Mary Washington, Support the Right to Choose!

The University of Mary Washington

THE RIGHT OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO CHOOSE THE FATE OF THEIR PREGNANCY IS UNDER CONSTANT THREAT AND ATTACK. A person's right to abortion continues to be successfully stripped away by state legislatures nationwide, and Virginia's Governor Glenn Youngkin has made his intentions very clear in that he wants to follow suit. The Governor's current proposal is to introduce a bill in January of 2023 that would ban abortion after 15 weeks except for cases of rape, incest, or if the pregnant person's life is at risk. The ball is in our court now and we have to fight for what we deserve. Join us in demanding the University of Mary Washington supports our right to choose.

Petition by
YDSA UMW
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Sponsored by

To: The University of Mary Washington
From: [Your Name]

As members of your community, we are asking for you to support and advocate for our bodily autonomy and our right to choose the outcome of pregnancy, no matter what the choice is. Additionally, we are asking for overall improvement in the student health services provided on campus. The following are the demands we are asking the university to meet:

- Increased access to contraceptives on campus
- Diversifying the location of and the type of contraceptives that can be found on campus (inclusion of nova rings, contraceptive patches, and female condoms at all contraceptive locations)
- Free Plan B through the student health center
- Student health center to prescribe and cover the cost of mifepristone and misoprostol
- Free pregnancy testing
- Free STD testing
- Increased accessibility to, and public knowledge of the student health center (more public information on services, an increase in advertising the services, more signs to help locate the location on campus and in Lee Hall)
- Working with local health providers to provide services that are either not available at the student health center, or to provide services to students when the university health center is closed.
- The University of Mary Washington takes an official and public pro-choice position
- Reforming and improving the quality of Talley Center services
- Queer-specific and specialized counseling at the Talley Center
- Specialized counseling at the Talley Center for pregnant people and people who choose to have an abortion

We will not accept an increase in the price of tuition with the implementation of these services. All money used in meeting these demands should come from the income the university already receives. In addition to everything previously stated, we demand transparency on how the university is paying for our demands and where all income the university receives is being used.