Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act
U.S. House Briefing, February 15, 2006 - Susan B. Anthony's Birthday

Welcome to the first briefing on the needs of pregnant and parenting college students. My name is Serrin Foster. I am president of Feminists for Life of America.

Today is Susan B. Anthony's birthday.

As you probably know, she and a woman named Elizabeth Cady Stanton were champions of women's rights, including the right to vote, and they were advocates of education for women.

Women didn't go to college at the time. Even Susan B. Anthony never made it to the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, because she was busy teaching other peoples' children.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who wanted the education afforded to men, would celebrate the birth of her daughter by raising a flag outside her Seneca Falls, New York, home.

So it is appropriate that we gather today, in the tradition of Anthony and Stanton, to live their legacy.

Feminists for Life has focused on the needs of pregnant and parenting students since a board member shared the story of her pregnancy while in graduate school. She found there was no family housing, affordable child care or maternity coverage in the student health plan. She felt forced to drop out of school and face a lifetime of poverty, or have an abortion, and miscarried under the stress. During my years of lecturing about feminist history on campuses across the country, I realized that I had never seen a visibly pregnant or parenting undergrad. We knew we needed to be a catalyst for change.

In 1997 we worked with interns from Georgetown University on a groundbreaking Pregnancy Resource Forum. We had protesters outside who we invited inside. We agreed that the forum wasn't a debate about abortion. It was about the resources needed for the rest of the choices—marital and single parenthood, and adoption options.

School administrators, community leaders and student advocates gathered to identify available resources and create a blueprint for progress.

I am so pleased that Carol Day, the Director of Health Education Services from Georgetown University, is with us today. She will share with you the remarkable program that she runs a little later in our program.

Since our first Pregnancy Resource Forum, Feminists for Life has hosted Pregnancy Resource Forums at other top colleges across the country.

Students, administrators and activists at numerous colleges and universities—from Harvard to Berkeley, from Notre Dame to the University of San Diego—have come together to challenge the status quo.

• Students at the University of California-Berkeley raised funds to place 22 diaper decks in the men's and women's restrooms.
• Pro-life, pro-choice and parenting students at Wellesley College collaborated in a rummage sale to raise thousands of dollars to benefit pregnant and parenting students.
• University of Chicago graduate school dads proposed the creation of a child care co-op to reduce child care costs.
• University of Virginia students provide volunteer babysitting services.
• My alma mater, Old Dominion University, became a pioneer in telecommuting for distance learners, the physically challenged and the "pregnantly abled."

We need to put solutions into hyperdrive, because the need is there. Not only are there women who are pregnant while in college, but according to the U.S. Department of Education:

• One in four undergraduates are parents,
• One-third of all graduate students are parents,
• A total of 4.5 million undergraduate and graduate students are parents.

As you know, Congresswoman Melissa Hart has introduced the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act of 2005 (H.R. 4265).

It would establish a pilot program to provide grants to encourage eligible institutions of higher education to establish and operate pregnant and parenting student services offices for prospective parenting students anticipating a birth or adoption, students who are placing or have placed a child for adoption, and parenting students.

Colleges receiving a grant under this Act will first host an initial pregnancy and parenting resource forum to assess resources on the campus and in the local community, including:

• maternity coverage and the availability of riders for additional family members in student health care;
• housing;
• child care;
• flexible or alternative academic scheduling;
• telecommuting programs;
• education to improve parenting skills;
• support for married couples under stress from family and school;
• resources to assist parents and prospective parents in meeting the material needs of their children;
• post-partum counseling and support groups.

The forum will also be used to set goals for improving resources and improving access to those resources. The performance of the pregnant and parenting student services office in providing or referring students to these resources will be assessed every year.

$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010 would be appropriated for 200 grants. Colleges would need to match the grant to demonstrate their commitment to the program.

We understand that Congresswoman Hart will join us at the end of the briefing to share in Susan B. Anthony's birthday celebration. I want to thank her for her leadership, and thank as well a bipartisan group of members including Representatives Jo Ann Davis, Jeff Fortenberry, Marcy Kaptur, Tim Murphy, Jim Oberstar, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Tim Ryan and Chris Smith, who are among the cosponsors of this bill.

We hope that after you listen to the needs of our panelists who have experienced the challenges around pregnancy and parenting, you, too, will help answer the need for help, and encourage your member of Congress to cosponsor the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act.

Sally Winn knows the challenges of pregnancy and parenting in college first hand and has been an outspoken advocate for women and children since 1996. She was the first executive director of both Democrats for Life of America and Women and Children First. She later chaired the National Pro-Life Democrats Committee and served on the board of the Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Association. She served as Vice President of Feminists for Life from 2001 to 2005, and currently serves as FFL's Senior Communications Specialist. Sally has moderated FFL Pregnancy Resource Forums from Gonzaga to Johns Hopkins. She is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters and is currently attending college. Today she is here to share the challenges of pregnancy and parenting as a student.

Remarks of Sally Winn

Thank you, Sally, for sharing the perspective of a pregnant student who continues to face the challenges of combining work and school with parenting.

An electrical engineer by day and classical violinist by night, John Dickinson attended the Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Conservatory. He and his wife Terri Dickinson grew up in New Mexico but now live in San Antonio, Texas, where he works in the Space Sciences Division of Southwest Research Institute.

Remarks of John Dickinson

My father was a student parent. I was born, and my sister was on the way, by the time he graduated. My mother told me about his working two jobs while going to school full time. Like you, he found a way to manage, but it sounds like little has changed to provide support for student fathers. Too often people think that pregnancy and parenting are "women's issues." When we hosted the first Forum at Notre Dame, we learned that half of those who seek counseling are men who are most often concerned about girlfriends who are pregnant. So thank you, John, for reminding us of the awesome responsibility of fatherhood, and the critical role you played in providing support for Terri.

Fathers make a huge impact on the lives of their daughters and sons. I lost my father almost a year ago. He made an enormous contribution to my life. Not everyone is as fortunate to have a father like mine, or like John.

Feminists for Life worked on the 1995 Enhanced Child Support Enforcement Act. At that time we also began to educate women and men about the rights and responsibilities men have for their children.

For those men who are unwilling to parent, we educate women about how to establish paternity and meet the needs of their children through child support.

We need to encourage men to be an important part of the lives of the children they helped to bring into this world. And we need fathers to talk to other men about the rewards of fatherhood.

Now let's listen to Terri to gain her perspective.

Terri Dickinson graduated from Southwestern University with a degree in biology. Her plans to pursue a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology are on hold while she devotes herself full time to keeping up with an increasingly energetic two-year-old.

Remarks of Terri Dickinson

Thank you, Terri, for painting a clear picture of the challenges pregnant women face on campus, and the perserverance you demonstrated as you navigated an uncharted course.

Julia Thornton is here with a different perspective.

Julia Thornton dropped out of college her freshman year after discovering she was pregnant. She placed her daughter for adoption in October 1993, and returned to school two months later. After transferring to the University of San Francisco, she earned her BA one year behind schedule and later earned a Master's Degree in International Journalism from the University of Southern California. She has worked in Africa and the Middle East, and was a reporter for Japan's largest daily newspaper in Los Angeles. Julia volunteers with The Gabriel Project, which provides housing and support to pregnant women, and is certified as an Infant Adoption Liaison through the National Council For Adoption's Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program.

Remarks of Julia Thornton

Thank you, Julia, for sharing your powerful story. It meant so much to hear your perspective as a birthmother. Addressing the unmet needs of birthmothers is a priority for Feminists for Life.

Now that we have had an opportunity to hear some of the challenges to pregnant and parenting students, let's turn to Carol Day, who is here to talk about the solutions she implemented at Georgetown University.

Carol Day is the Director of Health Education Services for Georgetown University and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Health Education Services provides university-wide health promotion programs, and services to students who are dealing with issues such as pregnancy, sexual assault, eating disorders, and alcohol and other drugs. Carol has a Master's degree in Health Nursing.

I had the pleasure of hosting the first ever Pregnancy Resource Forum in the country in 1997, which was held at Georgetown University, and I remember Carol's contribution at that panel. It was my honor to host the 9th annual Pregnancy Resource Forum at Georgetown this past fall, and to present Carol with Feminists for Life's Elizabeth Cady Stanton Award, recognizing Georgetown for hosting the first FFL Pregnancy Resource Forum, inspiring similar events on other campuses across the nation, and making significant progress toward meeting the needs of pregnant and parenting students on the Georgetown campus.

I am so pleased that Carol could be with us today to talk about the model program that has helped to inspire the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act.

Remarks of Carol Day

Thank you, Carol. Feminists for Life is pleased to be a catalyst for change, but it is your work and the support of others at Georgetown University that deserves the credit for the difference you made in the lives of students, and the model you have set for the country. FFL has hosted Pregnancy Resource Forums across the country at leading universities, but the difference is that Georgetown has hosted annual Forums, and that you have created a central clearinghouse for information and support for pregnant and parenting students.

It is a combination of policies, communication vehicles, resources and support that makes a difference.

Now it is my pleasure to introduce Congresswoman Melissa Hart, chief sponsor of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act. Congresswoman Hart is a strong advocate for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and child abuse, including online pornography aimed at children. She was the primary sponsor of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as "Laci and Connor's Law." She has also advocated funds for "safe havens," which allow a woman to leave a newborn at a hospital or fire station if she is not prepared to parent. She has been outspoken in her support for the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act.

It is my honor to recognize Congresswoman Hart for her outspoken support for pregnant and parenting students by presenting her with the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Award for her leadership on this bill.

Representative Hart thanked Serrin Foster for the award and discussed their work together to meet the needs of women. She called for other members of Congress to support passage of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act. The Congresswoman focused on the need to address the reasons why women have abortions and the struggle faced by 4.5 million parenting students. In addition, Rep. Hart cited the importance to the country of having well-educated parents and a well-educated workforce. She emphasized, “One of the best ways I've seen to help women is the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act.”

It has been 100 years since Susan B. Anthony died. She and Stanton died without realizing their most cherished dream, the vote for women.

Unlike Anthony and Stanton, we have the Internet, overnight delivery and cell phones. We can work together and speed up the day when resources and support are available to pregnant and parenting students. Let's encourage our members of Congress to cosponsor and support the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act.

Like Stanton, Anthony and other early American feminists, we want to address the root causes of the problem.

Women today benefit from those who went before us in the workplace. Tomorrow women, men and their children will benefit from passage of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Act.

I want to recognize Hill staffers Ashlie VanMeter from Congresswoman Hart's office and Nicole Gustafson of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.

I also want to thank FFL staff, Coleen MacKay, Cat Clark and Nikki Callahan, for their work putting this event together, and of course our panelists Sally Winn, Terri and John Dickinson, Julia Thornton and Carol Day for contributing to our understanding of the needs of pregnant and parenting students—and possible solutions.

Pregnancy can derail plans, but the detour can be a great adventure.

Now let's celebrate Susan B. Anthony's birthday. Let us eat cake!

For more information about the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act and what you can do, see www.feministsforlife.org/ECS.