Candace Gibson, University of Utah College of Law

I was very hesitant to start a Law Students for Reproductive Justice chapter at the University of Utah for three reasons:  1) I’m starting my last year-I’m already exhausted and I don’t want to do any more work, 2) it’s Utah, enough said, and 3) the most terrifying reason-how about if no one wants to join the group and it’s just me and my two friends who do claim a feminist identity (I will just be preaching to the choir).  Luckily, my experiences have brought me back to the lessons I learned as a community organizer which have significantly reduced my stress and my hesitancy.

The first couple of weeks of September I was scrambling to get an executive board together (though I am proud to say that the U of U LSRJ has an awesome one that is composed of all three class years!) and at first no one was really chomping at the bit.  Can I blame my 3L friends for saying that they already have too much on their plates? No, I can’t.  Although at desperate moments I thought I was going to be doing all the work and had the recurring thought late at night, “what did I get myself into?” LSRJ made me tap into the lessons that I learned during my community organizing days in college.  These two basic lessons were:  One, there can be no movement without starting a conversation.  Two, people aren’t going to jump on board unless you meet them where they are.  Of course, my peers weren’t going to volunteer for every task and position because all of us were getting barely comfortable with the concept that we were starting an organization at a school that never had an organization like LSRJ, one that was so revolutionary in nature about a subject that is taboo in Utah.  Hell, I was still getting comfortable with the idea.  How can I ask someone to give their precious time when I’m not completely sold on it? As I become more enamored of U of U LSRJ and its potential, I’m not afraid to ask individuals for their time, money, and support.  As these conversations occur, my friends and my peers are willing to volunteer their time or serve on the executive board, and I appreciate every contribution.  Without them, there would be no way that U of U LSRJ can grow.  I also fully know as a community organizer that there may be days where everyone’s personal lives need to be attended to and I will just have to step up to the plate.  As organizers, we often forget that our personal lives will not stop for our professional and public lives.

My experiences have also reminded me of the sheer joy that is part of community organizing.  During the introductory meeting, a future member of the executive board understood the principles of Reproductive Justice so much that she had this enormous smile on her face.  We had made a connection.  These connections and small moments of spontaneity and laughter are going to sustain the group whenever we have our frustrations with each other, with the campus, or with people who just don’t want to understand Reproductive Justice.

Susy Prochazka, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

San Diego has a reputation as a socially and political conservative city, especially with the large military presence of the Navy and a large population of veterans. Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego is no exception to this conservative atmosphere (on the part of both the students and administration). The school’s chapters of the Federalist Society, the Republican Students Association, and the Christian Legal Society have a large and vocal membership base. Throughout our LSRJ chapter’s relatively short span on campus, we have faced both explicit and subtle opposition from students and administration.

This opposition has ranged from certain members of the Student Bar Association stating that they do not wish to work with the “abortion club” to blatant theft of our chapter’s documents and materials.  Recently, we have faced the issue of censorship of an event flyer by the school’s administration and faculty. At our new fancy campus, student orgs have a lot of problems advertising events because no one is allowed to post flyers anywhere in the building. To advertize, a student organization must send a PDF file to the administration to get our flyers put on the 6 electronic touch-screens throughout the building.

For our first event, we had planned our Sex-Ed Trivia Night at a local happy hour. It is one of our most popular events, and we timed it to take place right after the student org fair to rake in 1Ls and other prospective members. To advertise the event, our co-chair, Thomas, produced an absolutely amazing poster, guaranteed to catch attention and bring in attendees. Our flyer had a black and purple background, with a pair of woman’s legs in heels, and with the event details underneath the simple high heels. Nothing lewd, nothing sexually-explicit, nothing to suggest that this was a portrayal of a stripper. It was simply a poster to generate interest and gain attention through a little flair of suggestiveness.

But after submitting our flyer, we immediately received a response from our administration letting us know that the school has been working over the years to improve its reputation in the community, and that our flyer posed a threat to the school’s image of professionalism. (more…)

Joanne Caceres, Harvard Law School

Amidst the utter chaos that is the first week back at Harvard Law School, I feel a certain calm returning to the classroom where HLSRJ has taken to holding its board meetings. By calm, I partially mean the happiness of seeing familiar faces, but it goes beyond that. It’s the feeling I get being in a room of capable, passionate, and brilliant women and men who are committed to engaging in the same issues as I am. It is moments like these that I reflect on my personal mantra: dripping water carves a stone.

High on our list this year is increasing our visibility on campus in order to create a campus wide conversation on Reproductive Justice. Our first focus is recruiting new 1Ls and building relationships with other progressive campus groups. We are hitting it off next week with the ever-important Reproductive Justice 101 event. I fondly remember the first time I learned about Ms. T, a case study that illustrated the intersectional nature of reproductive justice. It was during that presentation that I knew that RJ would become a major part of my law school career. If we are lucky, we will meet some of our new rising stars at this year’s event!

As we seek to build our core, however, we also are considering opportunities for engaging the entire campus. Through our relationships with other organization leaders, we became aware of a point/counterpoint event that will be looking at the recent anti-abortion bills that have been spreading out throughout many state legislatures, including South Dakota. Many of these bills are slated as being pro-women, because they require providing women with “more information” and more time to make a decision through mandatory wait periods. In reality, these laws are little more than attempts to further limit and prevent abortions, often making what is already a difficult process more difficult. Although we are not officially involved as an organization at this event, our members will be attending and we hope to use this as an opportunity to bring people together to reflect on the conversation. We want to do more this year than talk at people, we want to engage people and allow them to process what is an all too often not openly and intellectually discussed on our law school campus. And hopefully, if we can’t change some minds, at least have our views listened to and understood. It’s shaping up to be quite an active year, drip drip drip.

Shandanette Molnar, George Washington University Law School

Before considering law school, I contemplated becoming a traditional midwife. After learning of the legal challenges that families and midwives face when attempting a more empowered birth experience, I decided that there was important legal work to be done and part of that work was my responsibility. In the meantime, I resolved to become a birth & postpartum doula and lactation educator and counselor so as to maintain my sense of self during law school.

As a maternal care, birth, and breastfeeding advocate, there are certainly times when I feel a disconnect between law school and the birth and reproductive justice movements. This is where LSRJ comes into the picture and precisely why campus-based reproductive justice work is so important. LSRJ bridges the gap between my outside and law school lives and repairs that schism I feel. With an LSRJ framework, I oftentimes engage with fellow classmates and raise awareness of reproductive justice issues. Through these conversations, our chapter highlights that reproductive justice is about much more than abortion. It is about the shackling of incarcerated pregnant women, mandatory Cesarean births, bans on vaginal births after Cesareans (VBACs), domestic violence, and access to information and quality healthcare across the full spectrum of a person’s reproductive life. When possible, I highlight the metarights because they are just so powerful – the right to have children, the right not to have children, and the right to parent the children we have with dignity.

Next week, our chapter will be co-hosting a feminist networking event for students. In an effort to give back to the law school community, I am hoping that I will be able to connect with a new chapter member or schoolmate – perhaps a 1L – and assure them that if they are interested in the work, reproductive justice and LSRJ provide many intersections to pursue meaningful work, both on and off campus.

Though I have often doubted my decision to attend law school, I feel confident in the decision I made now that I have 1L year behind me. Additionally, I think it will be easier to be a lawyer in midwifery school than it would have been to be a midwife in law school. Sure, I still desire to become midwife, but that’s how I’ll spend my fifties+ life. In the meantime, I am going to dedicate myself to combining my legal advocacy skills with a commitment to better birth, breastfeeding, and maternal care practices, as well as birth and reproductive justice. I hope a few of my amazingly talented law school comrades will join me as well.

We are thrilled to introduce our six dynamic and dazzling resident bloggers, coming at you from law schools across the country throughout the 2011-2012 school year!

They come from long-standing chapters, from brand-new chapters, from the South, Midwest, Northeast, DC, and the West, and they will be sharing their chapters successes, discussing challenging conversations they’ve had with colleagues and friends, and inviting us to think critically about a wide range of RJ issues.

Burke Bindbeutel, 2L, University of Missouri

Burke is just beginning an internship at the Missouri Commission for Human Rights. In the summer of 2011, he worked for the Missouri State Public Defender, in the Trial Division. A Missouri native, he has rediscovered his roots through the study of history as a research assistant for the War & Reconciliation project. Burke serves on the screening committee of the True/False Film Festival. In high school, he portrayed Benedick in a stage production of “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Joanne Caceres, 2L, Harvard Law School

Joanne’s interests in reproductive justice include community organizing and progressive advocacy. She is her chapter’s Community Liaison Chair and hopes in this capacity to encourage stronger and broader coalitions on campus. As a a first-generation Hispanic American, Joanne is particularly worried about how lower income and language barriers affect women’s access to adequate healthcare and education.

Mallory Carlberg, 2L, University of Oklahoma

Mallory is currently enjoying the newly regained freedom to choose her own schedule as a 2L at the University of Oklahoma. Despite it being at eight a.m., Health Law is her favorite class. She is interested in issues related to birth justice, comprehensive sex education, and abortion access. She is an editor for the blog at Oklahomans for Reproductive Justice (OK4RJ), a grassroots organization dedicated to caring and advocating for Oklahomans. Additionally she volunteers at a program assisting survivors of domestic violence in obtaining victim protective orders. This year she is co-founding an LSRJ chapter, and is excited to bring a red state perspective to RepoRepro.

Candace Gibson, 3L, University of Utah

Candace is starting an LSRJ chapter as a 3L at the University of Utah. Candace hails from Los Angeles, was raised in Utah, and as a young feminist fled to Smith College.  Before going to law school, she worked with refugee and ethnic communities on a wide range of issues at a small non-profit in Utah.  When her friends and she aren’t talking about politics, they like to analyze pop culture, especially Mad Men.

Shandanette Molnar, 2L, George Washington University Law School

Shandanette is a 2L and Master of Public Health candidate in Maternal & Child Health at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Additionally, she is a birth and postpartum doula and Certificated Lactation Educator & Counselor who volunteers at a local birth center and with a childcare collective. She hopes to blend her legal advocacy skills and public health scholarship with her commitment to reproductive justice, informed choices, and better birth and breastfeeding practices.

Susy Prochazka, 2L, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Susy is originally from both Prague, Czech Republic and Boulder, Colorado. In her sparse spare time, she enjoys reading sci-fi novels on the beach and surfing.  Before law school, Susy interned at several human rights organizations in D.C. to follow her passion while slinging coffee as a barista to pay the bills. As the co-president of her LSRJ chapter, Susy is working to introduce the concept of reproductive justice and all it entails to the broader community to encourage free expression of body, gender, and sexuality.

When I first heard about Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ), the strong ties between the national office and its campus chapters struck me. LSRJ is not just resume filler. The Easy-Events-in-an-Envelope and travel stipends for students to attend conferences are just two examples of dedication to cultivating active campus chapters. The annual Leadership Institute (LI) is another. Before the conference, I felt ill equipped to handle the challenges unique to doing reproductive justice work in the South. However, I now feel prepared and excited to help bring an LSRJ chapter to a conservative state.

The conference featured workshops on how to start a new chapter, how to talk to people about reproductive justice, how to diversify membership and how to leave a legacy through cultivating new leadership and institutional memory. With nearly one hundred attendees, the campuses represented were diverse. The schedule accounted for that with events ranging from how to address “social justice burn out” to how to organize on conservative campuses.

Social justice conversations on the coasts are sometimes dismissive of conservative states especially when people refer to residents as backward or beyond hope. But from Sabrina Andrus’ opening speech on moving past an “us versus them” mentality, it was clear that this would not happen at the LI. She asked us to be mindful of ways the word “crazy” can be alienating to both people with mental illnesses and to conference attendees who have family members with so-called “crazy” beliefs. Although it can be difficult to do this work in the South, there are amazing, dedicated law students working here, and I felt the LI took into account the needs of chapters from conservative states beautifully.

Some of the most helpful discussions occurred between the formal workshops as attendees shared experiences over pizza or coffee. Through these conversations, I learned that flexibility is key to effective organizing. Decisions about leadership structure and which issues to discuss need to differ with each law school, depending on the make up of the student body.  The friendships formed at the conference will continue online throughout the year and at regional LSRJ conferences. I am grateful for the opportunity the LI provided to learn, grow, and plan for the academic year with such inspiring attendees and speakers.

Mallory Carlberg

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

Does your campus’s LSRJ chapter face opposition in regard to facilitating a comprehensive conversation about reproductive justice? Well mine definitely does! While my campus has a mix of people with different backgrounds, and a rich liberal arts community, the Midwest doesn’t exactly scream bleeding liberal. Some LSRJ chapters at conservative campuses face opposition in the form of other, more conservative, student run organizations; some face it from their administrations, and others from their peers, or the community in general. Whatever the opposition is, it can be incredibly frustrating and disheartening.

The question is, how do we combat this conservative opposition and oppression, in order to facilitate a discussion and educate others about the RJ movement? I am obviously not alone in facing these problems, as Sandra Fluke of Georgetown lead a packed room in a discussion on this question at the first Issue Caucus that I attended at the Leadership Institute, LSRJ’s national conference at Berkeley.

While no solution was definitively reached, and I personally don’t begin to have the “right” answer, I was really charged by the discussion and feel many great ideas were presented. Some campus chapters decided to take an adversarial approach, feeling it important to use those “scary” words the opposition fears. They feel it important to speak out because there are so many that are ill-informed. Others, including myself, have chosen to take a more middle-ground approach on our campuses. Such chapters feel it important to use an intersectional approach in order to highlight common ground; while we refuse to apologize for our stance, we understand this can be most effective given the types of opposition we face.

Whether it is forming a coalition with an unlikely ally, finding a faculty member to back your cause, or a hosting a fundraiser to bring in members of the community, it is important that we find which avenues best fit our campuses. There is not only one way to approach this problem, but there are a variety of steps we can take to advance our cause and educate others about RJ issues. For me, I strongly feel that as we keep in mind the LSRJ/RJ vision, and keep the discussion alive, we will ultimately find the avenue that best fits our campuses and communities at large.

Nikki Tuttle

This is the third in a series of posts by our resident bloggers as they look back on the past school year and their involvement with LSRJ. Lucy Panza, graduating 3L at Georgetown University Law Center, will not be leaving the LSRJ family, as she was recently named one of our 2011-2012 Reproductive Justice Fellows. Learn more about this program and read bios of all eight Fellows at our RJFP Website.

Next weekend, I’ll be graduating from law school. Even as I write this post, I can hardly believe it!

Ever the LSRJ member, I couldn’t bid adieu to this chapter of my life without reflecting on how this time awakened my passion for reproductive justice. Unlike many LSRJ members, I came to law school with very little experience in the movement – although I had tons of passion to make up for it. I cared about abortion rights and gender equity in the workplace, and what I had read of Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work and seen in Hillary Clinton’s appearances touched me deeply. But I had no outlet for it yet, and I did not know whether or where I fit into a broader movement. LSRJ helped me find that fit.

I barely identified as Latina when I entered law school – much less as a Latina advocate for reproductive justice. But LSRJ sent me a persistent message: you have a contribution to make. Your identity is unique, and once you find it, you can use it to affect change. Even if you don’t feel oppressed, look around you – justice is underserved. That’s when I woke up to two major reproductive injustices: the contraception ban in the student insurance at Georgetown, and oppression confronting Latinas in the U.S. These are the two injustices that have defined by RJ legal education, and that I will never stop fighting against.

Through countless LSRJ events, internships, and conversations with enthusiastic advocates, I found my Latina RJ identity and a movement that welcomed me. Our movement is not perfect – it is often plagued by pettiness and even institutionalized sexism – but that is a reason to join it, not to shy away from it, because our generation is its lifeblood.

In August, I will be embarking upon my legal career as a Reproductive Justice Fellow at the Center for American Progress. I can’t wait! I cannot know what the future holds, but with such a great start, it will be hard to go wrong. I thank LSRJ for the guidance it’s provided me in the past, and the support it will provide for years to come. The intersectionality of reproductive freedom and self-determination in a broader sense is clear to me now, thanks to LSRJ.

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.