#PLANBforAU JENNA CALDWELL Sex is normal. Whether filled with the intense and forbidden passion of the stay-at-home mom carrying on an affair with the pool boy down the street or the awkward shuffling of limbs causing that red-head girl from statistics to fall off the bed and wear three coats of foundation to cover the mark of someone still trying to master the rhythm﹣sex is normal. What isn’t, is the stigma attached to sex. For so long, we have shamed those who have sex too early or too late. We turn our noses up to the women in their thirties who still have boyfriends, because premarital sex is deemed only acceptable (if at all) in one’s early 20s. Worst of all, we make it inconceivably difficult for those wanting to prevent pregnancy as a result of sex.
The stigma that surrounds emergency contraception is something the campaign wants to dismantle. Women face barriers like cost, transor the fear of being “We want every stu- portation rejected from their local phardent to understand macy (it is legal for pharmacists refuse emergency contrathat, for many, emer- to ception).
gency contraception is an important step in taking control of one’s sexual health; it’s not something to be ashamed of”
In October 2017, the Trump administration expanded the rights to employers to deny women insurance coverage for contraception, issuing a guidance on religious freedom. That same month his administration backed a bill that would make it a crime to perform or attempt an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Proven to be society’s second-class citizens, women have long had their bodies governed by men. The plight of women’s rights has been a long and tumultuous journey that American University students are refusing to sit idly by.
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safe space where students get to take deeper dives into specific topics within reproductive rights and justice. The organization this semester launched #PlanBforAU, a campaign with the goal of ensuring that every AU student can access emergency contraception.
Students to End Abortion Stigma (S2EAS) is a campus club with the mission of fighting against the stigma and shame attached to abortion and contraception at AU. S2EAS offers a
“We want every student to understand that, for many, emergency contraception is an important step in taking control of one’s sexual health,” said S2EAS Founding President Becca Thimmesch. “It’s not something to be ashamed of.”
The campaign’s organizers also want to make sure every student on campus has access to accurate, inclusive and comprehensive information about when and how to take emergency contraception. The campaign currently has the support of the Wellness and Student Health Centers. S2EAS is working to bring emergency contraception on campus, but first it needs to find a supplier. Contracting third parties like Aramark, American University does not have the last say on the decision. Nonetheless, as for the future of S2EAS, Thimmesch says that they’re “cautiously hopeful to begin rolling this out next semester, and then to expand our educational programming next fall.”