University of Wyoming’s newest club, Students for Reproductive Rights, met for the first time on Monday, Sept.18th. The club is focused around activism and education for reproductive rights, namely access to abortion and birth control, in Wyoming.
The first meeting saw a larger number of attendees than expected, with over 20 students of all genders and backgrounds passionate about learning and advocating for reproductive rights.
Participants had a variety of reasons to attend, some of which were shared at the beginning of the meeting.
English Graduate Assistant Sarah Waogner said she attended because “right now I’m doing a lot of research on reproductive rights.”
“I joined the group because I’m really interested and passionate about securing reproductive rights. My mom was a teenager when Roe v. Wade was enacted, so it was pretty horrifying to see it fall by the time I was about her age,” said Renee Wile, a Zoology and Physiology PhD student.
The club was founded by UW senior Liz Youngman, an English major who said she started the club because “After Roe v. Wade was overturned […] I felt really defeated because it’s such a big decision. So for a while, I felt really small and like I wasn’t gonna be able to fix it.”
The meeting ran from 5:00 p.m. to about 5:30 p.m. and covered introductions as well as a short powerpoint presented by Youngman.
As of right now, meetings are scheduled to run every other Monday from 5:00 p.m. to around 6:00 p.m.
“According to the Oxford English Dictionary, [reproductive rights] are the rights of individuals to control and make decisions relating to reproduction, especially with regards to contraception and abortion,” said Youngman at the beginning of her presentation.
The meeting centered around teaching attendees about the state of reproductive rights in Wyoming, providing resources to teach more, and having an open discussion about the goals of the club.
“[Our goals as a student organization are] to advocate for reproductive rights, educate ourselves and others, we want to fundraise for reproductive health access,” said Youngman.
“Specifically in Wyoming we want to contact government officials to persuade them to vote in favor of reproductive rights and hold pro-choice protests.”
