Socialists at Fordham U plan to hand out contraceptives right outside campus, protesting Fordham's contraceptives policy
‘On Friday at 3PM we will be tabling handing out FREE Plan B along with information about our demands for fordham. . . . We want this to be a big campaign,’ the group wrote.
The socialist group called Fordham’s ban on handing out contraceptives on campus, calling the policy ‘unacceptable.’
A socialist student group at Fordham University in New York is planning to hand out contraceptives right outside campus on Friday, going against the school’s policy.
Emails obtained by Campus Reform show Matthew Smith, Co-Chair of Fordham’s Young Democratic Socialists for America (YDSA), announcing in a Sept. 24 email: “We have officially requested a full case (64 doses) of PlanB emergency contraceptive pills, which we will be distributing to students and local residents at no cost.” A follow-up email on Sept. 28 confirmed that “[w]e have been approved by PlanB to hand out emergency contraceptive pills and educational materials” to give to “students, faculty, and local residents.”
[RELATED: USF student rep for Planned Parenthood hands out Plan B pills for free]
On Tuesday, Smith wrote to the YDSA’s members: “On Friday at 3PM we will be tabling handing out FREE Plan B along with information about our demands for fordham. This will happen outside of Walsh gate. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. We want this to be a big campaign.”
Currently, Fordham’s guidelines state: “While personal possession of contraceptives, contraceptive devices and/or birth control, in any form, is not prohibited, distribution is prohibited on Fordham University property, using University resources, and at University-sponsored events.”
The YDSA announced its plans to hand out Plan B pills on Instagram, calling Fordham’s ban on distribution of contraceptives “unacceptable” and pressuring the school to prioritize “student’s [sic] sexual health.”
“With the threat of a second trump presidency looming over America, a possible national abortion ban, and the democrats using reproductive rights simply as a bargaining chip to get them elected, the people are scared of losing basic human rights and rightfully so,” the group wrote.
A YDSA Instagram post advertising a previous meeting on Monday also attacked the Catholic university for “fail[ing] its students in their right to bodily autonomy.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Fordham University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
