BY: Kirsten Brendlen
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Hofstra’s Student Advocates for Safe Sex (SASS) held a “Pink Out Day” event to raise awareness and support for Planned Parenthood in conjunction with Planned Parenthood of Nassau County on Thursday.
The representatives at the event got over 200 Hofstra students to sign a petition against defunding Planned Parenthood and to share their support on social media.
“Pink Out Day” was a national event held on college campuses across the United States and on social media. Planned Parenthood asked supporters to add a pink filter to their profile pictures and post selfies on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtags #PinkOutDay and #StandWithPP.
The non-profit organization also asked women to share stories on their website of how their resources have helped them.
“We had this event to show support to the community, to show that people care. Planned Parenthood provides care for 2.7 million people, who would be without essential care if they were defunded,” said Victoria Martinez, sophomore speech, language and hearing science major and treasurer for SASS.
The event was held outside Hammer Lab and included free pink cupcakes and safe sex kits, which include condoms and lubricant, as well as a cardboard “I #StandWithPP” cutout to take selfies with. Students could also pick up slips of paper with instructions for effective Pink Out Day social media interactions, including mentioning the Planned Parenthood Action accounts on Twitter and Instagram.
The main focus of the event was getting students to sign petitions against Congress defunding Planned Parenthood. Available to students were the contact numbers for New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, who both recently voted against defunding Planned Parenthood.
The event was coordinated for students and community members to show their support for Planned Parenthood in reaction to recent calls for the government to stop funding for the organization after several videos were released by anti-abortion groups that allegedly show PP employees discussing the sale of fetal tissue.
“As for the government trying to defund Planned Parenthood, I think it’s atrocious. They are basing this defund off of the fact that PP conducts and funds abortions and that’s only 3 percent of what their money goes towards,” said Haley Schwartz, sophomore journalism and global studies major.
Several investigations have been launched but have not found conclusive evidence that Planned Parenthood has done anything illegal.
“The petition is to show politicians that people really care, because Planned Parenthood provides something essential – it’s not just abortions, it’s so many other things,” said Martinez.
“We actually had to make more copies of the petition, because so many people were stopping,” she said.
Planned Parenthood also provided free STI and STD screenings for Pink Out Day and the Plan Van visited to provide free screenings for gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV. The Oct. 1 visit provided screenings to 15 students, a new record for the Plan Van.
“Planned Parenthood is one of the only organizations dedicated to assisting women, and the government shouldn’t defund them cause it will seriously hinder thousands of communities,” Schwartz said.