Students lobby for both sides of ECP

Mandy Woodfield / courtesy of photo Junior Mandy Woodfield lobbied legislators in Richmond last week.

JMU students traveled to Richmond to lobby both for and against bills that dealt with the emergency contraceptive pill and abortion Jan. 28.

About 200 college students across Virginia met with different legislatures, attended a press conference and lobbied the bills, according to junior Mandy Woodfield, who is a member of JMU's Reality Educators Advocation Campus Health.

Woodfield met with both Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-District 26, and the legislative assistant to Del. Glen Weatherholtz, R-County of Rockingham and City of Harrisonburg.

They discussed ECPs, Woodfield said, but "in the end, we agreed to disagree.

We didn't find too much common ground, except for support of sexual assault groups," she said.

The students lobbied against many of the bills that were being discussed in both the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia Senate.

They lobbied against HB 1403, which was sponsored by Del. Kathy Byron, R-Counties of Bedford and Campbell, and HB 1414, sponsored by Del. Robert Marshall, R-Counties of Loudon and Prince William.

These bills prohibit the prescribing and dispensing of emergency contraception at public universities in Virginia.

The HB 1403 bill also makes stricter restrictions for minors who want an abortion, according to Woodfield.

This would change the Board of Visitors' January vote that allowed the University Health Center to begin dispensing the pills again.

"We were told we inspire the other universities," Woodfield said in regards to how JMU protested against the board's decision.

Students also lobbied against bills that targeted regulations for abortion providers, including bills HB 116, sponsored by Marshall, and HB 1290, sponsored by John Reid, R- Henrico County.

Students lobbied against them because "these bills require abortion providers to comply with unnecessary licensing standards of ambulatory surgery centers or hospitals," Woodfield said.

"[The bills'] measures include unnecessary government regulations that single out abortions while ignoring other medical and surgical procedures, such as plastic surgery and oral surgery performed routinely in physician's offices," she added.

If these regulations went into place, then 18 of the 20 abortion clinics in Virginia would be forced to close, Woodfield said.

However, Marshall's bill, HB 116, was passed that same day in the House by a 60 to 28 vote. This bill now will go to the Senate, where it will be debated and voted on.

While students were lobbying against most of the bills dealing with birth control and abortion, students did support one of the bills that was in the Virginia Senate — Bill SB 456, sponsored by Mary Whipple, D-District 31.

This bill states that is unnecessary to have parental consent for abortion and birth control.

Both Woodfield and senior Erin Coughlin, REACH peer educator and student coordinator of women's health, spoke at the press conference.

Coughlin said she was shocked when she found out that the board decided last April that the Health Center no longer could dispense ECPs.

"Although I have never used [the] ECP, I still felt as if I had a right stripped away from me," she said. "I couldn't believe that politicians could interfere with what women chose to do with their bodies."

Coughlin said it was important that the board reversed its decision January and that this decision should not be changed.

Woodfield spoke on the bills and why most of them should not be passed.

"At JMU, our rights to distribute ECP[s] were taken away, and that was appalling," she said. "But, removing a doctor's rights to write a prescription for his patient is even more serious.

"In addition, under these bills, a minor would need parental consent to obtain [the] ECP," she added.

Woodfield said the lobbying was a successful trip because "it definitely brought up the issues again" and showed that the students will fight for what they believe.

Planned Parenthood played an important role in helping the JMU students get to Richmond and help chartered the buses, Woodfield said. The Health Center and Planned Parenthood have been in contact since last April's board's decision.

Coughlin is starting up a JMU chapter of Voices for Planned Parenthood, VOX, and will hold an interest meeting Sunday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. in the Health Center lobby.