Students who are members of the Planned Parenthood Generation Action group at the University of Virginia gathered on the steps of the Rotunda on Friday at noon to encourage their fellow students to cast their ballots in the upcoming midterm elections.
Both Amy Laufer, who is running for a seat in the House of Delegates, and Sally Hudson, who is both a delegate and a professor, gave speeches.
What has the Republican Bob Good advocated for in the upcoming election?
The upcoming election, which will take place on November 8, features a matchup between the incumbent Republican Bob Good and the Democratic candidate Josh Throneburg.
Good has advocated for a ban on abortions and supported Governor Glenn Youngkin’s plan for a 15-week ban all over the country, despite the fact that abortions are still legal in Virginia following the overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision this summer.
Roe v. Wade was the decision that legalized abortion nationwide. As a result of Throneburg’s promise to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, Roe v. Wade’s rules about reproductive rights will be written into law.
As people began to congregate, they erected signs that read things like “Reproductive justice now” and “Autonomy is on the line.”
Elli McGovern, a student at Batten in her fourth year and the president of the Planned Parenthood Graduate Student Association (PPGA), extended a warm welcome to everyone in attendance and introduced the keynote speakers, Drs. Laufer and Hudson, as well as Han Jones, the director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.
Why did McGovern invite Hudson to speak at the University of Virginia?
According to McGovern, the purpose of the event was to get people who support abortion rights together in one place so that they could be more powerful as a collective.
The first thing that Hudson did in her speech was to mention the fact that she was the first woman to ever represent Charlottesville in the House of Delegates.
Sandra Day O’Connor, a justice on the Supreme Court, wrote in an opinion she wrote for the Dobbs case that “we need to return to the time when our bodily autonomy rights were interpreted in the context of what the framers intended.” Jennifer Hudson, however, stated that “it is very clear that the framers never planned for people like me.”
According to Hudson, women from the South who want to get abortions can do so in Virginia, despite the fact that the laws governing abortion in Virginia are more lax than those in many other southern states.
Both Georgia and Florida have passed legislation that makes it illegal to perform abortions after the sixth and fifteenth weeks of a pregnancy, respectively. Abortion is completely outlawed in the state of West Virginia.
Hudson said, “We’re in a good place to start, but we can’t take that for granted,” pointing out that Virginia is a safe place for abortions in the South. “We’re in a good place to start,” he said. If you are here today, I hope it means that you are going to exercise your right to vote on Tuesday.
Young People Urged to Vote in Upcoming Election
According to Hudson, it is imperative for young people to exercise their right to vote in order to safeguard the privilege of having an abortion. According to Hudon, same-day voter registration, which is being used for the first time in Virginia during this election, is a very important tool.
This election marks the first time that same-day voter registration has been used. When I was growing up, you only had about a month and a half before Election Day to register to vote.
Because young people tend to relocate every year or so, it ought to be simple for them to exercise their right to vote on Election Day regardless of the location at which they find themselves at the time.
Laufer also discussed the significance of this election and the potential outcomes for college students if they were allowed to register to vote on the day of the election. She encouraged her pupils to make the most of the new opportunity and encourage their friends to cast ballots as well.
Laufer emphasized the significance of demonstrating “that we are not afraid and that we intend to stay.” At the polls, we need to make sure that people can hear what we have to say.
Jones emphasized how crucial it is to participate in all elections, not just the one that is coming up in a few weeks. According to Jones, the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade makes state and local representation even more important because it gives the states the power to decide on reproductive rights. This power was previously held by the Supreme Court.
Hudson remarked that all of you are in a particularly advantageous position. simply because you have the option of selecting an absolute channel as the medium for the representation of the data. Just being able to vote for people who will stand up against our governor and the bad policies he proposes is a big step in the right direction.
McGovern optimistic about student voter turnout
Following the rally, McGovern expressed optimism regarding the number of students who would participate. She expressed her positivity by pointing to the PPGA’s earlier efforts this week, which included registering voters on the ground, as a justification for her position.
McGovern speculated that the high voter turnout this year may be due, in part, to the fact that a large number of people would be able to take the day off work in order to vote.
Additionally, he stated that Sally Hudson’s remarks about registering to vote on the same day contributed in some way to the increase in the number of people doing so. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s for people who believe that we, as a society, should have the right to have abortions that are both safe and legal.
On the day of the election, polling places are open beginning at 6 a.m. and staying open until 7 p.m. On the website provided by the Virginia Department of Elections, people are able to look up their polling place and check to see if they are registered to votections, people are able to look up their polling place and check to see if they are registered to vote. The “citizen portal” is the name of this online resource.
