Resource for reproductive care
A new club hopes to serve as a safe place for women
March 2, 2021
In an era of social isolation, a new student-run organization at Quinnipiac University is pushing the boundaries by creating a space that is safe for women to turn to and have open discussion.
“This is a movement that’s here to stay,” said Audrey Gladu, a junior nursing major. ”And that’s something that’s important to a lot of people. We’re not here to infringe on anyone’s opinions or beliefs, we’re here to support the people that do believe in it.”
Gladu founded The Women’s Rights to Safe and Legal Reproductive Care (WRSLRC) this semester at Quinnipiac to promote the importance of women’s rights to proper reproductive care that is deemed safe and legal. Despite being in the early stages of making its voice heard at the university, Gladu said the organization is determined to start new conversations within the campus community and its students.
“One thing that people don’t understand about Planned Parenthood is it’s not just abortions,” Gladu said. “It’s access to birth control or going to get regular checkups for women. It’s much more than what sometimes people think, so it’s really important to get that out there for college students to know.”
According to statistics provided by Student For Life of America, 46% of abortions are performed on women younger than 25 years of age. Those studies show that out of all abortions performed, 12% are on adolescents and 34% are on women ages 20-24.
Gladu said she came up with the idea to develop the club on campus after being inspired by several abortion clinic escort videos on TikTok.
“These people would escort others into Planned Parenthood away from the picketers,” Gladu said. “I thought that would be really cool if we could make a Quinnipiac group with Planned Parenthood to try and better the community around us and provide that safe opportunity for these women and the people who need this type of medical care.”
In the midst of finding an adviser to sponsor the organization and creating social media accounts for the club, Gladu said she was able to recruit members by reaching out to individuals in her other extracurricular activities.
“I’m in the sorority of Gamma Phi Beta, and we’re all about building strong girls and having each other’s backs,” Gladu said. “I sent a message in our group chat, and I had a couple of girls reach out to me, so that’s what really got the whole ball to start rolling.”
Jalen Worstell, a sophomore marketing major, immediately expressed interest in the club. She said her encounters with watching others go through these types of situations inspired her to join.
“I just think it’s so important to have someone that’s there for you to help you through those kinds of things,” Worstell said. “It can be very traumatic and very stressful, especially in college. It’s just so nice to know that there’s a group of women that are willing to help you and do whatever it takes to get you to be more positive and just to help out.”
A main priority of the organization is to advocate for privacy but also to educate other students on why the topic directly affects others in the school community.
“Even if you’re not in that place, it’s good to understand that other people are,” Worstell said. “It’s unfortunate that stuff like this happens a lot of the time so even if you don’t personally know people that go through it, it does happen. So it’s good to bring it up and start that conversation on campus.”
Establishing an official organization amid the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the members, but Worstell said they are in the process of implementing weekly Zoom meetings, putting out flyers and gaining student’s attention on campus.
“It’s hard to get the word out at first, but we’re trying to do that very soon,” Worstell said. “We’re super open to other people’s opinions and talking about it very openly. If anyone wanted to join, they could obviously talk to any of us.”
The organization is open to any student at the university, regardless of gender affiliation. Gladu said prospective members can reach out to her or any current members of the organization to get involved, and more information will be released once the group finds an adviser.
“I want to see this club flourish as much as I can in the next year and a half,” Gladu said. “I want other people to take over and lead it. I want this to keep going and to keep these discussions flowing because what’s most important to me is just getting these conversations out there.”
