By Elizabeth Flores | Staff Reporter
Across the country, bodily autonomy and reproductive rights face an onslaught of attacks endorsed by the second Trump administration. Despite this, local grassroots efforts continue to challenge the status quo for stronger outreach and advocacy on campus and in the WSU Vancouver community.
The Janes: Fight for Abortion Rights was a wellness resource fair sponsored by Survivors United and the Human Development Club, held on campus on April 10. The fair welcomed guests from local community organizations: YWCA Clark County, the Washington State Healthcare Authority’s Parent-Child Assistance Program, the Mullen-Polk Foundation, and the Cupcake Girls.
Three panel guests held a discussion highlighting the historical and ongoing fight for reproductive rights. With the turbulence of the current political landscape and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the passion for advocacy and access to care was palpable among participants, guest speakers, and students that afternoon.
Q: How do you feel historical challenges to reproductive rights compare to the obstacles we face today, and what can students and community members do to advocate for those changes?
Sam Garrison, BIPOC Youth Outreach Coordinator for the YWCA:
“…At least from what I see, [the] political landscape [is] very similar to what we used to see when the reproductive rights movement just began. As of March 2025, we have 20 states that offer protections for either patients who are seeking certain reproductive healthcare services or the actual physicians who are providing those services… In terms of the actions that we can do as students or as community members, I think a big part of how we address this sort of change we’ve seen is also realizing that the problem of inaccessibility to reproductive healthcare is tied to so many other social justice issues… Prioritizing the intersectional efforts of addressing all pieces of what it means to build a family—or to not build a family—and to take care of our reproductive health is sort of tantamount in order to be successful in making these sort of coded changes with reproductive health.”
Q: Any of us who are living in a very blue area may feel protected and safe from the things happening in the world. What’s your outlook on what we’re dealing with, what we need to be aware of, and how to fight back?
Ariana Organiz-Ruis from Planned Parenthood:
“…We are perceived to be a safe state. But that really, truly, and honestly varies depending on where you’re located geographically… What happens at the national level can and will affect you at the state level, regardless of all the protections that the state may or may not have… Title X at the national level is also being attacked by the Trump administration. Title X helps fund a lot of the sexual and reproductive health services that we offer at Planned Parenthood… Now that Title X is being attacked at the national level, we’re also seeing that here in our own state. Our governor doesn’t want to be taxing the wealthy. So that just kind of creates these weird kinds of contrasting things, right? Where if we don’t come up with progressive revenue, what’s going to happen?… And so I think that is the issue we see here in those states where it’s never an immediately perceived danger… What happens at the national level can affect us here, too.”
Q: If students here want to get involved, what’s the best way to do that? What are the best tangible steps we can take—through organizations or in the community?
Grace Aspen, Community Engagement Manager at the Cupcake Girls:
“There are a lot of ways to get involved. With our organization specifically, we are volunteer-run, so we do have volunteer teams and internships where you can get involved and work directly with our participants. That could mean helping us find resources for our participants, maybe becoming an advocate or mentor.”
Garrison:
“…One thing I’d definitely like to emphasize is that reproductive justice, in order for it to fundamentally be reproductive justice, it has to be intersectional. And so if you want to work on reproductive justice, that just means working on a part of what it means to care for your reproductive health. If that means helping people get access to food because we need to be able to teach and take care of our bodies, that’s also working on reproductive justice. If it’s making sure people have access to education, that’s part of it too. I think sometimes it’s easy to get very siloed when thinking about reproductive justice and thinking it’s just about our right to choose, but it’s really about our right to take care of our reproductive health. And that’s way bigger than just the right to choose.”
The event concluded with a screening of The Janes in the auditorium after the panel discussions. The documentary highlights the efforts of a collective of women who performed abortions in Chicago during 1968—pre-Roe v. Wade.