Choice USA
Encyclopedia
Choice USA is a reproductive rights non-profit organization in the United States based in Washington, D.C. and Oakland, California. It is youth-led, with a focus on pro-choice movements.
, an American feminist, activist, and writer. The organization's first projects analyzed the activities of the religious right in elections and promoted electoral participation by women, young people, and people of color.
In 2001, Choice USA laid the groundwork for making a transition to exclusively become a youth-led and focused reproductive rights organization by creating programs that incorporated lessons from research and field experience.
Currently, Choice USA's programs reach young people in every region of the country by supporting youth leaders in creating chapters at college and university campuses.
The organization is guided by the following principles in order to ensure diversity and inclusion:
Choice USA advocates for these core reproductive and sexual rights and health issues:
leaders.
History and organization
Choice USA was founded in 1992 by Gloria SteinemGloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, an American feminist, activist, and writer. The organization's first projects analyzed the activities of the religious right in elections and promoted electoral participation by women, young people, and people of color.
In 2001, Choice USA laid the groundwork for making a transition to exclusively become a youth-led and focused reproductive rights organization by creating programs that incorporated lessons from research and field experience.
Currently, Choice USA's programs reach young people in every region of the country by supporting youth leaders in creating chapters at college and university campuses.
Mission and values
Choice USA is based on the belief that each person worldwide has the right to decide when and if they will have sex, when and if they will be pregnant, and when and if they will have a child. In order to make those personal decisions, Choice USA supports the need for accurate information and safe, legal reproductive health services available to everyone.The organization is guided by the following principles in order to ensure diversity and inclusion:
- shared power and authority
- a youth-controlled agenda
- collaboration and partnership
- constituent-specific strategies
- learning
Choice USA advocates for these core reproductive and sexual rights and health issues:
- comprehensive, medically accurate sexuality education
- accessible and affordable access to safe sex methods, including contraceptionContraceptionContraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
and emergency contraceptionEmergency contraceptionEmergency contraception , or emergency postcoital contraception, refers to birth control measures that, if taken after sexual intercourse, may prevent pregnancy.Forms of EC include:... - safe, accessible, comprehensive, quality and affordable reproductive and sexual health care that encourages parental involvement but does not require their notification or consent
- safe, accessible, comprehensive, quality, affordable, and legal access to abortionAbortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
services - informed consent for decisions related to reproductive and sexual health care, including non-coercive and unbiased counseling about contraception, abortion, pregnancy and birthing
- comprehensive prenatal carePrenatal carePrenatal care refers to the medical and nursing care recommended for women before and during pregnancy. The aim of good prenatal care is to detect any potential problems early, to prevent them if possible , and to direct the woman to appropriate specialists, hospitals, etc...
- culturally and linguistically competent reproductive and medical care
Reproductive Justice Organizing Institute
The Reproductive Justice Organizing Institute is a set of trainings and programs developed by Choice USA to develop and support emerging pro-choicePro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
leaders.
- Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute (GSLI): an intensive training for college students and leaders, held throughout the year in Southern, Midwestern, and Western parts of the United States. Participants learn about reproductive choice and justice issues, network with other young people, and develop leadership skills for reproductive justice activism.
- Specific Issue Strategy Sessions (SISS): workshops designed to develop strategies around local campaigns.
- Grassroots Organizing Weekends (GROW): Choice USA partners with United States Student AssociationUnited States Student AssociationThe United States Student Association , founded in 1947, bills itself as the oldest and largest student association in the United States. It has a historical and current commitment to diversity and breaking the barriers to educational access imposed by inequality and discrimination...
for this workshop that prepares student activists to promote and defend reproductive choice. - Voter Action Strategy Training (VAST): teaches participants how to run voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the-vote efforts that build electoral power to pressure decision-makers and win policy changes.
- History of Choice, Future of Justice: an overview of the history of reproductive rights, the pro-choice and oppositional movements, and ideas for the future expansion of reproductive rights into a broader, social justice-based framework.
- Training of Trainers: a training program designed to specifically train activists to be experts in a number of Choice USA trainings.
Campaigns and activities
- In 1996, the Next Generation Campaign was created in response to the decline in young people’s support for reproductive choice compared to previous generations, assisting in the organization's transition to exclusively youth-led and focused
- In 2005, Choice USA focused on defeating California Proposition 73California Proposition 73 (2005)Proposition 73, the Parental Notification Initiative, would have amended the California Constitution to bar abortion on an unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's parent/legal guardian, except in medical emergency or with parental waiver...
, which would have amended the California Constitution to ban performance of abortions on minors until 48 hours after the minor's parent or guardian were notified by a physician - In 2005, Choice USA launched a National EC Campaign, in an effort to urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make emergency contraception available without a prescription
- In 2006, Choice USA joined in the cross-organization campaign to repeal the Hyde AmendmentHyde AmendmentIn U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of certain federal funds to pay for abortions. It is not a permanent law, rather it is a "rider" that, in various forms, has been routinely attached to annual appropriations bills since 1976...
, which excludes abortions from covered MedicaidMedicaidMedicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
services - In 2006, following the approval of over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception to women 18 and older, Choice USA joined in the fight to make emergency contraception available for all women at health care centers and pharmacies
- In 2006, Choice USA and the Latina Institute for Reproductive Health hosted the Young Women's Collaborative training, the first training for what would later become the Southwest Partnership, in Tucson, AZ.
- In 2007, Choice USA collaborated with other organizations to support the Fairness in Flowers campaign, in an effort to change working conditions for female flower workers in Ecuador and Colombia
- In 2007, Choice USA began working with students to reverse the negative impact of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act on Birth Control prices on college campuses.
- In 2007, Choice USA sent 35 Reproductive Justice Youth Ambassadors to the first United States Social ForumUS Social ForumThe United States Social Forum is a gathering of social justice activists in the United States which grew out of the World Social Forum process, bringing together activists, organizers, people of color, working people, poor people, and indigenous people from across the United States...
in Atlanta, Georgia to participate in the discussions and activities around reproductive and sexual health and social justice - In 2007, Choice USA began a collaboration with Generations Ahead on Egg Donation
- In 2008, Choice USA hosted the first annual Gloria Steinem Membership Conference.