Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Berkeley High School has had many clubs on campus working to maintain an educated space surrounding reproductive rights. “The first thing everyone can do (to fight for reproductive rights) is to stay educated. It’s really easy to even follow Instagram accounts, and have the New York Times app. Education and information is the primary way to stay involved. Also, joining clubs and greater organizations,” said Phoebe Dedlow, BHS senior and co-president of Women’s Student Union, “The main way we spread awareness is talking amongst our club and working with other clubs like BHS Stop Harassing. Keeping ourselves educated so that we can continue to educate others.”
Roe v. Wade, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling dictating abortions legality in the United States, was decided on Monday, Jan. 22, 1973. This ruling determined that women had a fundamental right to choose to have an abortion. The overturning of Roe v. Wade occurred in June of 2022 as part of a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. “In a devastating decision that will reverberate for generations, the U.S. Supreme Court abandoned its duty to protect fundamental rights and overturned Roe v. Wade, ruling there is no federal constitutional right to abortion,” wrote the Center for Reproductive Rights in an article on Roe v. Wade.
At a state level, California has laws in place to protect reproductive rights. Four years before Roe v. Wade, abortion rights were recognized in the California constitution. This law states that “(a) Every individual has the fundamental right to choose or refuse birth control. (b) Every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child or to choose and to obtain an abortion, except as specifically limited by this article. (c) The state shall not deny or interfere with a woman’s fundamental right to choose to bear a child or to choose to obtain an abortion, except as specifically permitted by this article,” per California’s Reproductive Privacy Act.
The BHS Reproductive Rights club works with Planned Parenthood’s “Generation Action Network.” This network, primarily on college campuses, are groups of “young organizers and activists across the country who organize events on their campuses and in their communities to mobilize advocates for reproductive freedom; in addition to raising public awareness about reproductive health and rights, educating young people about sexual health, and creating lasting change in those communities,” according to the Planned Parenthood website. Gen Action is primarily on college campuses, but BHS Reproductive Rights is the second high school chapter. It is a new club, started in 2025 with co-presidents and BHS sophomores Beatrice Pirnia and Lucinda MacLane. “There’s a lot of uncomfortability talking about these topics, but I feel like it’s important to be able to discuss reproductive rights amongst everyone,” Pirnia said.
Another club fighting for abortion access is the Students for Reproductive Choice club. “We hope to educate our peers on what is happening in this country when it comes to reproductive rights. We also hope to inspire students to create change in the U.S. around this issue,” Rachel Roberts, the president of Students for Reproductive Choice, said. In order to spread awareness about reproductive rights, the club sent postcards to Arizona voters urging them to vote for the Arizona for Abortion Access Act. The act was passed, establishing a fundamental right to abortion in the state. The club is associated with Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Healthcare (TEACH), an academic community partnership working in abortion training and curriculum development. Students for Reproductive Choice club hopes to present in BHS classrooms about the current bills being discussed in Congress, if interested, one can email [email protected].
On Monday, March 10, 2025, there was a women’s history month fair hosted by the Women’s Student Union along with BHS Gender Equity and Sexual Harassment Advisory Committee (GESHAC), Green Dot, BHS Reproductive Rights and Students for Reproductive Choice.