1970s
Amid the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973, the 70s at UD saw the opening of a birth control clinic by Planned Parenthood at 800 Washington St. near campus. In addition, due to increased demand, a Planned Parenthood located in the University’s Student Health Center moved to a spot near campus at the intersection of Haines and Delaware. The College of Home Economics also offered a lecture on the role of the American woman in Smith Hall.
Clipping from The Review indicating that Planned Parenthood offers counseling for women experiencing unwanted pregnancies.
1980s
UD experienced controversy surrounding students’ stances on abortion in the 80s, especially when they hosted pro-life activist Dr. Bernard Nathanson in March of 1984. Dr. Nathanson was previously pro-choice and had performed over 5,000 abortions. The Review also advertised a women’s medical center in PA with an outpatient abortion facility in 1981.
A March 13, 1984 Review article about Dr. Nathanson
1990s
In the 90s, UD experienced several steps forward for access to reproductive healthcare while the state and national simultaneously experienced steps backwards. In 1990, students organized a new pro-choice club called University of Delaware Coalition for Choice (UDCC) to promote education and advocacy for reproductive rights. UD also became one of the first major colleges in the nation to offer Norplant—a female contraceptive implant—when Student Health and Services started offering it in 1992 at the request of students. However, Philadelphia lifted its Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) in 1994, which made it increasingly difficult for UD students to access abortion in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Other barriers to abortion access in the 90s included the Delaware state committee vote to require parental consent in order for minors to receive abortion access in 1995 and an amendment add-on in 1997 that prevented international organizations such as Planned Parenthood from receiving government funding.
A January 23rd, 1998 Review article explaining that Delaware ranks 3rd in the nation for abortion rates
“Statistics released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show Delaware’s rate from 1991-1994 was 34 abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age. The highest national rate for that period was 24 per 1,000 women”
Brian Callaway, UD Review
2000s
In 2009, columnists presented a perspective on relationships and sex on a regular basis through the column Delaware UNdressed. They occasionally suggested safe sex practices and discussed contraceptive methods. Columns such as these provide evidence of the growing comfort in the student population in regards to discussing women’s sexuality and reproductive health.
2010s
The University of Delaware chapter of V-Day, a global movement to end gender-based violence, hosted their Vagina Monologues event to empower students to share their personal stories and raise awareness for various issues in 2001. Students shared monologues titled, “Hair,” “My Angry Vagina,” and “A Teenage Girl’s Guide to Surviving Sex Slavery.” V-Day members sold vagina-shaped lollipops and t-shirts, and proceeds from this event went towards the V-Day Spotlight Campaign and Afghanistan-Delaware Communities Together, Inc. Since then, UD has held multiple iterations of this event. UD also had a student group called Pro-Life Vanguard host a Genocide Awareness Project display from the Center for Bioethical Reform, a strictly anti-abortion organization, in 2011. This demonstration, which occurred during Holocaust Remembrance Week, likened abortion to the Holocaust and featured graphic images of fully-formed fetuses.
“I think realistically and logically they know that abortion is not genocide, but it makes people angry.”
Jewish students and various Rabbis expressed their frustration in an interview with The Review, one of which noted that this group only serves to irritate people on campus
