The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 caused a ceaseless debate about women’s health in America.
In the summer of 2023, a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, four Cal High students founded Ladies First, an initiative that supports women’s health by promoting civic education while making regular donations to women struggling with period poverty.
The co-founders of Ladies First, sophomore Emily Lee, junior Aarna Prashanth, junior Anna Orginos, and junior Suditi Gangapurkar, drew inspiration from the legal issue to start this passion project.
“It’s apparent that even in 2024, women are not getting the adequate help they need for menstrual health,” Orginos said.
Since then the students have recruited two additional members, junior Karley So and sophomore Mishti Ramachandra.
“I believe the Ladies First initiative is important for our community to have because it addresses very relevant and pertinent issues of women’s accessibility to healthcare given these trying times,” initiative supervisor Kaylan So said.
Kaylan So is a current UCLA sophomore studying political and cognitive sciences, and the older sister of Karley So.
Throughout their first year, the six members of Ladies First donated more than 5,000 menstrual care products to various women’s shelters within the Bay Area, including the Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center in Berkeley and the Trinity Center in Walnut Creek.
Typically, shelters reach out to the initiative for specific requests. The members will then order materials from Amazon and have them shipped to Karley So’s house, where they will be stored until the actual donation occurs.
Co-presidents Prashanth and Orginos said they project an estimated 25,000 products will be donated by the end of this year.
Ladies First fundraises within the community for the donations required to purchase these menstrual products.
The initiative has collaborated with local businesses, teaming up with Happy Lemon to match proceeds, and selling books to Half Price Books to raise money.
Students also have gone door to door asking for donations, handed out fliers with their GoFundMe information and hosted bake sales. They’ve raised a total of $1,500 as of last month.
Besides handling donations, the mission of Ladies First is to educate the Bay Area community about women’s health issues.
“The Bay Area is very educated, and I suppose it’s not conservative,” Karley So said. “I feel like it’s more receptive to [our mission].”
Karley So said people can look upon neighboring cities, such as Oakland and San Francisco, to examine their female poverty crisis and compare it to San Ramon’s.
According to The Data USA, the largest demographic living in poverty in Oakland are females between the ages of 25 and 34. The largest demographic living in poverty in San Francisco is females 75 and older, followed by females 25 to 34 years old.
For comparison, the largest demographic living in poverty in San Ramon is females aged 45-54, according to Data USA. But the poverty rate in San Ramon is nine percent less than it is in Oakland and 5.8 percent less than it is in San Francisco.
Ladies First urges people within San Ramon to look at the bigger picture of poverty because those issues are not directly exposed.
“We don’t know it because we’re in the Bay Area, and it’s pretty much a privileged area,” Lee said.
Lee added that outside San Ramon’s immediate community, a lot of women don’t have access to suitable healthcare and menstrual products.
On a trip to the rural town of Knights Landing, 18 miles north of Davis, Lee visited the only available medical facility in the area, which was a student-run clinic called Knights Landing One Health Center. Lee said women in this rural town relied on tissues instead of using normal menstrual products.
“You would think that in America, people would have access to these products,” Lee said. “I know some people who think about […] some third-world country that wouldn’t have it, but it’s right here right near us. This is like two hours away [from San Ramon].”
Ladies First also aims to educate younger girls who may still need to have access to proper menstrual education.
“Personally, my parents didn’t tell me anything about the reproductive system or menstrual products at all,” Lee said. “The reason we’re doing this is because we feel like some kids have parents who don’t want to talk about it and it’ll be great for them to learn more.”
Ladies First plans on hosting a free online panel for viewers of all ages and gender expression to learn more about women’s health while engaging in civic discourse and female empowerment from June 25-31.
Joining this webinar will be a licensed female physician, Dr. Gayathri Kaushik, who will speak on gender bias within the medical industry. She’ll also touch upon marginalized topics such as pregnancy, menstruation and the implications of medical abortions.
“We have a lot of things that are happening in America,” Karley So said. “I feel like as women and people, we should [have] empathy.”
Ladies First is currently trying to reach non-profit status by filing a 501(c)(3) with the help of a legal counselor and their supervisor. The members anticipate its completion by November.
Being officiated as a non-profit organization will advance the scope of what Ladies First can achieve. A lot of organizations will not collaborate with initiatives that aren’t yet affiliated with a higher corporation.
Ladies First also runs a website, ladiesfirstcal.wixsite.com, and Instagram, @ladiesfirst_07, where they post additional information and resources.
