Campus group fights for reproductive rights

Though junior Judy Neufeld and senior Dana Sussman just founded Tufts VOX (Voices for Choice) last October, word about the pro-choice group is already getting around -- and not just to students with Y chromosomes.

"While VOX was tabling at the AIDS outreach benefit concert [in January], a random male Tufts student approaches the table, looks around, takes some freebies, and signs up for the mailing list," Neufeld said. "Then he looks up at us and comments, 'You guys are doing a great job! Great cause. Keep on fighting!' and walks away. It was pretty amazing."

The "great cause" for which that student urged Neufeld to "keep on fighting" is also a controversial one: according to VOX's mission statement, the group "believes in the fundamental right of every individual to manage his or her fertility." To that effect, the members of the Tufts chapter of VOX, one of many VOX chapters across the country, seek to educate Tufts students about what they believe to be restraints on women's reproductive freedoms.

VOX's two co-founders, who serve as president and vice president, were motivated to form a campus organization about sexual and reproductive issues after interning at Planned Parenthood. During their summer and fall internships, they gained first-hand experience at dealing with issues of sexuality and women's rights on a personal level.

Their interest in the cause, however, is political as well as and personal: "I come from a very politically active family, and issues of reproductive rights and freedoms [were] a cause close to my mother during the women's movement of the '60s and '70s," said Sussman, who also interns at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

"There was very little dialogue around issues regarding reproductive choice, health and sexuality at Tufts -- there was a definite need for [this type of group] here," Neufeld said. "The time was right to start a more politically active group on campus."

"We are so passionate about VOX's cause because we believe that reproductive rights and freedoms were a hard fought victory for the women's movement," Sussman added. "Never did anyone believe these rights would be in such danger thirty years later."

"Almost every day I read about a new piece of legislation trying to strip women from the rights granted to them in the 1973 Roe v. Wade [ruling]," Neufeld said. "Our generation has taken the right to choose for granted, and it is time now to speak up and say that we won't let go of it."

Both Neufeld and Sussman are devoted to speaking up because they feel that educating the community is essential to promoting widespread consideration of these issues.

Despite their passion, Neufeld and Sussman have encountered some obstacles in engaging students and clearly identifying the group's cause. "The hardest obstacle is to just get the word out about the group, the fact that we exist, what we stand for, what we are and what we aren't," Sussman said.

Though the organization was only founded about five months ago, VOX has already put on several events this year. One highly successful -- but also highly controversial -- event was VOX's Feb. 11 "Sex on the Hill" fair, which included a condom table, free aphrodisiacs, cookies in the shapes of sexual organs, and a sex mural. Though Neufeld and Sussman categorize the event as educational, some campus organizations and individuals objected to its vulgarity, sparking a campus-wide debate.

"We definitely achieved our goal, as it opened up the campus to more dialogue around issues of sex and sexuality," Neufeld said.

VOX's scope extends far beyond the Hill: at its weekly meetings, the group is currently discussing its plans to promote "The March for Women's Lives," which will take place in Washington, DC on April 25. The march, which Neufeld describes as "a milestone," is organized and sponsored by many different women's rights groups, including the Feminist Majority, National Organization of Women, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the ACLU, the Black Women's Health Imperative, and the Latina Institute for Reproduction.

More information about VOX can be found at http://ase.tufts.edu/tuftsvox.