Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s attack on transgender student well-being is reprehensible. Youngkin joins extremist, transphobic officials around the country in choosing to target some of our most vulnerable young people. Forcing these young people into bathrooms that don’t fit them and where they may experience fear and bullying; permitting and in some cases mandating that teachers deny transgender students the names they want to use; and setting up LGBTQ+ students to be outed to their parents before they are ready and regardless of what these young people may face at home - these are all violations of young people’s right to safety at school. 

“A nationwide abortion ban, and ultimately the end of legal abortion in this country, was always the endgame for the anti-abortion movement. It’s horrifying but it is no surprise to young people, who have been preparing for this for years. Long before the Court overturned Roe, youth leaders were working to ensure everyone who needs an abortion can get an abortion - and that’s not going to stop now, or ever."

“Young people should have control over their own bodies, even and especially when they’re pregnant,” said Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes, Advocates for Youth’s Vice President of Policy, Partnerships, and Organizing. “Florida’s Jane Doe, and too many others like her, have had to stand before  judges in courtrooms defending their personal lives instead of being able to just get the abortion care they need. These laws are part of efforts to end all access to abortion."

“Young people need accessible and affordable abortion services,” said Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes, VP of Policy at Advocates for Youth. “Making medication abortion on campus a reality is one of many ways to do just that.”

Advocates for Youth welcomes the news that HRA Pharma has filed the first-ever application for an over-the-counter birth control pill. As part of the Free the Pill Coalition, Advocates convened the #FreethePill Youth Council, a network of young people nationwide working to make birth control available over the counter, covered by insurance with no age restriction.

While state and federal governments continue to “consider” legislative and administrative actions to protect abortion access, young people have already been preparing and fighting back in every way they can, through political action, protest, campaigns to end stigma, and far more.