Nearly 100 attendees and 15+ speakers from all walks of life, professions, and law schools around the nation packed Berkeley law school this past weekend for an exciting and inspiring discussion of reproductive justice and campus activism at the fourth annual LSRJ Leadership Institute (LI). Perhaps the most inspiring part of the LI was that it provided a safe environment for like-minded advocates to come together and speak on issues they may not be able to on their own campuses or in their own communities.

This past weekend was about sharing knowledge, building skills, and forming coalitions, but above all I feel it was about learning how to treat each other with the respect we all so deserve. Sabrina Andrus, the mind and soul behind the LI, so lovingly started the weekend with a speech reassuring us that the national office strives to make the LI a safe space for all, and reminded us that as part making the space safe, we needed to refrain from speaking in terms of “us v. them” and needed to focus on not using “we” phrases. It is important that we do not speak on behalf of an entire community, as we all coming from different experiences.  This is an imperative practice to implement into our daily lives. We must begin to replace that “we” with phrases that start with “I.” Such things as “I feel…” are less hurtful and more accurate.

The weekend was full of emotion and kindness, and as a result many friendships were built. “I” am so incredibly grateful for being able to take part in such an amazing and inspiring experience. There are so many thank you’s that are in order – a thank you to all of the knowledgeable and kind individuals who took time out of their schedule to educate and speak at the conference – a thank you to all of the individuals who traveled long distances to take part in this weekend – and a GIANT thank you to LSRJ for organizing and hosting such a successful and important event. I am so thankful I was able to help this weekend as I have a life time of debt I will be repaying to LSRJ for all of the support, guidance, and love they have shown me in such a short time. THANK YOU to you all!!

Nikki Tuttle

This is the second in a series of posts by our resident bloggers as they look back on the past school year and their involvement with LSRJ. Lara Shkordoff, 2L at Northeastern University Law School (NULS), recently helped to coordinate one of her chapter’s most successful, city-wide events.

“We’ve got some real enemies and some problematic allies. We need to recognize the difference between the two.” -Loretta Ross, SisterSong

That was one of my favorite quotes from Loretta Ross, who spoke on an AMAZING panel that Northeastern LSRJ hosted recently titled Race, Rhetoric, and Reproductive Justice: How Current and Proposed Legislation will Affect Communities of Color.

The panel featured Loretta Ross, Reverend Madison Shockley of the Pilgrim United Church of Christ and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Tiloma Jayasinghe of Sakhi for South Asian Women, Elizabeth Barajas–Roman of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, and Priscilla Huang of the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum.

It was cosponsored by an incredible cross-section of student organizations from several law schools, including Northeastern LSRJ, Harvard LSRJ, BU LSRJ, NUSL Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA), South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA), Latina American Law Students Association (LALSA), Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Women’s Law Caucus, Human Right’s Caucus, Northeastern Feminist Student Organization, and the Women and Gender Studies Department.

I mention the speakers and the co-sponsors because I think they represent how LSRJ principles and ideals were embedded in this event. The event was directed and organized by the NUSL affinity groups and LSRJ. Together we decided on the panel speakers, theme, and topics. The panel focused on issues that affect communities of color, and it focused on various types of RJ issues (religion, violence against women, and immigration).

The panel touched on everything from systemic violence and racism, to the language barriers that prevent women from accessing reproductive health services, to HR3, to religious text that supports a women’s right to chose to have an abortion, to the racist billboard campaigns and the incredible organizing that black women and women of color communities have done in response to it.

The panel also discussed the divisions that exist within the reproductive justice community. On this point Loretta Ross discussed how people within the RJ movement have to stop being afraid of sharing power. Ms. Ross then spoke about how we need to recognize the difference between enemies and confused allies: “we have some real enemies and some problematic allies.”

Judging by the feedback, the panel was amazing! I had many students tell me and other LSRJers that it was the best panel they had ever been to. It also generated huge interest in LSRJ!

The panel also topped off an amazing year at NUSL for LSRJ. This year, NUSL LSRJ hosted a Reproductive Justice 101 event; co-hosted an “Embedded Bodies” conference with Harvard LSRJ; screened the documentary Made In India; co-sponsored an event on sex workers and the United Nations; started a reading group with med and law students in the Boston community, and co-sponsored several other LALSA, BLSA, and SALSA organized events! As Co-Chair I was honored to have a role in these events. What made our chapter and year so successful, however, was our strong & close relationships with the Northeastern affinity groups. LALSA, BLSA, SALSA, and APALSA members drove the direction of NUSL LSRJ and were integral in the planning and organizing of all our events. I am so excited for next year and can’t wait to see what the 2011-2012 NUSL LSRJ E-Board accomplish!

I want to give a shout out to Evelyn (at HLS), Adrian and Celeste (at BU), and my NUSL crew Tiffany, Janaya, Priya, Heather, Natalie, and Laura for making this panel and year so successful.

*LSRJ brought a delegation of eleven members, alums, and staff to the annual Reproductive Freedom Day (RFD) in Sacramento. Catherine Groat, a 2L at Santa Clara Law School, decided to share her experience here.

Whenever I hear about lobbying, it’s always in this vague smoke and mirrors type of fashion. In my cartoon fantasy, picketers are swarming women and men dressed in red and blue suits as they make their way to their offices on top of a very high hill. I’ve learned, however, that lobbying in its basic form is actually just the purest form of democracy: a group of concerned citizens voicing their opinions to their government in hopes of making a difference.

As a law student, this form of advocacy is new and empowering. The ability to change laws by lobbying legislators instead of judges seems a foreign but fresh idea, and I felt at Reproductive Freedom Day that I had contributed a small piece to a larger scheme and mission that I cared about. (more…)

Every year, LSRJ hosts five Regional Conferences around the country. Each conference provides LSRJ students, allies, and alums an opportunity to come together to learn about cutting-edge reproductive health, rights, and justice issues, network with one another, and get updates about the programs of LSRJ. Jessica Wilkerson is not only a resident blogger for RepoRepro but the Northeast Regional Coordinator, responsible for putting together the Northeast Regional Conference! Visit www.lsrj.org/events for more information about the Regional Conferences and email info at lsrj dot org to RSVP.

This year’s Northeast Regional Conference is a melding of my two passions and I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to organize the conference this year. The more I explore the intersection of reproductive and environmental justice, the more difficulty I have in separating them.  That tells me that this is a connection worth spending a jam-packed day in late February exploring!
Speaking at the conference are some truly incredible role models. The full day will start with an plenary panel exploring exactly what the movements are and how they intersect. Mia Davis from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics will start us off with a discussion about environmental justice in conjunction with reproductive justice in the context of chemicals in personal care products. Next, Professor Mindy Roseman of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School will share her many and varied experiences in the RJ world. Professor Betsy Hartmann from Hampshire College’s Population and Development Program will follow with a discussion on the dangers of simplifying the overpopulation rhetoric and how reproductive justice can inform environmental advocacy.  Finally, Angela Hooten of the National Institute for Reproductive Health will share with us the work the organization has been doing with their Urban Initiative program, which has had significant success in blending environmental and reproductive justice activism.

A panel addressing challenges that communities of color face will follow.  Christine Soyong Harley of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum will elaborate on the work she is doing with Asian American communities and the health effects of nail salon work.  Trina Jackson from Alternatives for the Community and the Environment will address areas where African American women are placed, politically and environmentally, at the nexus of the two larger movements.  To wrap up the panel, Elizabeth Barajas-Roman, representing the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Heath, will address challenges specific to the Latina community.

After chapter presentations, a lunch and networking session, and strategic planning with Sabrina from the national office, the next panel will be focused on the work of one particular organization.  Kimberly Inez McGuire, from the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, will present a panel called Politics, Fertility, and Toxic Chemicals: Advocacy at the Intersection of Reproductive and Environmental Justice.
The conference will wrap up with a high-powered RJ networking happy hour. All who are interested in reproductive justice are welcome so please be in touch if you want more information. Two LSRJ National Board members have worked with the LSRJ Alumni Network Committee to organize this incredible event.  I have no doubt that this will be an enriching and empowering day where all of us students can learn more about what it means to speak truth to power.

Jess Wilkerson, Vermont Law School

On page 12 of the September/October, 2010 issue of Mother Jones, an inset feature called “Conspiracy Watch” details the efforts of various pro-life groups to propagate the idea that abortion is a racist genocidal plot. This is, sadly, not a belief confined to the lunatic fringe of a shadowy misogynist far-right coalition. Unfortunately, there is a very real and unsettling history of reproductive injustices that range from Planned Parenthood’s early ties to the eugenics movement to the Supreme Court’s notorious holding in Buck v. Bell (upholding the forced sterilization of a woman said to be mentally retarded, an opinion in which Justice Holmes famously wrote “Three generations of imbeciles is enough”). If these tactics were embraced by pro-choice movements today, it would legitimately be seen as a dangerous movement, circumscribing the rights of populations of women who tend to be low income and/or people of color. But it is much worse than misleading to imply that the pro-choice movement continues to hew to such ideals. (more…)

I attended today’s LSOC Caucus, and I must say I was impressed by the quality of the comments that came from the participants, as well as the quality of the leadership provided by LSRJ Intern Jeryl Hayes.  It all started with an e-mail invitation to attend the Caucus during our lunch hour on Saturday.  When I got there, I instantly felt that familiar feeling of comfort when all of a sudden, I was no longer the only brown person in the immediate vicinity.  To my left and to my right, behind me and in front of me, I saw a diverse group of advocates who had one definite thing in common: our passion for reproductive justice.

It was a beautiful thing!  We talked about racial tensions on our campuses and the dearth of minority lawyers in the RJ field.  We talked about our personal ambitions as future attorneys and what kind of pressures we faced from our respective communities to do something outside of public interest law.  Participants also touched on issues I had not thought of before – for example, what a strong reproductive justice movement would look like in the South and how law students of color and LGBTQ law students could contribute to it.  The conversation was fascinating, and above all, I think it was so important to create a time and space to address a topic that rarely gets airtime:  the intersection of race and gender that lies at the heart of reproductive justice.

There is much more to explore as we return to our campuses and try to make intersectionality a bigger part of our LSRJ chapter advocacy.  But I believe the seeds have been planted for a keen awareness about how our identities impact what we say and how our words are heard by others.  As a Latina law student, I appreciated the opportunity to reflect on how my identity brings a different perspective to conversations about reproductive justice on campus, at my internships, and in the lives of people I talk to everyday.

Lucy Panza

I had the wonderful privilege of spending last Thursday, July 1, 2010, in the California Capitol with a prominent reproductive health lobbyist.   After arriving in Sacramento via the beautifully scenic Amtrak train ride, we drove downtown near the Capitol where it was lunchtime and all the politicos were chatting, lunching and doing their politics thing.  While most people have heard of “lobbyists” or “lobbying,” what goes into the day to day work of this profession is something that many don’t know about.  I was able to experience even a few hours of that and it is a demanding profession.

Lobbying is a form of advocacy with the intention of influencing decisions made by legislators.  It is advocating on behalf of a client, whether it be an individual, organization or corporation.  The term “lobbying” comes from the fact that lobbyists used to stand in the areas, or “lobbies,” outside the House or Senate chambers in order to chat with legislators as they come to or from chambers or to await legislative decisions.

(more…)

“Reproductive rights” is a legal term. When a woman is making a decision about abortion, she’s not making a legal decision – she’s making a personal, moral decision that involves matters close to her heart – her religious beliefs, moral values, and life circumstances. Yet this is rarely recognized in legal and policy work, and that is having an adverse effect on efforts to preserve support for legal abortion. To claim or reclaim the language of values and morality in a positive way, we have to recognize that reproductive and sexual issues are primarily personal and begin to use moral – as opposed to rights – language when appropriate and sincere.

A decision about abortion is a moral decision in another sense: it can be more ethical – or more moral – to terminate an unwanted pregnancy than to continue it, for a host of reasons, including severe family conflict, the needs of other children, and a woman’s or family’s ability to care for another child.   (more…)

On Sunday, Americans will unite in front of television screens across the county, but two things will divide them: team affiliation and abortion. Yes, abortion will be part of this year’s Super Bowl festivities because Focus on the Family, the uber-conservative “family values” group, has purchased an advertising slot allegedly featuring quarterback Tim Tebow’s mom discussing her decision not to terminate her pregnancy despite her doctor’s recommendation. The message being: “If I’d had an abortion, my son never would have won the Heisman.”

Although Americans are used to taking sides on Super Bowl Sunday, how will they react when they’re asked to take sides on one of our nation’s deepest cultural divides during the Big Game? Some national women’s and reproductive rights organizations, including LSRJ, have already reacted–they’re petitioning CBS to pull the ad. This seems like a reflexive, even if justified, reaction. Though I haven’t seen the ad, I’m relatively certain that if it crossed my screen on Sunday, my TV and I would have it out–as we often do when I’m blindsided by bigotry and intolerance wrapped up in American flags, bald eagles, and yes, football uniforms. However, reproductive justice organizations aren’t being blindsided by the ad, so we have the time to formulate a well-reasoned, articulate response. (more…)

The beginning of the new year is a time for reflection, optimism, and goal-setting. In this spirit, Harvard Law Students for Reproductive Justice presents its New Year’s resolutions, and we encourage your chapter to create its own.

For this semester:

1. Meet with administrators from Harvard’s health service to see if we can find out the motivations behind the opt-out policy.

 — Harvard allows anti-choice students to receive a refund of the portion of their health insurance fee which funds abortion.  This “refund” has amounted to roughly $1 per student, and there are student organizations which hold drives to encourage people to opt-out.  In the past, HLSRJ has held response drives, collecting $1 from pro-choice students and donating the proceeds to worthy organizations.  This year, we split our donation between Planned Parenthood and a local abortion fund.  However, several of our board members this year would like to find out why Harvard allows students to opt-out, and how exactly the process works, in hopes of creating awareness and possibly getting this policy changed.

2. Host a State of the Uterus event. (more…)