Xochitlquetzal will use the “Community Studies” degree to get a job with La Raza, or some other Mexican anti-gringo hate
group.
The UCSC Community Studies program is an incubator for the future workers of the California progressive organizations.
Another article in today’s Santa Cruz Sentinel
Note that Community Studies majors serve as interns for Planned Parenthood.
Assemblyman Monning advocates abortion rights in Santa Cruz
By JENNA BROGAN
01/23/2011
SANTA CRUZ — Abortion rights activists may have a challenging year ahead with a Republican-dominant House of Representatives, but the near 100 attendees at Saturday’s annual Pro-Choice Brunch, hosted by the Reproductive Rights Network of Santa Cruz County, vowed not to back down.
Packed into the United Methodist Church hall to hear Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, speak, were past and present Santa Cruz City Council members, county supervisors, schools representatives and numerous community members.
The event, which commemorated the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, has been educating the community about reproductive rights for two decades.
“The right to choose is still very much threatened and has to be defended,” said Carol Fuller, chairwoman of the local Reproductive Rights Network. “The government is launching new attacks on women’s rights to abortion.”
Abortion rights came under fire Thursday, when the House voted to prevent insurance companies from paying for abortion services with the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. The recession has also placed states that pay for abortions with state money in a pinch.
“We don’t believe the Republican moves in the House will pass in the Senate, but they’re not just symbolic,” said Monning. “They serve to fuel those in the 29 anti-choice states.”
As chairman of the Health Committee in the California Assembly, Monning is an advocate of a woman’s right to annual check-ups, breast exams,
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contraception and abortion, and says there is a direct connection between the right to reproductive choice and the right to health care.
“It’s important that we’re constantly supporting the next generation of activists,” Monning said.
In an effort to recognize the work being done by local young people, the Reproductive Rights Network honored Jessica Arnold, a fourth-year Community Studies student at UC Santa Cruz, who founded an on-campus club called Voices for Reproductive Justice.
“We’re trying to create the next movement of young leaders,” said Arnold, who was a development and public affairs intern at Planned Parenthood for eight months. “We have access to safe and legal abortion, but with health care reform, women’s health and sex education are being cut in covert ways. We need to focus on where we’ve been and where we want to go.”
While Santa Cruz is well-known for its more liberal views, groups like 40 Days for Life often picket Planned Parenthood on Pacific Avenue. Members of the group could not be reached for comment.