EXCLUSIVE: Protesters try to disrupt board meeting to demand free Plan B
Students at the University of Missouri recently held a protest to demand access to free abortifacient Plan B pills.
In videos obtained by Campus Reform, student protestors are heard chanting phrases like 'There is no Plan B!' and 'M.I.Z.Z.O.U…when students die, the blood’s on you!'
Students at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) recently held a protest to demand access to free abortifacient Plan B pills.
Mizzou’s Coalition for Bodily Autonomy put together the Feb. 9 protest to attempt to disrupt a Board of Curators meeting that was taking place at the same time.
“Let’s rally outside and make sure we’re heard,” an event flyer read.
In videos obtained by Campus Reform, student protestors are heard chanting phrases like “There is no Plan B!” and “M.I.Z.Z.O.U…when students die, the blood’s on you!”
Protestors are also seen holding signs that read “WE WON’T GO BACK” and “TAKE BACK OUR RIGHTS.”
Kaitlyn Banning, a Mizzou student who witnessed the protest in person, told Campus Reform that the protestors tried to disrupt the Board of Curators meeting since members of the board “were making six figures and were appointed by the same government who was the first to ban abortion (Missouri).”
Banning, who also serves as the Mizzou Students for Life President, disagreed with the protest.
“Women deserve better than abortion, and I will not stand idly by as such propaganda and misinformation is being spread like wildfires that women cannot succeed without abortion,” Banning told Campus Reform.
She continued, “True empowerment of women is telling them that they can do it all, and that is what the pro-life movement does. We tell women that pregnancy is not the end to their education or career. Instead, we stand beside them, advocating for them to be the mother and student/business woman they want and deserve to be.”
Christian Basi, the director of media relations for the MU/UM System, informed Campus Reform that the students’ demands are not currently being discussed.
“This topic has not come up with the Board of Curators in previous discussions,” Basi said.
[RELATED: CA bill requiring universities to provide abortion pills goes into effect]
Mizzou’s Coalition for Bodily Autonomy is a group of students and community members who are fighting back against the state’s abortion ban.
“Together, we are fighting for leadership at @Mizzou to take specific actions to help the VAST MAJORITY of its student body who are endangered by the state abortion ban and continual efforts of state legislators to restrict the rights of trans and queer people in this state and on this campus,” one of the group’s Instagram posts reads.
On top of free Plan B, the group also demands the “[e]nd [of] the censorship of the Social Justice Centers on MU campus” and for the school to “[m]ake a statement acknowledging the dangers posed to Mizzou students by legislation within our state that restricts students’ control over their own bodies.”
Campus Reform reached out to every individual and institution mentioned for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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