never-ending ideas about how to restrict access. We need to be just as diligent in defeating those ideas and maintaining access.
Thanks to the conference, I am re-energized in my endeavors at law school and have a clear picture of what it will mean to work in the world of reproductive justice upon completing my JD. The fight is worthwhile and I could not be more excited to jump into the fray
Jessica Wilkerson