At first Emma was task-oriented: She organized the variety of condoms into color-specific piles and dutifully handed them out to passersby Monday afternoon in the EMU. But once the cake was cut, the toddler shifted her focus.
“Cut it, cut it,” Emma chanted from her mother’s shoulders. Soon she was sticking her fingers in frosting and licking them clean.
She joined her mother, Jen Thoenes, a Planned Parenthood volunteer, and members of pro-choice student groups to celebrate the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in the EMU lobby.
The landmark 1973 decision guarantees the right to an abortion, a right many said they feel is threatened now that Bush is president and John Ashcroft will most likely be confirmed as attorney general in the next few weeks.
“It’s very timely,” Thoenes said of the anniversary falling so close to the inauguration of George W. Bush. “We’ll take every opportunity we can to raise awareness about contraceptives.”
Sara Poynter, one of the event’s organizers and a member of Students for Choice, said she hoped the event would remind students that a woman’s right to choose is still in jeopardy.
“Many students don’t see it as a pressing issue,” said Poyner, a senior general science major. “I hope this motivates and activates students to get involved.”
Some EMU patrons said no to cake but took advantage of the free condoms, grabbing them in handfuls.
Anyone who approached the table could get a quick history of Roe v. Wade and its significance.
“A lot of people feel very helpless now that [Bush] is in office,” ASUO Vice President Holly Magner said. “He’s a bit too conservative, and people are afraid that women may lose the right to choose.”
Though political talk laced conversations, it was mainly a light-hearted party to celebrate an important breakthrough in history.
Similar celebrations also took place at two other Oregon universities with the idea that the anniversary is a good time to remember that birth control prevents abortion.
Along with the multi-colored condoms and temporary tattoos reading “Keep the Choice Yours,” information about the Family Planning Expansion Project was also available.
The project is the result of a five-year federal grant that enables low-income women and men to receive free or reduced-cost birth control supplies. The program was implemented at Planned Parenthood in 1999 and expanded to the University last summer.