Univ. of Wisconsin Students Stand Up for Abortion Rights

by Adam Ritscher / December 2006 issue of Socialist Action Newspaper

SUPERIOR, Wis.—This past month the student newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-Superior, the Promethean, carried a large, glossy anti-abortion insert. A particularly nasty piece of literature, the insert not only railed against abortion but went so far as to claim that the use of any type of birth control amounted to mass murder.

The campus anti-choice group had been given thousands of copies of the insert for free to distribute by a national pro-life group, an example of the thousands of things being done everyday on campuses across the country by this well-funded reactionary movement, which is determined to do all that it can to undermine a woman's right to choose.

The majority of the student newspaper staff, led by Youth for Socialist Action activists Tegan Wendland and Jeni Johnson, expressed opposition when the campus anti-choice group tried to get the paper to carry the insert. And an overwhelming majority of the newspaper staff voted against it. They were overruled, however, by the Promethean's editor.

Many students were outraged upon getting the insert in the next issue of the paper. Meetings were held, letters to the editor were written, and protests were held.

Among the responses by concerned students was some creative guerrilla theater. A group of students lay on a blanket in a pool of fake blood while holding coat hangers, reminding passersby of the thousands of women who died from back-alley abortions back when it was illegal.

We solidarize with the student activists who responded against this most recent attack on a woman’s right to choose. These battles are taking place all over the country, and it's crucial to answer these anti-choice attacks. Control over their own bodies is a fundamental right that all women should be entitled to!