The pro-choice group Students for Choice, an affiliate of the College Democrats, will be broadening its horizons this year. The 10-month-old group will offer new services and information, including pregnancy prevention information and sexually transmitted disease awareness. The group will also provide contraception to those who may not be able to afford it.
“A lot of people come into college unaware of the dangers of unprotected sex,” Students for Choice co-director Kate Phillips said. “I think high schools don’t always teach students everything they need to know. There is a lot of misinformation out there. People don’t always know what they can do to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. We want to make them are of the consequences of having sex without protection.”
The University’s chapter of Students for Choice was founded for a second time in January 2001 by Sara Poynter after the group had called it quits the previous June.
“I was looking for a way to get involved on campus with reproductive rights,” said Poynter, who has since graduated. “I … decided to get the group started here on campus again. The leadership last year graduated, and the people they appointed never carried on with it, and the group just dissipated. So we decided to get things going again here on campus. I was glad to be involved with this organization.”
The group’s new services fall under the Family Planning Expansion Project, which provides free pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease tests, gynecological tests and contraception to those who can’t afford these services regularly. Applicants for the program will be given a test to determine whether they fall into the category of people qualifying for the free services. Students for Choice will offer the test to interested people.
The group has other goals for the year as well.
“We also want to increase our membership and get people interested in our group,” group member Courtney Smith said. “This is really a great group to belong to.”
“We don’t want people to see this group as just for women,” co-director Lauren Manes said. “It’s not just about women. A lot of different people are unaware of the options that they have. We want to get people involved by planning more events and more speakers over the course of the year to make people aware.”
Students for Choice is also looking at expanding its political activities.
“We are looking at a national view now as well as a local one,” Phillips said. “Since the Oregon Legislature isn’t in session this year, we’re going to be driving more toward national reproductive rights issues.
“People need to know what their rights are,” Phillips said. “People need to realize how important these rights are. We take legal abortion and that we can get contraception for granted. College students have never lived in a time when we couldn’t express our reproductive freedoms, so it’s easy to forget how important they are. If even a few of these rights are taken away, lots of things will change. People need to know that.”
Students for Choice can be contacted at [email protected] or by phone at 346-0644. The group also has a table in the Women’s Center where messages can be left and more information is available.