This week, Maniar saw Clinton speak again, this time at the Democratic National Convention, the first since Roe was overturned, where she鈥檚 volunteering and attending as a guest of .

She鈥檒l be flying straight from Chicago to Boston on Thursday and then moving into her freshman dorm at Harvard University Friday. She plans on studying  government, education and Spanish and continuing her work as a youth organizer.  She鈥檒l also be spending time in Boston Public Schools helping teach civics education and curriculum through Harvard Civics.

This election cycle, Maniar has been particularly motivated to collect signatures for an abortion amendment that will appear on the November ballot in her home state. If passed, Amendment 4 would establish a statewide constitutional right to abortion up until fetal viability, a major shift from Florida鈥檚 current law, which bans abortion after six weeks except in rare cases. 

Currently, related to abortion are certified for the 2024 general election, the most on record in a single year. Vice President Kamala Harris, now leading the Democratic ticket, is seen as a particularly and has already done much to win over Gen Z.

In an interview with 蜜桃影视, Maniar said she thinks these ballot measures can mobilize youth voters, who are feeling particularly energized both by the abortion issue and Harris鈥檚 campaign more broadly.  

鈥淚 think autonomy right now to young people means a lot, because 鈥� especially in this state 鈥� we know what it feels like to feel like you have none,鈥� she said. 

In late July, Harris spoke with Maniar鈥檚 peers when she made a virtual appearance at the Gen-Z-led Voters of Tomorrow summit.

鈥淲e need your support,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淚n this election we know young voters will be key, and we know your vote cannot be taken for granted. It must be earned. And that is exactly what we will do.鈥� 

Vice President knows she must earn our generation鈥檚 votes, and that is exactly what she will do.

鈥� Voters of Tomorrow (@VotersTomorrow)

Days before leaving for the convention where Harris will accept her history-making nomination, Maniar talked politics with 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Amanda Geduld.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

蜜桃影视: How did you first get involved with local politics and civic engagement?

Rhea Maniar: When I was 9, my parents took me to a Hillary Clinton rally in Sanford, Florida, in 2016, and they’ve never been the most politically involved people, but they saw that this election was really exciting because it was our first female nominee from the Democratic Party. And they took me in a shirt that said “Future President.” I think ever since that, I’ve just been hooked. 

I actually signed up to volunteer for Hillary Clinton on my own 鈥� after my bedtime 鈥� on my mom’s computer. I snuck in afterwards, and then they called my mom because I didn’t have a phone, so I just put her phone number, and they’re like, 鈥淐an we speak to Rhea Maniar?鈥� And she was like, 鈥淵ou can, but she’s like 9 and in bed.鈥� So I ended up phone banking at a neighbor’s house 鈥� and that was kind of my first foray into politics: Me and my mom phone banking together for 2016.

鈥� In 10th grade, I did the Florida Senate Page Program 鈥� and then I also met Rep. Anna Eskamani, who kind of became my biggest inspiration and mentor in this process. And she offered me an internship just as I was going into 10th grade, and that internship was life changing for me. It was my first experience on the legislative side.

鈥� That summer was also the summer that Roe v. Wade broke. So that was insane. I was a rising sophomore in high school. I couldn’t drive, but I was at the rallies, and I planned events all centered around really advocating for Roe v. Wade, and that summer was amazing. 

鈥� I spent the majority of my senior year really talking to adults and advocating for the fact that high schoolers are here, college students are here. We’re ready to get the vote out in 2024, but we need adults to really get us the resources.

You mentioned your experience with the Dobbs decision and your response to that. Can you walk me through that a little bit? Do you remember hearing about that decision for the first time, what your immediate response was and what you’ve done around that issue since?

Yeah, when it broke out 鈥� I think everyone at Rep. Eskamani’s office was just shocked, but we didn’t have any time to be shocked. It was time to get to work. 

So this meant we jumped into planning the rallies and the events and the speaker panels, and so it was crazy, because we didn’t expect such a large response from the Central Florida community. But sign-ups for our rally and our march were going out the door. So many people showed up. We didn’t know what to do. I think, like, three or 4,000 people showed up, literally, on that day. They just dropped what they were doing to come and we were so grateful for the fact, but also that was our first time really seeing, 鈥淥h my God. People who are not typically involved with these kinds of things are coming out in full force.鈥� There are so many civically engaged people here who this is their first kind of major protest, major rally, major movement. 

鈥�  And so since, we’ve been trying to capitalize on that type of energy, and I think that we’ve been really effective in the fact that abortion access affects everyone 鈥� even if you’re a man. I think for a lot of Floridians, this is definitely top-of-mind with the new ballot initiative. 

And so part of our job was explaining the ballot initiative and why it was so important in November to come out and vote 鈥� 

What made it so exciting to see this in 2024 is 鈥� we knew that abortion was literally the number one issue on top of Florida students’ minds 鈥� college students, especially 鈥� along with rent and housing and education. But abortion after Dobbs quickly rose to the top of that. 

鈥� The fact that voters will literally have the chance in November 2024 to actually speak their minds on this and make sure that their legislators actually represent them in their best interests, was something that I think is really powerful to a lot of Florida students, and it’s definitely something that we are trying our best to uplift and then make as obvious as possible. 

鈥� Whenever we did voter registration at schools, we would also have petitions for the 18-year-olds, just to make sure that we were really helping to get that ballot on the table and to pass the threshold.

So what will it mean for youth voters that this abortion ballot will be on the ticket this November?

I think it means a lot to youth voters, because with the combination of having such a powerful and energetic candidate at the top of the ballot 鈥� obviously Kamala Harris has greatly improved her numbers in polling amongst youth, especially in Florida 鈥� I think what that means is a higher chance of success for our down-ballot races, which are obviously just as important. 

Obviously, we have Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is running against Rick Scott [both Tuesday in the U.S. Senate race]. We have a bunch of really competitive, flippable seats in [state] House districts and Senate districts that are literally right in colleges 鈥擴CF [University of Central Florida], FSU [Florida State University] and FAMU [ Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University] in Tallahassee 鈥� and so I hope, I am pretty sure 鈥� that the abortion amendment has done its job in that we’ve excited these voters, we’ve prepped them, we’ve informed them that so that they know that this year, abortion is on their ballot. 

And I think that in November, we’re going to see record-breaking 鈥� or at least higher 鈥� turnout amongst youth voters aged 18 to 29 than we ever have seen, because with the combination of abortion, weed [Florida ballot measure to ] and Kamala Harris, I think 鈥� and obviously massive outreach efforts on behalf of the Florida High School Democrats and the Florida College Democrats 鈥� I think all this combined is just a recipe for success, and I don’t really see it going any other way at this point. And I’m very glad I can say that.

When you’re tabling or giving out petitions, what are you hearing from young people about this ballot measure 鈥� and about the issue of abortion, more generally 鈥� within this political climate and then also within the context of the upcoming race?

I think in a world where our governor has made the decisions constantly for high schoolers 鈥� and we’ve kind of lost autonomy over that 鈥� over what our teachers can say in school, what books we can have in school, what’s being taught, what can we take 鈥� I think autonomy right now to young people means a lot, because especially in this state, we know what it feels like to feel like you have none. 

And so that’s why the abortion ballot initiative 鈥� and just in general 鈥� amendments 鈥� are so popular 鈥�

It sounds like this ballot measure brings a sense of empowerment to a population in Florida that 鈥� like you said 鈥� feels like their autonomy has been taken away. And I’m wondering, for young people in states that don’t have a ballot measure coming up in November that deals with this issue, what is your message to them?

鈥� My message to folks in states who are passionate about abortion, but don’t know where to start because they don’t have a ballot amendment, is, I’d always say, organize your community. There’s power in numbers. There’s power in voices. All you have to do is start speaking up, whether that’s planning events, whether that’s registering your friends to vote, and whether that’s calling and emailing your representative and knocking down their door. I would say anything helps.

Outside of abortion, what are other issues that you hear young people getting really excited about this election cycle?

I think especially in Florida, rent is a really, really big problem. And so many older folks will come up to me and be like, 鈥淥h, what issues matter to young people?鈥� And most of the time I’m like, 鈥淭he same issues that matter to you.鈥�

Young professionals are also looking for places to work, jobs and homes 鈥� We held a and that was top of mind. Property insurance is a massive deal here 鈥� especially to young people who are just getting on their feet, who have a college degree, who need a job and need rent help. Things have become so ridiculously unaffordable for everyone. 

The second priority was abortion. The third one was education, because obviously our public colleges have seen such a major shift with political ideology and the governor trying to get his hands into curriculum. The fourth one is usually always gun control 鈥� being the state of Pulse, being the state of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School [scenes of massive shootings in 2016 and 2018]. Especially to our high school students, who have lived high school every year, having to do active shooter drills every two months, I think this is a really top-of-mind issue. 

And Gen Z is one of the most diverse generations in history 鈥� racially, ethnically, ideology-wise 鈥� and we have a very large population of Gen Z who identifies [as] LGBTQ. And so I think the queer community here is also being very outspoken that their issues are also top of ballot, because Florida has done a very poor job with that. So those are probably top five.

So now a question about you: Will this November be your first election?

Yes, I’m actually old enough to do it in our August primary, so I just did that.

Amazing. And how did it feel to be a first-time voter?

It was so fun. I put the sticker on my computer. I took a picture. I wanted to memorialize this moment. After organizing around so many issues for so long, I felt really good to finally mark my name down on the ballot 鈥� and I’m really excited to vote in November.

Thomas and their peers watched videos during high school gym class that stressed the importance of abstinence 鈥� and the horrors that can come from sex before marriage. But for Thomas, who is bisexual and nonbinary, the lessons didn鈥檛 explain who they were as a person. 

鈥淚t was very confusing trying to navigate understanding who I am and my identity,鈥� said Thomas, now a student at Arizona State University. It was on the internet that Thomas learned about a whole community of young people with similar experiences. Blog posts on Tumblr helped them make sense of their place in the world and what it meant to be bisexual. 鈥淚 was able to find the words to understand who I am 鈥� words that I wouldn’t be able to piece together in a sentence if the internet wasn鈥檛 there.鈥� 

But now, as states adopt anti-LGBTQ laws and abortion bans, the digital footprint that Thomas and other students leave may come back to harm them, privacy and civil rights advocates warn, and it could be their school-issued devices that end up exposing them to that legal peril.

For years, schools across the U.S. have used digital surveillance tools that collect a trove of information about youth sexuality 鈥� intimate details that are gleaned from students鈥� conversations with friends, diary entries and search histories. Meanwhile, student information collected by student surveillance companies are regularly shared with police, according to a recent survey conducted by the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology. These two realities are concerning to Elizabeth Laird, the center鈥檚 director of equity in civic technology. Following the Supreme Court鈥檚 repeal of Roe v. Wade in June, she said information about youth sexuality could be weaponized. 

 鈥淩ight now 鈥� without doing anything 鈥� schools may be getting alerts about students鈥� who are searching the internet for resources related to reproductive health,鈥� Laird said. 鈥淚f you are in a state that has a law that criminalizes abortion, right now this tool could be used to enforce those laws.鈥�

Teens across the country are already to fill the void for themselves and their peers in the current climate. Thomas, the ASU student and an outspoken reproductive justice activist, said that while students are generally aware that school devices and accounts are monitored, the repeal of Roe has led some to take extra privacy precautions. 

鈥淚 have switched to using Signal to talk to friends and colleagues in this space,鈥� they said, referring to the . 鈥淭he fear, even though it鈥檚 been common knowledge for basically my generation鈥檚 entire life that everything you do is being surveilled, it definitely has been amplified tenfold.鈥�

Police have long used social media and other online platforms to investigate people for breaking abortion rules, including where police obtained a teen鈥檚 private Facebook messages through a search warrant before charging the then-17-year-old and her mother with violating the state鈥檚 ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. 

LGBTQ students face similar risks as lawmakers in Florida and elsewhere impose rules that prohibit classroom discussions about sexuality and gender. This year alone, lawmakers have proposed 300 anti-LGBTQ bills and about a dozen have . They so-called 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� laws in Florida and Alabama that ban classroom discussions about gender and sexuality and require school officials to tell the parents of children who share that they may be gay or transgender. 

In a survey, a fifth of LGBTQ students told the Center for Democracy and Technology that they or another student they knew had their sexual orientation or gender identity disclosed without their consent due to online student monitoring. They were more likely than straight and cisgender students to report getting into trouble for their web browsing activity and to be contacted by the police about having committed a crime. 

LGBTQ youth are nearly twice as likely as their straight and cisgender classmates to search for health information online, according to . But as anti-LGBTQ laws proliferate, student surveillance tools should reconsider collecting data about youth sexuality, Christopher Wood, the group鈥檚 co-founder and executive director, told 蜜桃影视. 

鈥淩ight now, we are not in a landscape or an environment where that is safe for a company to be doing,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淚f there is a remote possibility that the information that they are trying to provide to help a student could potentially lead them into more harm, then they need to be looking at that very carefully and considering whether that is the appropriate direction for a company to be taking.鈥�

鈥楨xtraordinarily concerned鈥�

For decades, has required school technology to block access to images that are obscene, child pornography or deemed 鈥渉armful to minors,鈥� and schools have used web-filtering software to prevent students from accessing sexually explicit content. But in some cases, the filtering to block pro-LGBTQ websites that aren鈥檛 explicit, including those that offer crisis counseling.  

Many student monitoring tools, which saw significant growth during the pandemic, go far beyond web filtering and employ artificial intelligence to track students across the web to identify issues like depression and violent impulses. The tools can sift through students鈥� social media posts, follow their digital movements in real time and scan files on school-issued laptops 鈥� from classroom assignments to journal entries 鈥� in search of warning signs. 

They鈥檝e also come under heightened scrutiny. In a report this year, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey warned that schools鈥� widespread adoption of the tools could trample students鈥� civil rights. By flagging words related to sexual orientation, the report notes, LGBTQ youth could be subjected to disproportionate disciplinary rates and be unintentionally outed to their parents. 

In in July, Warren and Markey cautioned that the tools could pose new risks following the repeal of Roe and asked four leading student surveillance companies 鈥� GoGuardian, Gaggle, Securly and Bark 鈥� whether they flag students for using keywords related to reproductive health, such as 鈥減regnant鈥� and 鈥渁bortion.鈥�

鈥淲e are extraordinarily concerned that your software could result in punishment or criminalization of students seeking contraception, abortion or other reproductive health care,鈥� Markey and Warren wrote. 鈥淲ith reproductive rights under attack nationwide, it would represent a betrayal of your company鈥檚 mission to support students if you fail to provide appropriate protections for students鈥� privacy related to reproductive health information.鈥�

The scrutiny is part of a larger concern over digital privacy in the post-Roe world. In August, the Federal Trade Commission and accused the company of selling the location data from hundreds of millions of cell phones that could be used to track peoples鈥� movements. Such precise location data, the , 鈥渕ay be used to track consumers to sensitive locations, including places of religious worship, places that may be used to infer an LGBTQ+ identification, domestic abuse shelters, medical facilities and welfare and homeless shelters.鈥� 

School surveillance companies have acknowledged their tools track student references to sex but sought to downplay the risks they pose to students. Bark spokesperson Adina Kalish said the company began to immediately purge all data related to reproductive health after a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion suggested Roe鈥檚 repeal was imminent 鈥� despite maintaining a 30-day retention period for most other data. 

鈥淏y immediately and permanently deleting data which contains a student鈥檚 reproductive health data or searches for reproductive health information, such data is not in our possession and therefore not produce-able under a court order, subpoena, etc.,鈥� Bark CEO Brian Bason , which the company shared with 蜜桃影视. 

GoGuardian spokesperson Jeff Gordon said its tools 鈥渃annot be used by educators or schools to flag reproductive health-related search terms鈥� and its web filter cannot 鈥渇lag reproductive health-related searches.鈥� Securly didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment. Last year its web-filtering tool categorized health resources for LGBTQ teens as pornography. 

Gaggle founder and CEO Jeff Patterson to the senators that his company does not 鈥渃ollect health data of any kind including reproductive health information,鈥� specifying that the monitoring tool does not flag students who use the terms 鈥減regnant, abortion, birth control, contraception or Planned Parenthood. 鈥� 

Yet tracking conversations about sex is a primary part of Gaggle’s business 鈥� more than references to suicide, violence or drug use, according to nearly 1,300 incident reports generated by the company for Minneapolis Public Schools during a six-month period in 2020. The reports, obtained by 蜜桃影视, showed that 38% were prompted by content that was pornographic or sexual in nature, including references to 鈥渟exual activity involving a student.鈥� Students were regularly flagged for using keywords like 鈥渧irginity,鈥� 鈥渞ape,鈥� and, simply, 鈥渟ex.鈥� 

Patterson, the Gaggle CEO, has acknowledged that a student鈥檚 private diary entry about being raped wasn鈥檛 off limits. In touting the tool鈥檚 capabilities, he told 蜜桃影视 his company uncovered the girl鈥檚 diary entry, where she discussed how the assault led to self-esteem issues and guilt. Nobody knew she was struggling until Gaggle notified school officials about what they鈥檇 learned from her diary, Patterson said. 

鈥淭hey were able to intervene and get this girl help for things that she couldn鈥檛 have dealt with on her own,鈥� Patterson said.

Any information that surveillance companies collect about students鈥� sexual behaviors could be used against them by police during investigations, privacy experts warned. And it鈥檚 unclear, Laird said, how long the police can retain any data gleaned from the tools. 

鈥楧on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥�

Internet search engines are 鈥減articularly potent鈥� tools to track the behaviors of pregnant people, by the nonprofit Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. In 2017, for example, a with second-degree murder of her stillborn fetus after police scoured her browser history and identified a search for an abortion pill. 

While GoGuardian and other companies offer web filtering to schools, Gaggle has sought to differentiate itself. In his letter to the senators, Patterson said the company 鈥� which sifts through files and chat messages on students鈥� school-issued Microsoft and Google accounts 鈥� is not a web filter and therefore 鈥渄oes not track students鈥� online searches.鈥� Yet Patterson鈥檚 assurance to lawmakers appears misleading. The company acknowledges on its website that it partners with several web-filtering companies, including Linewize, to analyze students鈥� online searches. By working in tandem, flags triggered by Linewize鈥檚 web filtering 鈥渃an be sent straight to the Gaggle Safety Team,鈥� if the material 鈥渟hould be forwarded to the school or district.鈥� 

In an email, Gaggle spokesperson Paget Hetherington said that in 鈥渁 very small number of school systems,鈥� the company reviews alerts from web filters before they鈥檙e sent to school officials to 鈥渁lleviate the large number of false positives鈥� and ensure that 鈥渙nly the most critical and imminent issues are being seen by the district.鈥� 

Gaggle has also faced scrutiny for including LGBTQ-specific keywords in its algorithm, including 鈥済ay鈥� and 鈥渓esbian.鈥� Patterson said the heightened surveillance of LGBTQ youth is necessary because they face a disproportionately high suicide rate, and Hetherington shared examples where the keywords were used to spot cyberbullying incidents. 

But critics have accused the company of discrimination. Wood of the nonprofit LGBT Tech said that anti-LGBT activists have used surveillance to target their opponents for generations. Prior to the seminal 1969 riots after New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar, LGBTQ spaces and made arrests for 鈥渋nferring sexual perversion鈥� and 鈥渟erving gay people.鈥� From the colonial era and into the 19th century, anti-sodomy laws carried the death penalty and police used the rules to investigate and incarcerate people suspected of same-sex intimate behaviors. 

Now, in the era of 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� laws, digital surveillance tools could be used to out LGBTQ students and put them in danger, Wood said. Student surveillance companies can claim their decision to include LGBTQ terminology is designed to help students, but historically such data have 鈥渂een used against us in very detrimental ways.鈥� 

Companies, he said, are unable to control how officials use that information in an era 鈥渨here teachers and administrators and other students are encouraged to out other students or blame them or somehow get them in trouble for their identity.鈥� In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott calling on child protective services to investigate as child abuse any parents who provide gender-affirming health care to their transgender children. 

鈥淭hey can鈥檛 control what鈥檚 going to happen in Florida or Texas and they can鈥檛 control what鈥檚 going to happen in an individual home,鈥� where students could be subjected to abuse, Wood said. 鈥淎ny person in their right mind would be horrified to learn that it was their technology that ended up harming a youth or driving a youth to the point of feeling so isolated that they felt the only way out was suicide.鈥� 

When private thoughts become public

Susan, a 14-year-old from Cincinnati, knows firsthand how surveillance companies can target students for discussing their sexuality. In middle school, she was assigned to write a 鈥渢ime capsule鈥� letter to her future self. 

Until Susan retrieved the letter after high school graduation, her teacher said that no one 鈥� not even him 鈥� would read it. So Susan, who is now a freshman and asked to remain anonymous, used the private space to question her gender identity. 

But her teacher鈥檚 assurance wasn鈥檛 quite true, she learned. Someone had been reading the letter 鈥� and would soon hold it against her. 

In an automated May 2021 email, Gaggle notified her that the letter to her future self was 鈥渋dentified as inappropriate鈥� and urged her to 鈥渞efrain from storing or sharing inappropriate content.鈥� In a 鈥渟econd warning,鈥� sent to her inbox, she was told a school administrator was given 鈥渁ccess to this violation.鈥� After a third alert, she said, access to her school email account was restricted. She said the experience left her with 鈥渁 sense of betrayal from my school.鈥� She said she had no idea words like 鈥済ay鈥� or 鈥渟ex鈥� could get flagged by Gaggle鈥檚 algorithm.

鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating to know that this program finds the need to have these as keywords, and quite depressing,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always going to be oppression against the community somewhere, it seems, and it鈥檚 quite disheartening.鈥� 

School administrators reviewed the time capsule letter and determined it didn鈥檛 contain anything inappropriate, her mother Margaret said. While Susan lives in an LGBTQ-affirming household, Thomas, who grew up in Mississippi, warned that鈥檚 not the case for everyone.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not just the surveillance of your activities, that鈥檚 the surveillance of your thoughts,鈥� Thomas said of Susan鈥檚 experience. 鈥淚 know that wouldn鈥檛 have gone very well for me and I know for a lot of young people that would place them in a lot of danger.鈥�

Such harms could be exacerbated, Margaret said, if authorities use student data to enforce Ohio鈥檚 strict abortion ban, which has already become the subject of national debate after a 10-year-old girl traveled to Indiana for an abortion. A 27-year-old man and accused of raping the child. 

Cincinnati Public Schools spokesman Mark Sherwood said in an email that 鈥渓aw enforcement is immediately contacted鈥� if the district receives an alert from Gaggle suggesting that a student poses 鈥渁n imminent threat of harm to self or others.鈥� 

Given the state of abortion rules in Ohio, Susan said she鈥檚 concerned that student conversations and classroom assignments that discuss gender and sexuality could wind up in the hands of the police. She lost faith in school-issued technology after her assignment got flagged by Gaggle. 

鈥淚 just flat out don鈥檛 trust adults in positions of power or authority,鈥� Susan said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really know for sure what their true motives are or what they could be doing with the tools they have at their disposal.鈥�

鈥淚 think that the responsibility to provide access to care increases with this reversal鈥� especially in banned states,鈥� said Tamara Marzouk, director of abortion access at Advocates for Youth, a national nonprofit supporting students鈥� sexual health and rights.

For some schools in the 21 states where abortion is still protected, expanding access to procedural and medication abortion 鈥� via oral mifepristone and misoprostol 鈥� is well underway.聽

Regardless of state policy, advocates contend higher education institutions can better support pregnant and parenting students through a variety of . Failure to do so could prove disastrous for enrollment 鈥� particularly for low-income and Black students, underrepresented in higher education and most likely to have compounding barriers to abortion care.

Below are eight examples of how colleges are supporting students鈥� ability to continue attending school while navigating pregnancy:

1. Where still protected, providing on-campus abortions

Given the Dobbs ruling, clinics have already begun to see an overwhelming with people traveling for care 鈥� which has always impacted students whose campuses are at times dozens of miles from the nearest service provider. 

鈥淐olleges and universities really have a responsibility to provide abortion on campus to alleviate that burden on clinics, and to cut down travel time for students,鈥� Marzouk added. 鈥淲hen a person has to travel for an abortion, and really no matter how far, they’re often missing classes, unable to complete schoolwork, missing their jobs or internships.鈥�

The University of Illinois – Chicago has offered students access to medication abortions since 2006; by next January, every public university in California must legally provide the same. A replication bill in has been introduced; interest is growing in New York and Washington state as well, said Marzouk. 

At the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, the system鈥檚 largest where students would travel one-way by transit to reach the nearest facility, access to medication abortions will . 

2. Reforming attendance policies

Though schools are required under federal Title IX regulations to excuse 鈥渕edically necessary鈥� pregnancy-related absences, including abortion and miscarriage, recovery may well last longer. 

Some schools, such as , offer transparent and flexible attendance and leave policies. Having such school-wide policies and staff who advocate on students鈥� behalf with professors keeps them informed of their rights and prevents students from being arbitrarily . 

3. Establishing emergency funds for travel, care 

Aboritions are expensive: The average cost of medication ranges from $300 to $750; during the first trimester, the cost of procedural abortions can reach up to $1,500 without insurance. These estimates do not include any visits with a provider, travel or lodging costs. 

Given that about 59% of people seeking abortions already have children and are balancing financial obligations, the cost is prohibitive.  

Advocates recommend schools establish 鈥� at times used to support young people to travel after the death of a family member or purchase necessities 鈥� or expand existing funds to support students seeking to terminate pregnancy. 

4. Expanding on-campus reproductive healthcare services

Activists contend expanding free and affordable on-campus healthcare  to include prenatal care, birthing services, STI screening and emergency contraceptives can help support students navigating barriers to care in a post-Roe world. 

The , for example, offers discounted contraceptives and Plan B without prescription for all students. 

Additionally, schools can tap into peer networks as part of their services, said Marzouk. Advocates for Youth offers six-week abortion doula training 鈥� where students learn to provide emotional or physical support to others seeking abortion care.

5. Reforming exclusionary housing policies 

Roe鈥檚 reversal means some students may be be forced to become parents. Yet college housing policies are not always inclusive to family living. In 2015, at least in their first year. , where abortions will be banned after six weeks, is one of them. 

Campuses like Pennsylvania State have adapted policies to better meet needs of parenting students by offering and free or subsidized . The University of Rhode Island also offers parenting undergrads the option to live in graduate, suite-like housing. 

6. Formally recognizing reproductive rights groups 

In some southern and midwestern states, campuses 鈥渉ave not been friendly鈥� to reproductive justice or pro-abortion organizations, said Marzouk. Student activists in Texas and Ohio sometimes operate externally, but that means they may not be able to access the same buildings or funding that other student groups can. 

鈥淲e also know that young people go to each other,鈥� Marzouk added. 鈥淓ven if a smaller group of students knows exactly what services are available on campus, [they鈥檙e] ensuring that campuses are facilitating that communication within the student body.鈥� 

7. Ensuring inclusivity & privacy 

Any student, regardless of their gender, may need to access an abortion. Abortion activists encourage the use of inclusive language so as to not repeat the transphobic and homophobic rhetoric often adopted by politicians and service providers who exclusively use 鈥渨omen鈥� in materials, or seek out a 鈥渉usband鈥檚鈥� for a hysterectomy, for example. 

Colleges can also ensure confidentiality and privacy policies are well-known, so that students know what to expect if they ask for temporary leave, Marzouk said. 

8. Freely publicizing information 

鈥淚t’s one thing for a service to be 鈥� offered very quietly and privately and it’s another thing for a service to be out there in the community known about and really inclusive of all students,鈥� Marzouk added. 

For example, the fact that Plan B, used as an emergency contraceptive and offered at school health centers, may lose effectiveness for people weighing over 165 pounds is commonly ignored 鈥� students may use it unknowingly unless informed otherwise. 

And where campuses do not yet offer medication, students are able to manage their abortion on their own through 鈥� which pills to residences. Yet awareness for this option is still growing. 蜜桃影视 was unable to find a university health page that communicated this mail-in service as an option.

At higher education institutions, students may find it difficult to find what services are available to them on-campus in an online search. Utilizing social media, emails, student groups, and orientation to include reproductive healthcare information, activists say, is key to expanding access right now.

The likely end of federal abortion rights won鈥檛 just make it more difficult for women to get an abortion. It鈥檚 also almost certain to make it more difficult to train medical professionals on abortion procedures 鈥� a skill that doctors and others who take care of women鈥檚 health consider essential.

The prospect raises 鈥渁 huge public health issue鈥� in the words of one doctor 鈥� and one that can affect not just patients seeking an abortion, but those who experience miscarriage or stillbirth.

Any day now, the U.S. Supreme Court will hand down its decision over a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks. In a draft of the pending opinion that was , Justice Samuel Alito calls for overturning the 1973 opinion in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide. 

If the final opinion reflects that conclusion, in Wisconsin it would bring back an 1849 state law that . While that is expected to face a legal challenge, if the 173-year-old law takes effect, it would become a crime to terminate a pregnancy, regardless of the reason.

Overturning Roe would at least endanger, and could very likely end, training in abortion procedures for medical residents learning to practice obstetrics and gynecology in Wisconsin and other states with abortion bans on the books. OB/GYN residency programs are required to offer that training; in the worst-case scenario, Wisconsin OB/GYN residency programs might lose national accreditation.

National standards

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education () sets requirements for medical residency programs in every specialty, including obstetrics and gynecology. OB/GYN programs must include a family planning curriculum, which the  must include 鈥渢raining or access to training in the provision of abortions.鈥� OB/GYN residents 鈥渕ust have experience in managing complications of abortions and training in all forms of contraception, including reversible methods and sterilization.鈥�

The requirements allow residents with a religious or moral objections to opt out and state that they cannot be required to take part in abortion training or performing abortions. 

Accreditation 鈥渆nforces a uniform set of specialty peer developed standards across all residency programs within each specialty so that patients have access to the highest quality care across the United States,鈥� the council鈥檚 spokeswoman, Susan White, said in an email message.

The council鈥檚 priority in its requirements for abortion training 鈥渋s safeguarding women鈥檚 health,鈥� White said. 鈥淪hould it become illegal in some states to perform aspects of family planning, the ACGME is exploring alternative pathways for completing this training.鈥�

The UW Hospital and Clinics Authority 鈥� UW Health 鈥� sponsors an OB/GYN residency program in Madison, with faculty from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health鈥檚 OB/GYN department serving as educators.

 鈥淲e expect the impact of a final decision by the Supreme Court on the future of Roe v. Wade could have broad implications for institutions such as ours,鈥� said Emily Kumlien, UW Health press secretary, in an email statement. 鈥淗owever, until that decision is reached, we are unable to speculate on outcomes.鈥�

The residency programs are accredited by ACGME, Kumlien stated. 鈥淲e expect to closely monitor for any changes to requirements and work to ensure continuity of the robust training opportunities we provide.鈥�

Broader applications 

Dr. Abigail Cutler, a Madison OB/GYN, says medical students and medical residents far beyond just the OB/GYN field need to learn how to counsel patients in a wide range of situations where pregnancy is involved. Those include  unintended pregnancies, pregnancy complications including fetal anomalies and other complications that affect the health of the fetus or the health of the mother. They also include patients who have a miscarriage.

(Cutler is a member of the UW medical school faculty, but she adds she is speaking as a private citizen and medical professional, not as a representative of the medical school.)

鈥淢ost physicians in general who are taking care of patients in the office setting will be seeing some patients who are capable of becoming pregnant,鈥� says Cutler. 鈥淭his comes up not just for OB/GYNs but for all physicians.鈥�

And for doctors who will enter the OB/GYN field, knowing abortion procedures, including the use of medication as well as surgical options, equips them to take better care of their patients, she says, whether or not a patient wants to terminate a pregnancy. Surgical abortion procedures 鈥渁re also procedures used to manage miscarriage, or in the second trimester or later, fetal demise鈥� 鈥� stillbirth.

In surveys of OB/GYN doctors, those who have had less training in abortion care or none at all have reported that they 鈥渇elt less prepared to offer comprehensive care to people who are experiencing a miscarriage,鈥� Cutler says. For doctors with more exposure to and practice in abortion care, 鈥渢here was a correlation between that and their comfort level with surgically managing miscarriage later on.鈥�

If a state鈥檚 laws severely restrict or ban abortion, that will limit access to that training, Cutler says, which causes her concern. 

鈥淥ne in five pregnancies end in abortion,鈥� Cutler says. Restricting access 鈥渞esults in preventable morbidity and death. This is a huge public health issue.鈥� 

Support for abortion access

In May the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the specialty鈥檚 primary professional association, updated its longstanding policy that . 鈥淎ll people should have access to the full spectrum of comprehensive, evidence-based health care. Abortion is an essential component of comprehensive, evidence-based health care,鈥� the policy states.  

鈥淎bortion is a critical medical intervention,鈥� said Dr. Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, ACOG鈥檚 president and board chair, in a statement that accompanied the policy revision. The policy was revised, she said, to 鈥渕ake it unmistakably clear that ACOG trusts doctors and patients 鈥� and not lawmakers 鈥� to make decisions about what is best for patients鈥� health and well-being.鈥�

Surveys have found broad support for abortion rights and abortion care among doctors. In 2019, the Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE) at the UW medical school polled the school鈥檚 doctors on the impact of restrictions on abortion that had been enacted since 2011. More than 900 doctors responded to the survey, and more than 90% said overturning Roe v Wade 鈥渨ould worsen Wisconsin women鈥檚 health,鈥� says Jenny Higgins, CORE鈥檚 director. 

鈥淲e surveyed people across all medical specialties, and we found overwhelming support for abortion services as well as abortion providers,鈥� Higgins says. In addition to the concerns for women鈥檚 health, a majority said that more restrictions on abortion 鈥渕ake it more difficult to recruit faculty and trainees.鈥�

Cutler says among the residents and medical students she has encountered, 鈥渢here鈥檚 a high desire for this training and education.鈥� She expects that to persist even if Roe is overturned, 鈥渁nd maybe an increased demand for that training,鈥� she adds. 鈥淏ut that will leave only so many states where that training will be available.鈥�

Exactly half have no mandate that schools teach sex education, from the Institute reveals, and only four of the 26 require curricula to cover the topic of contraception. Twenty-three allow districts to skip over consent entirely.

Restricting abortion access in a country that already limits young people鈥檚 resources for learning about sexual health is 鈥渁 horrifying picture,鈥� said Cassandra Corrado, a sex educator who works with high school and college students in Florida, where an abortion ban now is expected.

鈥淲e’re going to have a lot of people being afraid of their own bodies and we’re going to have a lot of people turning to unreliable sources of information,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视.

Teens who receive comprehensive sex education are significantly less likely to have unwanted pregnancies than those who don鈥檛 get lessons on the topic or receive abstinence-only teachings, show. The five states with the 鈥� Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Alabama 鈥� are also among those set to outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned.

Nationwide, only 29 states and Washington, D.C. require public school students to receive any form of sex education and just 18 require such teachings to be medically accurate.

With the map of U.S. sex ed laws patchy at best, a published by Politico on Monday evening revealed that the Supreme Court appears poised to reverse the 1973 Roe decision, which guarantees federal constitutional protection of abortion rights. Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed Tuesday that the .

鈥�Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,鈥� writes Justice Samuel Alito on behalf of the majority. 鈥淚t is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people鈥檚 elected representatives.鈥�

If the 50-year-old ruling falls, 22 states have laws that will immediately take effect outlawing abortion, including trigger bans and clauses in their state constitutions. Analysts expect four more to ban the procedures legislatively.

Matisse Laufgraben is a rising sophomore at Indiana University Bloomington where she works as student leader promoting sexual well-being on campus with the organization . Attending school in a state that has enacted 55 abortion restrictions and bans in the past decade, paving the way for a comprehensive ban should Roe be struck down, she鈥檚 hyper-aware of the fallout for her and her peers.

鈥淚f you get pregnant, you [will] have to deal with the consequences. There’s no escape,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淚t takes away that freedom for women.鈥�

Despite Laufgraben鈥檚 work to inform peers about consent and healthy relationships, there鈥檚 still a 鈥溾�嬧�媠cary amount of sexual assault cases and sexual violence鈥� on campus, she said. The prospect of abortion access rolling back in her state amplifies such fears, she explained, especially for female-identifying students who are more likely to be assault victims.

鈥淚t feels like we don’t have control over what happens to our bodies. 鈥� We don’t have control over whether or not we get sexually assaulted. And then we don’t have control over whether or not we want to have the baby,鈥� said the college student. 鈥淚t really just feels like everything is turned against us.鈥�

The state abortion bans have an inverse relationship with rules requiring comprehensive sex ed. Of the 26 states expected to enact abortion bans in the coming months, only Iowa, Tennessee and Utah mandate sexual education in school and require that lessons be medically accurate. South Carolina is the sole state among the 26 that orders schools teach sex education and also requires lessons on consent.

Meanwhile, were filed in U.S. statehouses during the first three months of 2022, including 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� laws and bans on trans-related books in school. Many of the laws would bar educators from discussing or providing students with materials involving sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the .

鈥淚t’s not a coincidence that 鈥� state abortion restrictions are getting tighter at the same time as we’re seeing more restrictions on sex education, more restrictions on trans youth and how they can engage in schools,鈥� said Corrado.

With laws stipulating what schools staff can and can鈥檛 discuss in Florida classrooms, many of her colleagues have to walk a 鈥渇ine line,鈥� she said, in order to deliver the information that youth 鈥� especially those who identify as queer, trans or nonbinary 鈥� need for their sexual well-being.

鈥淎s sex educators, one of the conversations that we’re having all the time right now is 鈥楬ow can we 鈥� protect our careers and also still be giving people the information that they need,鈥� 鈥� said Corrado.

Even though schools in her state legally must provide lessons on sex education, she said, they often give students an incomplete or even false picture. According to state law, curricula need not be medically accurate, may promote religion and must stress the importance of abstinence.

鈥淲e shouldn’t assume that students are getting [accurate] information in schools right now, because they might not be,鈥� said Corrado.

Thousands of delegates to the National Education Association Representative Assembly will not be meeting in Dallas in July as scheduled, and the reason has nothing to do with COVID-19.

The union took the unprecedented step of canceling its Texas plans due to its displeasure with having to do with voting, abortion and critical race theory, internal NEA sources say. Several state affiliates had threatened not to send their delegates to the convention if it were held in Texas.

One of these was NEA New Hampshire, which boycotted the 2019 assembly that was held in Houston for similar reasons. That year, the controversial Texas legislation concerned what the union saw as discriminatory policies against undocumented immigrants and the LGBTQ community in Houston and the state.

The NEA Representative Assembly meets for four days once a year to set the national union’s policies and elect officers. Due to COVID, the assembly was held virtually in 2020 and 2021.

Considering the estimated 6,000 delegates involved and hotel rooms needed, it will be difficult to find another venue on such short notice. One source reports that NEA is looking at Chicago and Orlando as possible destinations. If an alternative cannot be found, the 2022 assembly will be held online.

There was no word from NEA or other state affiliates as to whether this action means further sanctions against travel to Texas.

NEA, NEA New Hampshire and the Texas State Teachers Association did not respond to requests for comment.

A complicating factor is whether NEA is willing to continue down this boycott path. Will it schedule future meetings only in blue states? That could get tricky and expensive.

Virtual conventions are a mixed bag for NEA. On the one hand, they greatly reduce the $6.5 million the national union spends annually on in-person assemblies, along with millions of dollars in expenses state affiliates incur by sending delegates.

On the other hand, online assemblies mean a greatly reduced scope of business conducted and completed. Delegate participation in the 2021 virtual convention was way down, bringing in fewer than 5,600 members, even though they didn鈥檛 have to leave home.

But one has to wonder if NEA considers that a bug or a feature. Representative assemblies often get bogged down in long debates over issues that rarely result in any concrete action. Two years of no in-person events haven鈥檛 resulted in any perceivable change in union policies or operations. Maybe the money is better spent elsewhere.

Since Sept. 1, the country鈥檚 most restrictive ban on abortion has prevented Texans from accessing care if their pregnancy is beyond six weeks. 

Two weeks after the law鈥檚 signing, then-high school senior Paxton Smith went viral for swapping her pre-approved valedictorian address to speak out against the legislation in her home state. 

Since giving the speech, Smith says her life has taken a 鈥渕assive shift.鈥� Now a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, she balances full-time school with beginning a music career and expanding her activism. 

Smith is leading A War on My Body; A War on My Rights, a featuring contributors across generations, from medical professionals to reproductive rights activists and prominent women鈥檚 rights attorneys and . The book鈥檚 title references of her valedictory address.   

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Her activist work, it seems, is just beginning. Smith also serves on advisory boards for two nonprofits: , which uses art and storytelling to end abortion stigmas and shame, and the , which helps individuals access safe abortions and contraceptives across the country. And on Sept. 30, she delivered another speech at Power of Women event, ending with a call to action: 

鈥淎nd if you can鈥檛 do it for me, and if you can鈥檛 do it for yourself, then do it for every girl who comes after us, every young person who comes after us. Because they are counting on you. So what will you do?鈥�

It鈥檚 unclear when Smith and others Texans will regain access to legal abortions. Though a to the conservative Fifth Circuit. The Supreme Court did not delay or prevent the law from taking effect, refusing to act on an emergency appeal made by abortion providers in early September. will likely not pass the Senate. 

President Biden has openly the Texas ban, issuing a statement that it 鈥渨ill significantly impair women’s access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes.鈥�

Health care providers, lawyers and activists await December 1, when the Supreme Court will hear a Mississippi case challenging the state鈥檚 ban on most abortions after 15 weeks. Their decision may upend or solidify Roe v. Wade鈥檚 protection of the right to choose prior to 鈥渧iability,鈥� typically around 24 weeks.

蜜桃影视 spoke with Paxton Smith to get a pulse on how she feels given federal moves and why she鈥檚 decided to continue her activism through the collaborative book. 

This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

What spurred your personal activism 鈥� was it in any way connected to or motivated by your education experiences? 

My personal activism really sparked with the speech. In giving the speech, really what I wanted was for people to understand how it felt, what it really meant for a piece of legislation like this to go into effect and understand that having a pregnancy can have life-changing effects. Nobody else should have the right to make that life-changing decision than me. I am the person that’s going to live that future and I should be the one making those decisions. I wanted people to understand 鈥� what it felt like for the decision to be taken out of my hands and put into the hands of a stranger.

I know you鈥檝e mentioned before that your family has often had open conversations on politics and other controversial issues at home even though you sometimes disagree 鈥� did you have that openness to talk and explore these issues during the school day as well? 

Sometimes. I think in high school, a lot of times you find a niche group, where they carry a lot of the same perspectives, the same ideas. I didn鈥檛 necessarily have the exact same opportunity at school, where people might have had very different opinions than I do. But we definitely did have conversations about politics and things surrounding general human rights.  

Why did you decide to continue your activism through a bigger project? How did you choose a collaborative book, and what impact do you hope that model of storytelling might have? 

One of the things that this book is going to do is try and highlight the different perspectives around abortion that people don鈥檛 talk about. It鈥檚 going to highlight the racial disparities in being able to access health care. It鈥檚 going to address what it鈥檚 like being gender queer and being in a situation where you can get pregnant. It鈥檚 going to address the LGBTQ+ experience, the experience of being a minor. 

The reason it鈥檚 a collaborative book is really to better accomplish that goal, of telling those stories and different perspectives. If I wrote this book alone it would come from an 18- year-old, white, upper middle-class cisgendered girl. It would continue the problem of people鈥檚 voices not being listened to, and that鈥檚 not what I wanted.

What stories or issues stuck with you after submitting the first draft of the book? 

I can鈥檛 really speak to the stories in the book as of right now. But I receive hundreds of messages from people, and a lot of times people share their stories surrounding abortion. Some of the biggest things that stuck with me are the stories of what took place before Roe v. Wade, when abortion was still illegal, and people had to take medical care into their own hands. 

They were getting these back-alley, unsafe abortions and . Thousands of people ended up in emergency rooms. And thousands ended up with severe, life-long injuries. Just hearing these stories 鈥� firsthand accounts of people in emergency rooms and doctors saying they are not willing to help because they鈥檙e scared of the legal implications, or hearing the stories of people who lost their mothers to unsafe abortions 鈥� those really stick with me and motivate what I can try to do.

How did you learn about the and choose it as the place to direct proceeds? 

I actually heard about the Afiya Center at a that was organized by a . Ultimately we chose them because they address the racial disparities in accessing reproductive health care. It鈥檚 incredibly important to be able to open up access to more than just white people, because everyone deserves reproductive rights and access to care.

Do you see a future for yourself in education or politics? If not those fields in particular, what are you hoping to do in the future?

I鈥檓 actually hoping to become a musical performing artist. I make pop and pop-alternative music. I mostly do it alone. I played trumpet for about eight years and am pretty novice at piano and guitar. My main thing is music production.

Right now, I鈥檓 working on putting together a first album. I鈥檓 sending out some music to people to see what they think. It鈥檚 very much in the early stages but I鈥檓 excited to pursue music as a career. That has been my dream since I was a child and I have been so involved with music my entire life. 

Why did you choose to stay in Texas and attend UT Austin?

I chose UT Austin mostly because of the music scene. There鈥檚 a lot of music downtown so I鈥檓 hoping to do some live gigs once or twice a week. My life has taken a massive shift with the speech and the activism takes up a lot of time. 

What are your songs about? Do you imagine incorporating your activism into your lyrics and songwriting?

I think there鈥檚 definitely room to incorporate activism in songwriting. Generally, I write music about what I鈥檓 experiencing, thinking and feeling. My life is what runs through the core of all my music, so naturally some of it will be charged with my activism.

I wonder if we could reflect briefly about what鈥檚 happening at the federal level. SCOTUS refused to block Texas鈥檚 law and the House passed the Women鈥檚 Health Protection Act, an attempt to codify the rights established with Roe, though it鈥檚 unlikely to pass the Senate. The Department of Justice is also your home state, but that hasn鈥檛 reopened access. How are you feeling in light of these moves? How do you hope your peers might push for reproductive rights at this moment?

I鈥檓 feeling very hopeful. Really right now there鈥檚 a lot of things up in the air and it鈥檚 kind of hard to tell where things will land. I鈥檓 hoping that my peers continue to do what they鈥檙e doing now, which is putting pressure on legislators, bringing attention to the topic and all in all, making it extremely clear that they believe that abortion is a human right. 

A War on My Body; A War on My Rights will be released Jan. 22, 2022, the 49th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, by Di Angelo Publications, a small press in Houston. All proceeds will be donated to , a reproductive justice organization run by and for Black women and girls to transform relationships to sexual and reproductive health. The center educates and provides resources to break down racial inequities, decreasing maternal death and HIV rates.