University students will gather tonight with students from other colleges in the state to support freedom of choice for women worldwide. This rally will take place at 8 p.m. in front of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus. It was coordinated in preparation for the April 25 March for Women's Lives in Washington.
Leeanne Lemaire, co-president of Lesbian and Bisexual Womyn in Action, said the rally is intended to motivate people to attend the march in Washington. "It's not just about abortion; it's about women's rights to better health care," she said. "That's fundamentally about women having freedom, ... about having control over their own bodies."
Some of the issues at hand include the distribution of the morning-after pill, better access to contraception, better sex education and pre- and postnatal care.
Other organizations involved in the rally are the Community Empowerment Project, New Jersey Solidarity, RU Choice and LABIA.
Sarah Kelly, a Douglass College senior who helped coordinate the rally, said support for the rally is necessary because women's reproductive rights are drastically threatened. She said if action is not taken, women may lose many rights they take for granted. "This is a time when women need to be out, not waiting for other people to make decisions for them," she said. "They need to take responsibility for their own lives."
Kelly said although they will be discussing reproductive rights, it will not be the only issue on the agenda. "Out of the speakers, there will be one who will discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues and how they affect reproductive rights."
Coordinators of the rally said they are hoping for a large turnout tonight. Other schools organizing for the march, including Rider University, Drew University, Rutgers-Camden and Kean University, have been invited to attend the rally.
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