In the wake of the SGA Judiciary’s decision to grant Voice for Life (VFL) official group status, pro-choice students are stationed on the sidewalk outside of Charles Street Market in protest.
Seniors Caitlin Fuchs-Rosner and Sophie Grossman are using their bodies to express the message that it is the right of every woman to choose whether or not to bear a child.
The student display is inspired by FEMEN's topless protests, as the students decided to expose their torso and breasts. The message "Your Body, Your Choice" is written across the front of their bodies. The message "JHU steps on women for $" is written on their backs.
“The idea is that our bodies are not objects of deliberation, but that we can do what we want with them,” Fuchs-Rosner said. “It’s a sensational way to convey that idea.”
Grossman said that she and Fuchs-Rosner want to represent the presence and strength of pro-choice students on campus.
"Our primary purpose is that people know that the campus has pro-choicers. We think that everyone should have the right to choose if they have a baby, and when and how they want to," Grossman said.
The students take issue with the proposed activities of VFL, not with its right to exist as a group.
“The problem is not that they want to express their views but that they want to use harassing tactics," Fuchs-Rosner said. “The tactics they want to use could be triggering for rape victims, but the administration did not do anything about that."
They are not part of any club or organization, but students who simply seek to express their views on the recent SGA Judiciary decision. The students are also handing out condoms to promote birth control.
