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Women’s Studies Conference at New Paltz: “Reproductive Justice: 40 Years After Roe v. Wade”

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NEW PALTZ – The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program of the State University of New York at New Paltz will present the 2013 Women’s Studies Conference on April 27 in the Lecture Center on the New Paltz campus. Titled “Reproductive Justice: 40 Years After Roe v. Wade,” the conference will bring together activists, academics, students, and community members to consider a host of topics, including:

  • a history of reproductive politics in the United States
  • the global dimensions of reproductive justice
  • economic barriers women confront to control our reproductive lives and raise children
  • the activism that fuels the movement
  • the rights of pregnant women and adolescent girls
  • the place of religion in a reproductive justice agenda.

Registration is $25 for the public, and the event is free for college students with ID.

Reproductive health care has been increasingly restricted in the past four decades since the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in the United States. A vehement anti-abortion movement has fueled violence against abortion providers, and state-level legislative actions have imposed hundreds of procedural restrictions such as waiting periods, compulsory sonograms and parental consent laws. Many forms of feminist activism have emerged to support reproductive rights, and a vibrant, expansive approach to women’s sexual and reproductive experiences has come to be known as “Reproductive Justice.” Reproductive justice goes far beyond Roe v. Wade in making three broad claims:

  1. Women have the right to manage their reproductive capacity.
  2. Women have the right to adequate information, resources, services and personal safety while pregnant.
  3. Women have the right to raise their own children.

Reproductive justice means that a woman’s right to control her reproductive health should not be restricted because of race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, economic, immigrant or citizenship status, or status as an incarcerated woman. Plan on joining the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality program at The State University of New York at New Paltz for this important and thought-provoking conference. For more information, contact the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at (845) 257-2978.