On Monday 31 October, the results of the votes from Thursday’s Student Council meeting were announced.
The motion to officially make Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) officially pro-choice passed by 98 per cent.
All other motions passed as well, including a funding request for a new #StateSchoolProud campaign by the 93% Club.
The passing of the pro-choice motion will mean that the Students Association will be able to support campaigns opposing threats to abortion access, and campaigns to ‘make access to, and experience of, abortion fairer’.
The Association can now also ensure that The Advice Place can offer ‘free, impartial and non-directional’ advice around pregnancy and abortion to all students.
In the meeting, Isi Williams (VP Community) said it was a repeat of a previous motion, which was allowed to lapse as it was not deemed necessary.
However, she felt it was once again needed in the context of the Roe v. Wade ruling and the increasing ‘attention to pro-life movements in Scottish politics’.
This comes in the context of a recent rise in anti-abortion activity on campus and in Edinburgh more broadly.
The Life Society on campus recently hosted a pro-life talk in a University building, and pro-life activists began regularly picketing Chalmers Health Centre in early September.
Also, a ‘crisis pregnancy centre’ linked to the US pro-life movement opened in Tollcross in mid-October.
Another motion, an expenditure request for the 93% Club’s #StateSchoolProud campaign, passed with 86% of votes in favour.
This will provide funding for a campaign to amplify the voices of state school students at Edinburgh University, as well as Scottish students who feel marginalised.
The motion for ‘Enhancing Student Voice’, passed for the second time in a row with 97%, meaning that it can now be instituted.
This will mean a partial restructuring of the Student Council will take place, as the 14 student representative roles are to be replaced with 4 Student Opportunities Representatives and 4 Campaign Representatives.
Elections for these roles will take place in March, in a move intended to improve student engagement with the student representation system.
All of the Sabbatical Officers accountability reports, which detail activities which they have carried out to meet their manifestos, passed with over 98% of votes.
“File:Teviot Row House, Edinburgh – Graduation day 2017.jpg” by Stinglehammer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.