On Thursday, January 26, Planned Parenthood (www.ppblueridge.org) supporters, numbering about 600, headed to Richmond for the annual Lobby Day activities. This year, the group included about 80 local high school students, who got the day off from school (with permission slips, of course) to participate and glimpse the political process up close. C-VILLE asked Charlottesville High School senior Sean Petterson to report on the day’s events.—Ed.
 Not all could vote, but these Charlottesville-area students want their voices heard nonetheless. Around 80 attended the pro-choice lobbying day in Richmond on January 25. |
“I can talk forever about anything you want,” Senator Creigh Deeds told our group of pro-choice teens when we met him in a conference room inside Richmond’s General Assembly building (it was actually closer to 20 minutes). Deeds’ genial attitude epitomized the politicians and activists on Pro-Choice Lobby Day. We began our day before 8am in the Pantops parking lot near Food Lion, where our classmate and Young Liberals’ leader, Brian Bills, briefed us about our plan and goals. In short, we would let politicians know that teenagers think about reproductive rights. The group of 80 area students got stickered up. Planned Parenthood organizers told us to pretend the scant pro-life activists didn’t exist. It was my first lobby day and I was uncertain how much attention politicians would give to kids who can’t even vote.
Our first activity was staking out the Ninth Street block of Downtown Richmond with our pro-choice signs and chants of “2-4-6-8, women’s lives are what’s at stake.” Once our hands became numb from the cold and arms tired from holding our signs, we took our group inside for a meeting with Deeds and Charlottesville Delegate David Toscano, both Democrats.
Generously, considering we’re minors, for about 20 minutes they answered questions about TRAP legislation and other proposed bills that would limit women’s access to abortion. But the big surprise was a visit from Albemarle Delegate Rob Bell, who, at first, seemed fidgety and less comfortable than the others. Still, he listened and answered questions, finally complimenting us on our selflessness.
After a lunch break (burgers and fries from a local pub) and a speech by Bills, we boarded the bus to head back to Charlottesville. Many had started the day looking simply for an excuse to miss school, but I for one felt we had made a difference, doing something for the pro-choice cause.
