This Movement IS a Youth Movement

When you say the word “choice” in the progressive community at the University of Central Florida, one of many things will happen: 1. Someone will yell “HELL YEAH!”; 2. A piece of damning anti-woman legislature will be brought to the conversation and a fit of rage will follow; and/or 3. The organizing begins. As university students, we have a lot of experience witnessing anti-woman, anti-sex, and anti-choice legislature that is neither novel nor relenting. From this, we organize around our frustration and we organize for our community, to not only show ourselves as supporters of women, of Planned Parenthood, and of choice, but also to show ourselves as people who are affected by this legislature and will not stand for it! So needless to say, it has been and continues to be very busy around UCF this year; always looking for new opportunities to spread our message.

When Raquel Ortega from Choice USA contacted VOX a couple of weeks ago and told me she wanted to come to UCF and connect with our community, we at VOX were ecstatic to have her come and discuss the Reproductive Justice movement in Florida, local ways to get involved and what all of these unforgivable pieces of legislation will mean not only to Orlando or to Florida but nation-wide.

Often enough, when a rep from a large non-profit like Choice USA comes to a college campus, they are more interested in how THEY can inspire you to do MORE, to do SOMETHING to help their cause. But Choice USA took great interest in what VOX and the other progressive, pro-choice orgs were already doing on this campus. No one knows better than the students on the ground what a college campus can and should do to further our cause, and with great reverence and respect, Choice USA understands this. Because Choice USA is a youth run, youth driven non-profit there is a huge connection between what we do here on the university level (face-to-face) and what these organizers do on a national level. The ability for us to work together building off of one another is a quality that we at VOX and at UCF love and one that makes us so happy to work with Choice USA and Planned Parenthood!

Being a part of this large progressive community that has such a youth-based driving force behind it is inspirational. Young people are the future AND the present of this movement. We are frustrated. We are pissed off. But we are NOT tired. We will NOT roll over. And we will NOT stop fighting.  Here is how YOU can get involved and join the fight for CHOICE!

Come out to the University of Central Florida Student Union for a MASS ACTION fighting against the BC Refusal Clause in the Affordable Care Act. Although President Obama decided today that insurance companies would be mandated to provide no cost preventative care to EVERY WOMAN, our fight is not over!

Facebook event:  http://www.facebook.com/events/152065174910836/

Press release for the ACTION: http://prochoiceinflorida.tumblr.com/post/17342278024/action-this-tuesday-february-14th-at-noon-we-do