Hampshire College

Conference information

More than 1,000 students, activists, and national and international reproductive rights leaders will gather at Hampshire College on April 9-11 to share strategies and build progressive momentum. The conference, “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom.” is sponsored by the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program and the Population and Development Program.

Conference organizers point out that opponents of abortion are intensifying their activities on all fronts: They have used health care reform as an occasion to broaden restrictions on abortion, moved at the state level to pass laws constraining abortion, and last May, Dr. George Tiller was murdered by an anti-abortion activist. Abortion rights are not the only target of efforts that threaten to turn back progress on multiple fronts, from health care to education, to environmental protection, to the civil rights of vulnerable communities.

Over 160 speakers from the United States and abroad and 70 conference workshops will explore these issues and more, highlighting successful examples of activism and how struggles for reproductive and sexual rights are intricately linked to movements for economic, social, and environmental justice and peace. According to conference organizer Mia Kim Sullivan, “This conference is about harnessing the progressive energies of young people and community activists all over the country to build a grassroots movement for reproductive rights and social change.”