5 Mass. Colleges Offer Certificates in 'Reproductive Rights and Justice;' Pro-Lifers Not Welcome
Abortion is the most prominent underlying theme within the "Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice" program offered by a consortium of five public research colleges in Massachusetts, the program's first-ever graduate has said.
Sarah Flores Shannon, a graduate of Smith College who now works for the United Nations, reportedly told Campus Reform on Friday that students with pro-life beliefs would probably not feel welcome in classes offered within the five-college consortium reproductive justice program.
The consortium, which consists of Smith College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, offers the certificate program to further "scholarship, education and research in its field."
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The program seeks to "delve into the social, economic, legal and political conditions that influence reproduction and help educate the next generation of reproductive health scholars, practitioners and advocates."
According to the consortium, students pursuing the certificate take courses that will address issues including "legal barriers to abortion and birth control," and "reproductive healthcare access," among other issues.
In order to receive a certificate in "Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice," a student must complete six approved classes. Of the six approved classes, a student must take and pass one "foundational course" (classes in which 90 to 100 percent of the course focuses on reproductive health, rights, and justice content).
The student must also take one "transnational course" (classes with 25 percent reproductive health, rights, and justice content with a transnational focus) and one upper level course that just has 25 percent reproductive health, rights, and justice content.
According to the program's course catalogue, courses that classify as a "foundational course" include "Feminist Health Politics," "Issues in Queer Studies," "Reproductive Justice" and "Culture, Race Health."
Other approved courses include "Queer Theory and Practice," "World Population," "White Supremacy: Overview," and "Feminist Theory."
In addition to getting an anthropology degree, Shannon became the first student to pass the five-college consortium reproductive health program last spring.
She told Campus Reform that she didn't take any medical related courses as part of the program. Through the program, she said that she learned that reproductive justice means "the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the right to parent your child in a safe and healthy environment."
"Reproductive justice is founded in self-determination and autonomy, and you can't agree with reproductive justice and say that people can't decide for themselves if/when/how they want to start a family," Shannon said.
She continued by suggesting that pro-life students interested in the program probably wouldn't feel welcome because "advocating against abortion cannot be reproductive justice."
"Like, it doesn't fit in to the definition at all," she asserted.
The Christian Post reached out to the consortium and to the program's co-chairs Carrie Baker, the director of the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College, and UMass Amherst social justice lecturer Jennifer Nye. A request for comment on the Campus Reform article is pending.
To receive the certificate, students must also complete a "special project."
"This requirement may be completed through an independent study project, thesis, Division III project or other activity outside the classroom that engages the student with issues of reproductive health, rights or justice, and meaningfully incorporates the perspectives of community-based groups," according to its FAQ page.
