Students for Reproductive Justice hosted an abortion symposium at Drinko Library Monday.

President of the organization Hallie Andrews said the program was intended to dispel common abortion myths and misconceptions.

“We have heard throughout our entire lives that abortion is something women do when they’re irresponsible, and that’s not true,” Andrews said.

Planned Parenthood is a 100-year-old program that provides contraception (making up 31 percent of the service they provide), STD/STI testing and treatment (45 percent) and abortions (3 percent). They claim to prevent 579,000 unintended pregnancies each year.

The organization advocates that abortion is a safe way to end a pregnancy. Less than half of one percent of abortions experience major complications, making them safer for women than giving birth.

Leah Tolliver is the director of the Marshall Women’s Center located in Prichard Hall. She spoke at the symposium, saying that abortion is safe and should be supported by legislation.

“Should people not have the right to make those decisions?” Tolliver said after she was asked about the anti-choice stance.

Tolliver is also on the board of directors of the Women’s Health Center in Charleston. Her mother was the first director of the center, a fact she proudly shared at the symposium.

The Women’s Health Center, a nonprofit facility, offers expert reproductive care and advice. Their goal is to provide confidential medical care in an environment respectful of personal values and choices for all women, regardless of income.

Students for Reproductive Justice collected pictures of birds with statements about abortion written across them as part of the Repeal Hyde Art Project. Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has blocked federal Medicaid funding for abortion services.

One in three women get an abortion by age 45, according to a study from 2011 by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization. The 1 in 3 Campaign is a political movement that works to start a new discussion about abortion. They will mail the Repeal Hyde Art Project’s work to the White House in an effort to repeal the Hyde Amendment.

“There’s lots of ways to get involved,” Tolliver said. “Call your representatives.”

The speakers at the symposium (Alisa Clements, Emily Thompson and Leah Tolliver) said there are many reasons for women to get an abortion, and that it is an intensely personal decision no one has a right to prevent. 58 percent of women who get an abortion are in their 20’s, and 61 percent are already mothers.

Sebastian Morris can be contacted at [email protected].