Despite the eight-hour drive and chilly conditions last week, seven students from the Boston University Women’s Center joined more than 400 other college students from around the country for a pro-choice conference in Washington, D.C., as 100,000 pro-life advocates marched the streets of the city Wednesday.
The group, including Women’s Center president Colden Ray and vice president Julia Gefter, listened to speeches from numerous notable pro-choice officials, participated in workshops and lobbied Massachusetts Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry during the two-day trip, Ray said. Speakers included Feminist Majority president Eleanor Smeal, Planned Parenthood president Gloria Feldt and National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League president Kate Michelman, Ray said.
‘It was amazing to see all of those incredibly influential women speak, especially women of color,’ Ray, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said.
After leaving BU on Tuesday afternoon, the group participated in activities Wednesday and Thursday, including a pro-choice rally on the 30th anniversary of landmark Supreme Court abortion case Roe v. Wade Wednesday night, before returning to campus Friday morning.
Pro-life people of all ages demonstrated throughout the city last week as well, according to news reports. Ray said a group of pro-life advocates also held a rally near the pro-choice rally Wednesday night.
The group rented a van for the trip, which was funded by the Student Union Allocations Board, according to Ray. She said officials from the Women’s Center had been working on organizing a trip for the conference since she heard about it in late November. Though there were male participants from other schools at the conference, the BU group was all women, according to Ray.
Ray said the group made the trip because the abortion is one of the Women’s Center’s main issues. The 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade made the trip all the more justifiable, she said.
‘The 30th anniversary only comes around once, so you have to take advantage of it,’ Ray said. ‘It’s important to show that there is support for this.’
It was especially powerful to see so many pro-choice college students come together for the conference, which was organized by the Feminist Majority, Ray said.
‘To go there and see 400 like-minded students, politicians and leaders was great,’ Ray said. ‘Even though there’s such a threat being posed, we do have the numbers and we can mobilize.’
After spending several hours Thursday morning preparing for lobbying visits, the group joined eight other students from Massachusetts colleges to lobby Kennedy and Kerry staff members. Though Ray said Kennedy has a fairly consistent pro-choice record, she said the group went to make a statement to Kerry that he should not waver on his positions as he runs for president over the next two years.
‘We wanted to make the point to him that he really needs to take a stance on it and not be moderate if he runs for president,’ Ray said.
CAS freshman Marissa Welch, secretary for the Women’s Center, said the week was a ‘really positive experience.’
‘It was really amazing to be in the capital and at the court,’ she said.
Welch said she took the trip mainly for the education experience. Though she said she also wanted to make a statement on the issue, the advocacy training was a main reason for traveling with the group.
‘I wanted to not only learn about the issue, but learn about what I can do about it,’ she said. ‘You can apply those leadership skills to almost anything.’
Women’s Center vice president Julia Gefter said she took the trip because of the issue’s implications for all feminists.
‘Reproductive rights is the key to true equality between the genders,’ she said.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Suzanne North said the big-name speakers were the big draw for her, though she mainly just ‘thought the trip would be fun.’
‘I wanted to see what it was all about,’ she said. ‘There were a lot of speakers I wanted to hear.’
Though several group members said they felt relatively disturbed by the tactics of pro-life demonstrators in the city, North said they did not affect her.
‘I wasn’t really against them so they didn’t make me angry or anything,’ she said.
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