On Wednesday, Jan. 24., the Newcomb Institute, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Mary Amelia Center for Women’s Health Equity Research, and other sponsors held Conceiving Equity 2024, along with the 12th annual Roe v. Wade lecture in the Diboll Gallery at Tulane University.
A reception was held from 6 to 7 p.m., where Newcomb Institute’s Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health interns exhibited posters. Additionally, Tulane’s reproductive rights, health, and justice student organizations, such as Big Easy EC, Students United for Reproductive Justice, and Law Students for Reproductive Justice (If/When/How), hosted a variety of advocacy activities.
Clare Daniel, an author and Administrative Associate Professor at Tulane, has helped to coordinate Conceiving Equity for the past seven years.
“It’s a great networking opportunity for students who are already plugged into this work and students who want to be,” Daniel said.
From 7 to 8 p.m., Yasmín López delivered her speech, “Territory and Body - Women Leading the Fight for Reproductive Rights in Latin America,” as the 12th annual Roe v. Wade lecturer.
“The lecture is always a great way to learn something new about reproductive rights, health, and justice, in this case, on a global scale,” Daniel said.
López, a Maya Ch’ortí, Honduran leader, serves as the general coordinator of CODIMCA (Council for the Comprehensive Development of Peasant Women). López is part of a larger feminist movement in Latin America that fights for women’s reproductive rights and women who face persecution, poverty, lack of resources, and displacement.
In addition to her work at CODIMCA, López is a part of the political commission of La Via Campesina, where she coordinates women-led movements that defend the rights of rural, indigenous, and Garífuna women, girls, and youth.
Edith Romero Velasquez, a master's student at Tulane and a native Honduran, suggested López as the 12th annual Roe v. Wade lecturer after writing an academic paper on CODIMCA and having several conversations with Lopez.
“She’s talked to me about how the offices of the organization she works at have been attacked, ransacked, and [received] death threats,” Velasquez said.
Velasquez says that López goes to rural communities in Honduras to speak with other female farmers, also known as campesinas, about reproductive justice.
“All of her identities are defining factors that affect her reproductive rights and her whole reproductive life in Honduras,” Velasquez said. “She makes the connection that if [campesinas] don’t have a place to live or land to grow food, then we cannot even start to achieve reproductive justice.”
Velasquez mentions that López is looking forward to connecting with the community at Tulane.
“She’s really excited about exchanging ideas with other people who are working in the reproductive justice movement,” Velasquez said.
This event was sponsored by: Newcomb Institute’s Donna and Richard Esteves Fund for Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health; The Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; The Mary Amelia Center for Women’s Health Equity Research and the Jane Wilson Smith Lecture Series, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; The Center for Reproductive Health Policies and Programs, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Tulane School of Liberal Arts; Stone Center for Latin American Studies.
