Day of Action
About the Day of Student Action for Reproductive Justice
Thursday, Oct 6, 2022
GSAN members and student partners across the United States organized peaceouts, rallies, marches, resource fairs, and other events on their campuses on Thursday, October 6th to fight for reproductive justice. SisterSong defined reproductive justice as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.”
Within the umbrella of reproductive justice, we organized specifically around trans rights and the right to decide whether, when, and how to become a parent.
Who: U.S.-based graduate, undergraduate, high school, medical, and law students.
What: A nationwide, single-day student strike and day of student advocacy for reproductive justice. Students demanded that our governments and educational institutions protect our rights to abortion, contraception, comprehensive sex education, and freedom of gender expression (hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers, and gender-affirming surgeries) by not attending classes on Oct 6. Instead, students should spent the day learning about how to access abortion and why abortion and trans rights are essential for diversity and equity. There were campus Day of Action event (rallies, resource fairs, fundraisers, marches and more) at over 50 participating schools in 29 states.
When: on Thurs, Oct 6, 2022
Where: Students at over 50 schools in 29 states across the country gathered at specific locations on their campus determined by the student organizers at their school.
Why: We believe that the best way to make real progressive change is to organize people in the workplace and get them involved in their local and state-level politics. The structure of the Day of Action enabled 1) participation in a national movement that demonstrates our collective power, and 2) increased political engagement and effort at the local and state level.
Glossary
Reproductive Justice
Sister Song defined reproductive justice as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Under the reproductive justice umbrella, we are more specifically organizing around our rights to reproductive healthcare and freedom of gender expression, including trans-inclusive policies and access to gender-affirming care.
Peaceout
"Peaceout" is a synonym of "walkout." Some believe that the word "peaceout" is more inclusive of wheelchair users and other disabled folks with mobility impairments.
Trans Rights
Trans rights include legal and medical rights related to gender expression and identity. These include but are not limited to the right to freedom from harassment and discrimination, the right to accurate medical information, and the right to hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and gender-affirming surgery. For more information on what trans rights includes, check out Lambda Legal.
Student Strike
Students do not attend classes. We have invited students to stand in solidarity with us by joining our student strike on Oct 6, 2022 and using their time to fight for reproductive justice instead. "Student strike" as we are using it does not include student workers; in other words, we are not encouraging all students in the U.S. to withhold their research and teaching labor. However, some participating organizers are calling for student worker peaceouts at their individual institutions.
Partner Organizations
