Pro-Choice, Pro-Life Advocates Attend Birth Control Rally

By Jordan Schraeder in 40 Acres, Special on February 18, 2012 at 5:05 pm | 2 Comments

Nearly 200 students and Austinites—both pro-choice and pro-life—braved the rainy, cold weather Friday to participate in a “Birth Control Matters” rally on the UT campus.

Just as medical coverage of birth control was becoming a hot topic in Congress, supporters of Planned Parenthood took to the muddy LBJ Lawn.

Clad in hot pink T-shirts, 150 activists—who included members of UT’s University Democrats, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and the Texas Freedom Network—held signs with words like “My Uterus Is Not Political.”

“This issue is big in the political dialogue right now,” said sociology junior and University Democrat Andre Treiber. “We want to show visible support from both men and women, and show that even people down in Texas support Planned Parenthood.”

The rally, which featured speeches from UT associate professor Terri Givens and Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, also attracted the attention of many pro-life activists.

Nuns dressed in full habit stood on the outskirts of the rally space, holding signs that read “I Stand For Religious Freedom” and “The Pill Kills.” The large group of protestors, numbering around 50, included members of Texas Students for Life.

“Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider,” says Savanna Faulkner, vice president of Texas Students for Life. “We’re here to save lives and to show UT is not the liberal school everyone thinks it is. We have real values.”

Whatever your stance on birth control and other reproductive issues, one of the rally’s speakers said it best: “Texas is the epicenter of this issue.”

Editor’s Note: The Alcalde covers this and other campus events fairly and objectively not to advance any political agenda, but instead to document newsworthy happenings that underscore the importance of the Forty Acres.

Photo by Jeff Heimsath. See more photos here. 

Tags: birth control, Planned Parenthood, Texas Students for Life, University Democrats