An Invaluable Source of Strength & Solidarity

Student activism is at the heart of the present fight for reproductive justice. The enthusiasm, strength and refreshing insight provided by campaigns which blossom in these circles is invaluable to breaking down stigma, furthering engagement and spreading solidarity, writes Lily Roberts

I personally owe it to student run campaigns for providing me with the support and connections through which to comprehend my own abortion experience. In March of 2018 – during my first year of university – I had a medical abortion. Suddenly, I had first-hand experience of a procedure which is largely considered to be an easily accessible legal right; now I realised the flaws in such assumptions.

Due to the anti-choice lobby having filled Google’s pockets, my initial searches for abortion care were warped by harmful misinformation, false clinics, scaremongering, and stigmatising content. My so-called legal right to information about a medical procedure was obscured – so much so that I ended up getting on a train from Glasgow to Edinburgh to visit Chalmers Clinic to seek advice. Pregnancy did not agree with me, so this wholly unnecessary movement of my exhausted, nauseated, and stressed body between Scottish cities truly began to ignite my understanding that there was work to be done to make abortion information and services truly accessible.

I returned to Glasgow, having been advised that the walk-in clinic appointments at Chalmers that day were full. I was told that I should seek services at Sandyford in Glasgow anyhow – something my already exhausted brain would’ve realised if not for the antis making the internet a minefield of misinformation.

A couple of weeks later, I’d had my initial consultation and first stage of the medical abortion at the Sandyford clinic, and I was due to attend the second half of the procedure at Queen Elizabeth’s hospital. I took a taxi to the hospital for my 7am appointment and felt nervous – as is natural with any medical procedure, especially in a hospital setting. And yet, I was sure of my decision. I have always been decidedly pro-choice and knew that this was the right option for me.

As we pulled up to the hospital, a group of between 15 and 20 anti-choice ‘protesters’ came into view, holding up placards supposedly depicting foetuses. In truth, they could only be described as what I would imagine a three-year old’s artistic rendering of raspberry jam on toast might look like. They filled the pavement at the only entrance/exit point of the clinic, hands filled with leaflets and eyes like hawks spotting potential prey to misinform or intimidate.

They were still there seven hours later, when I left the hospital. I waited for ten very long minutes outside the clinic for a taxi. I see this aspect of the day in a bittersweet way now. It was terrifying (imposing one’s unsolicited opinion on a personal matter, and occupying of space in this context, are aggressive acts without question). However, it wholeheartedly cemented my comprehension of the urgent need to fight for abortion rights and reproductive justice. Student campaigning was my route to acting on this and to feeling true solidarity and strength.

A year after my experience, and I was Glasgow Students for Choice’s secretary and had joined forces with Back Off Scotland as a national campaign coordinator and spokesperson. Today, I am working for Abortion Rights UK and am beyond excited to be president of Glasgow Students for Choice.

Student campaigning is an invaluable source of strength and solidarity. Each and every campaign and society is composed of the efforts of a truly wonderful community of people who unite to ensure people do not feel isolated or alienated. From fundraising for charities which provide abortion care internationally such as Abortion Support Network, to fighting to make the lives of abortion providers easier by campaigning for buffer zones, to providing information about relationships and sexual health more broadly, student campaigns really do form a fierce fight for reproductive justice in their expansive and diverse efforts.

I have encountered so many wonderful people and found so much strength through student campaigning and I hope that the creation of Abortion Rights UK’s national student community can help facilitate this for anyone and everyone who is involved or would like to get involved in pro-choice campaigning. By connecting and conversing we are stronger and can share an indescribable sense of solidarity. Through the events we will hold, and the content published in the newsletters, we hope to unite the diverse spectrum of student activism and assist in building, sustaining, and creating social movements associated with reproductive justice.