Passionate about reproductive justice? This is the club for you.
One of my most rewarding experiences at GMU has been serving as the president for our Planned Parenthood Generation Action (“GenAct”) chapter. GenAct is the campus/community level of Planned Parenthood which organizes events to advocate for reproductive freedom, bring awareness to reproductive health, and promote education about sexual health. There are more than 350 GenAct groups across the country, and GMU’s chapter was revamped in spring 2022 following the talk of Roe v. Wade potentially being overturned.
Planned Parenthood, an American nonprofit reproductive/sexual healthcare organization, was founded by Margaret Sanger who opened the first clinic in 1916 in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Sanger was committed to educating women about the importance of birth control but unfortunately held eugenic beliefs and viewed some women as “unfit” to give birth. According to Sanger, people who were not white or had disabilities were considered to have “undesirable traits.” While Sanger stood for discriminatory and white supremacist organizations, Planned Parenthood today is not a racist or ableist organization. They have made strides to repair relations with marginalized communities to ensure that everyone gets treated with equity and has their own bodily autonomy.
Planned Parenthood provides a variety of resources such as birth control, STI testing, prenatal/postpartum services, gender-affirming care, vaccines, emergency contraception, etc. They also provide abortions, of course, but a common misconception is that this is their only service. In fact, only about 4% of the services Planned Parenthood provides are abortions. In 2022, 51% of services provided were STI tests and treatment and 25% were contraceptives.
GenAct at GMU works closely with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia (PPAV) and represents Planned Parenthood’s values at a student-based level. We advocate for reproductive freedom regardless of identity and use gender-inclusive language. We also inform the public on the current state of reproductive justice in our country, basic sex education, accessibility to contraceptives on campus, and more. If you need condoms, we have plenty!
Past GenAct projects have included creating sex education posters to hang up around campus and making goody bags with contraceptives and candy to hand out at kiosks in the JC. GenAct has also organized field trips for our members like attending the Women’s Wave march in Washington D.C. in October 2022, visiting Planned Parenthood’s clinic in D.C., and canvassing for pro-Roe candidates such as Russet Perry. In addition to this, we do collaborations with other student-led organizations on campus like GMU Dems and NextGen to encourage healthy relationships and help create lasting effects on our surrounding communities. We are planning to collaborate with Patriot Period Project and GirlUp in the coming months to discuss important issues faced by women and people with uteruses like period poverty and trafficking. GenAct is also active at events around campus like the Get Connected Fair and Sexploration.
GenAct’s next meeting will be a discussion-based seminar on intersectionality with a guest speaker from PPAV. There will be baked goods plus a game with Planned Parenthood-themed prizes for the top 3 winners. Join us in JC Room G on November 12th at 7:30pm for a chance to win a bucket hat, fanny pack, t-shirt, tote bag, and more!
On-campus sexual and reproductive health resources:
- Student Health Services
- Testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV, etc.
- Annual physical and gynecologic health exams
- Emergency contraception (Plan B)
- Will write prescriptions for prescription-based birth control
- Barrier contraceptives
- GenAct (internal and external condoms)
- Vending machines in the JC (ground level exit near lockers) & SUB 1 (next to SHS)
- Your RA (if you live on campus)
- Student Health Services (external condoms, dental dams, lube)
- Menstrual products
- Vending machines in JC & SUB 1
- Aunt Flow dispensers in certain restrooms (thank you, Patriot Period Project!)
- JC 1st and 3rd floors, Exploratory 1st floor, Peterson 1st floor, Engineering 2nd floor, Horizon 2nd floor, and Fenwick 2nd floor
- HUB 2nd floor