UBC Law Students' Society

Law Students for Choice (LSFC) is a new UBC club that is part of a larger network of groups around Canada and the United States. We are committed to defending the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies, and we are dedicated to education and activism in the field of reproductive rights and health. This group provides pro-choice law students with the opportunity to ensure that a new generation of lawyers will be prepared to successfully defend and expand these rights. We hope to generate discussion around the issue of access to the reproductive rights that many people take for granted, and we believe that everyone should have equal access to these rights--a right is only as valuable as the ability to exercise it.

In Canada, access to abortion varies provincially. Newfoundland, British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario are the only provinces that fully fund the cost of abortions performed in clinics. Across Canada, fewer than 18% of hospitals perform abortions. In fact, neither Prince Edward Island nor Nunavut has any hospitals or private clinics that offer abortion services to women. Internationally, access to abortion can be frightening: 68,000 women die each year due to complications from unsafe abortions in developing countries, where legal access to safe abortions is either restricted or non-existent.

For more information about Law Students for Choice groups in general, visit www.lawstudentsforchoice.org. If you have any questions or comments, or are interested in joining the UBC chapter, please e-mail us at lsfc_ubc@yahoo.ca. We would love for you to get involved!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Our FIRST Meeting of the YEAR:
Meet your fellow LSFC-ers and enjoy FREE SUSHI at our first meeting this year, where we will discuss the direction of the club, plan our major activities, and elect a student executive. Good times will be had.
•    When? Monday September 17th  at 12:30
•    Where? Curtis Room 179

Nitya Iyer, CFLS lunchtime lecture:
We will be co-hosting a lunchtime lecture with the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies, featuring Nitya Iyer, counsel for the intervenor West Coast LEAF in the BC Court of Appeal case of R. v. Spratt and R. v. Watson, concerning the 'bubble zone' legislation that protects abortion clinics from protesters. 
•    When? Wednesday September 19th from 12:30 to 1:30
•    Where? Curtis Room 157

Law Students for Choice Northwest Regional Conference (Seattle):
Meet our American counterparts and get geared up for a year of good times. Details forthcoming.
•    When? September 28-30th
•    Where? University of Washington, Seattle