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I just got this email from Feminists for Life...I really hope this becomes legislation smile

First Capitol Hill Briefing on the Needs of Pregnant and Parenting Students

On Wednesday, February 15, 2006, the birthday of Susan B. Anthony, Feminists for Life President Serrin M. Foster moderated the first Capitol Hill briefing on the needs of pregnant and parenting students.

Feminists for Life has focused on the needs of pregnant and parenting students since a board member shared the story of her pregnancy while in graduate school. "She found there was no family housing, affordable child care or maternity coverage in the student health plan. She felt forced to drop out of school and face a lifetime of poverty or have an abortion, and miscarried under the stress. We knew we needed to be a catalyst for change," said Foster. Feminists for Life began hosting Pregnancy Resource Forums at top colleges across the country in 1997.

During the Hill briefing, Terri and John Dickinson and FFL's Senior Communications Specialist Sally Winn each described the array of challenges they faced while pregnant and parenting in college. "My school's extensive student handbooks and policies gave me very little guidance, and I had never even heard of another student having a baby and still graduating," said Terri Dickinson, who married John while the two were attending different colleges. "Administrators hadn't dealt with a pregnant or parenting student before." Winn agreed, saying that colleges need to think about the perspective of a pregnant woman. "One-piece desks aren't helpful when you are eight months pregnant," Winn commented. Julia Thornton shared her experience as birthmother in college.

Carol Day, Director of Health Education Services at Georgetown University, was a panelist on the first FFL Pregnancy Resource Forum in 1997. Day outlined the progressive program at Georgetown that has included annual forums and a central campus location for help. In 2005, Foster presented Day with Feminists for Life's Elizabeth Cady Stanton Award in recognition of the model program at Georgetown.

Inspired by Feminists for Life's Pregnancy Resource Forums, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act would establish a pilot program to provide $10 million for 200 grants to encourage institutions of higher education to establish and operate a pregnant and parenting student services office. The on-campus office would serve parenting students, prospective student parents who are pregnant or imminently anticipating an adoption, and students who are placing or have placed a child for adoption.

Congresswoman Melissa Hart, who introduced the bill into the House on November 9, 2005, made a special appearance at the briefing.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act is named for the mother of the women's movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was also the mother of seven children and an advocate for women's access to higher education. Together with her friend and collaborator Susan B. Anthony, Stanton was a revolutionary who consistently advocated for the rights of women, women's education, the celebration and acceptance of motherhood, and the protection of children.

For more information about Feminists for Life and the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act, visit www.feministsforlife.org.

It's about time.

I'm tired of women telling me they had to abort to stay in school. That's sick. Men don't need to make that choice. Abortion doesn't equalize women and men sexually, abortion makes it so that men can go on having sex and women have to kill their children to keep doing so. It's not very pro-choice if the choice you're making is drop out of school or abort. There's no option for being able to keep your child and stay in school. Normal accomodations made for students who aren't pregnant aren't made for pregnant women. Why is there such a negative attitude towards women who're pregnant? It makes no sense. Pregnancy is a natural outcome of sex. It's acceptable to cover up sex by aborting but not to admit to it by carrying to term? That's not very sexually free. Women are denied help based on the fact that they got pregnant and don't want to have an abortion? It's treated as an even graver sin if she's single. Men just don't need to deal with that. They can have kids and stay in school if they're single. They can live on campus and still be fathers, as long as they aren't married. What the heck is this saying? Women shouldn't have the same reproductive rights as men and should have to abort their children to succeed? It makes no sense.

Finally!

Everyone's already covered the pro-woman things so I'll skip right ahead into the other stuff.

For all the people who think that the woman has to deal with it themselves and it shouldn't be up to anyone else I say: You're only thinking short term.

Think of the possibilities! We'll have more educated people, more revenue coming into the country, better education, better health care the whole sha-bang. Making sure that everyone at least has a chance at their education is best for not only them but for society.

I hope Canada gets an idea from this.

It wasn't me. I haven't voted yet XD I tend to ignore polls for one reason or another.

If I had to guess why someone would be against it... it's taxpayer's money funding a social program that helps those who are all too often seen as sexual deviant because she got pregnant. For the same reasons that someone might be opposed to welfare (it's seen as an easy way out at the taxpayers's expense when everyone else is expected to make it on their own) one might be also opposed to parental care provided by the state.

Of course, that seems a pretty poor reason if it prevents women from being forced into abortions they don't want to have.

Or perhaps someone just misread the question XD It happens.

Did you know Harvord give money for an unlimited amount of abortions to women seekign them? If the collage can fund abortions, why can't they fund pregnancies. Its hypocriticle if you ask me.

Bah! That changes little of what I said. They shoudl still provide adiquite services for all students. Not just the ones who arn't pregnant.

Im one of them!(well I transfered to another school) My college kicked me off campus, slashed my merit based scholarship and raised the cost of my tuition...so much for being able to get an education!

Edit: don't worry having colleges NOT slash scholarships and NOT kick you off campus wont change the number of people getting pregnant, but it just might change the number of people getting abortions.

Oh shoot, I just realized that I completely forgot to post the rest of it. -.-;; Sorry. I could have sworn I mentioned that I think schools should have to make everything pregnancy accessible, in the same way that they have to make them handicapped accessible. And that they should have housing available for families.

Honestly, I thought that I had included that. I just don't think that they should have to fund the education of pregnant women.