Jun 26, 2022·edited Jun 26, 2022Liked by Anne Helen Petersen
On Twitter, I saw advice from an activist with many years of helping people obtain abortions. Do NOT be a hero. Do not publicly advertise your personal willingness to offer rides and shelter to people looking for help. If you are looking for help, do not take it from a random person you find on social media (apparently, there are all kinds of offers on Tik Tok). The activists are afraid the anti-abortion groups are tracking those making individual offers, and will report them to police or dox or harass them. They also worry that some of the individuals offering help are actually anti-abortion advocates - in other words, they are deliberately tricking people. Work through an established organization or network. They know the tactics to use.
The organisation I’m starting to volunteer with relies on … less than robust … measures. I’m already combing thru Twitter and Reddit for best practices besides “well no one’s been dox’d yet, so don’t worry about it”.
And for my fellow red-state sufferers — unless you need to leave for your safety and security, which I wholly respect and support — please stay here and fight. We red staters need all the help we can get. We need people willing to live here and vote and organize and speak and run for office. Leaving will enhance the polarization, and that is one piece of this shit puzzle.
In Missouri and the outright ban immediately feels so crushing. We have an amazing and involved community in St. Louis, with many resources but the urge to leave is strong. Hard to want to raise children in this state.
I just talked to one of my kids today, he recently bought his first house in Chandler. He’s aware of his privilege and wants to stay. Some of these young whippersnappers are coming up all right!
Thank you for this post. Im donating to my state’s abortion fund, I’m having conversations with my nearing puberty daughter, I’ve reached out to a state leader who is active in protecting abortion rights. But here’s where I’m struggling. I live in an extremely small, extremely conservative rural town that is at least an hour away from any sort of progressive community. When my spouse and I have expressed even milquetoast liberal views, our jobs have been threatened and we have been harassed online. The local librarian is someone who would *support* book bans, and the school district has cut as much college prep curriculum as is humanly possible. So we should leave right? Welp, my spouse is a community leader enmeshed in local projects that are deeply meaningful to him and would improve the community. I am employed by an arts and culture non-profit that offers the only opportunity to share the joys of art, reading, and welcoming visitors in our community. My child deeply loves it here with her friends and I guess I’m just feeling really discouraged and unable to be the activist I want to be, to help the way I want to help. The thing about being an agent for change in an extremely small rural place is that if you betray too much difference, too much opposition to prevailing values, too much progressivism, you will be shunned from participating in the very activities that allow you to make change, if that makes sense. I guess I am writing this as a way to seek community and encouragement from this group because I feel safe here. Thank you for listening, and let’s all keep going.
You never know who you may quietly influence by your presence! You and your family may be laying the groundwork for the future generation, and this is a long-term effort. Thank you for fighting the good fight even when it feels futile and frustrating.
I have lived in a community like this (albeit larger and semi-rural) for over 30 years. Tied by friends, kids, and jobs. I can smile and wave at people on my walks and they smile and wave back. But the differences in our "worldview" are so vast that, even if they were willing, we would struggle to be friends. In some deep red states, there are communities with thriving groups of progressives but there are other communities in which the industries (or lack thereof) where there are few. I don't think there is a good solution except to be an activist for taking care of those in need.
I don’t know what to offer you. Your situation sounds horrific to me. Do you have any community at all? There must be someone in your non-profits. Consider also that your child with their friends are getting the messages that you say you are against - in school, at play dates, etc. that’s terrifying too.
I don’t know what to suggest at all. I just hope you can continue to stay strong and somehow show values that aren’t close minded and hateful - if only subtlety with a book ban or a backhanded comment.
Yes, my spouse and I both work with people with whom we have shared values, although we are much more to the left. We came to where we live in 2015, before Trump, before Covid, with a real sense of optimism about reviving a rural town with real, transformative public goods like affordable, quality childcare and robust, locally-driven/owned businesses. That optimism has been increasingly difficult to maintain over the last several years, and residents have grown increasingly conservative and conspiracy-minded since 2016. As far as my daughter’s set of friends, she is the unabashedly kind, open-minded kid, that is for sure, but the things she tells me about what her friends and classmates say are the same sorts of things my friends with children in large and more progressive places report too, so I’m not sure how much her experience in that way would differ aside from having a much larger pool of kids to befriend. It’s very strange, and maybe other residents of conservative rural places experience this, but there is so much disconnection between who and what people support politically vs what they say they want outside of political conversations. For instance, some people where we live make a big stink about “government handouts,” but privately they email my husband and ask him how to get federally-funded grants for local projects. There is opposition of gay rights, but also unabashed support of local, LGBTQIA+-owned businesses. It makes no sense! But there are pockets of hope in those contradictions that make it hard to leave. That and while we have economic privilege, we don’t have enough to just chuck it all without firm job offers elsewhere, which we don’t have.
There's a lot of truth to the statement that the kids are saying very similar things. I taught middle school from 2004-2014 and it's surprising to see the degree of similarities in behaviors and words across the nation--I was in contact with teachers across the US. This was during the rise of social media dominance amongst the kids.
I also see the disconnection you talk about. Generous people more than willing to help friends, neighbors, and strangers in need locally, but the rhetoric....
On the flip side, I lived in a city generally perceived as liberal for over thirty years. Blunt statement--the perception is not the reality, and moneyed liberals don't act that different from conservatives when it comes to the place that they live.
Yes to all this, Joyce. I think this conversation is really helpful to me as a rural transplant just because activism and social change look and operate so differently here. I worry too that as the country is pushed further into theocracy, the rural and urban divide will continue to calcify, and then what? I appreciate this space to consider how I can fight for abortion rights even in a small place, even if I don’t have the answers yet.
I’m not suggesting you leave. I live in an ultra-blue neighborhood in a blue city in a blue state. Hypocrisy abounds wherever you are. I struggle with the same lack of common sense here. It’s like it’s a circle the ultra left and ultra right meet up in their conspiracy theories and anti-vax stances and idealistic ideas of society that can’t possibly exist outside a tiny bubble. I am very left but also it’s hard to ignore the bewildering lack of common sense and critical thinking. It’s hard to ignore the close minded selfishness.
Whatever you do support your local candidates at all levels of the ballot, and VOTE. You may not be happy with Joe Biden, your senator or the Democratic Party, but suck it up and vote for them anyway. They do this, and that's how we got here. The perfect is so often the enemy of the good. Send money to Tim Ryan, Maggie Hassan, John Fetterman, and other US Senate candidates, we can't afford to lose this time. And find out who your local legislative candidates are and support them.
Seriously, John Fetterman. He is enthusiastically pro-abortion, has been his whole career. Also please donate to Josh Shapiro - he's pro-choice and is running for governor of PA against a man who was at the Jan 6th insurrection and has vowed if elected for a total ban of abortion in the state, no exceptions for rape, incest, or *health of the pregnant person*. Our legislature is Republican dominated and the governor is the only thing standing between us and them successfully banning abortion.
I live in Arkansas, have a 14 year old daughter, a 14 year old son, and a 12 year old son. I am now a recurring donor to Arkansas Abortion Support Network, and am having extensive conversations with my kids about how
they will need to maneuver in this new world. Also offered PR work and fundraising help to AASN.
This post is perfect - it is exhausting to keep hearing people say vote and donate. And yet, our local elections are far more critical than ever.
There is a really great organization called the States Project that’s flipping state congresses blue and it’s got the best chance of stopping all this in its tracks right now. State congresses will choose who to send as electors for the presidential election and whether to certify election results. They control abortion rights now. They control voting rights and drawing the districts, education policy, healthcare, policing, and climate policy. And the incredible part is we are REALLY CLOSE to winning there. The margins are often in the hundreds of votes in the strategic districts that will flip the whole state. Arizona only needs ONE seat in their senate and ONE seat in their house to flip. If you want a way to focus your efforts where they will really make a change, this is a great choice.
In Montana, only TWO state legislative seats stand between us and a Republican supermajority that will destroy the Montana Constitution, a very progressive document that protects our right to privacy (among many other things). The Montana Constitution is why Montana is an island in our region, and why abortion is still legal here. Every state around us has trigger laws about to go into effect. (https://twitter.com/jmpalmieri/status/1540691951934226433) Here's how YOU can help:
1. Find you local Democratic county committee. (https://montanademocrats.org/party/county/) I live in Gallatin County and can get you connected with the very organized, very amazing county committee here. (https://gallatindemocrats.com/). This is YOUR LOCAL PARTY. It's not the national party. It's your neighbors and you are needed!
2. Volunteer and donate to the Democratic candidates running for the Montana Legislature. Not all the seats up for election this fall have a Democratic candidate. There are areas in Montana where more infrastructure (i.e. local county party) is needed. If you live in one of those places - I can help you get started on building that infrastructure. Here are the candidates running in Gallatin County: https://gallatindemocrats.com/2022-candidates/. I can give you ideas on which races need the most help and connect you to the campaigns.
3. Montana is going through a redistricting process that won't impact this election, but has major implications for 2024. You need to be involved in this process to ensure that the new legislative maps are equitable and fair. Here's where you can learn more: https://leg.mt.gov/districting/2020-commission/
Cannot agree hard enough with all of this. Protecting Montana’s state constitution is absolutely vital, for right to privacy but also environmental rules and stream access laws. There has been a long-term push by large landowning billionaires to overturn these. AND we need to ensure that the Montana Supreme Court stays out of the hands of right-wing idealogues. There are two seats up this year, I believe. It is REALLY important to vote in those boxes (a lot of people leave them blank because they don’t feel they know anything about the candidates).
I cannot stress enough the importance for all Kansans to VOTE NO, August 2nd! This is a monumental vote in our state. This is the first electoral vote since Roe was overturned. To learn more and donate here is one link - https://www.jocodems.org/vote/.
The other fund here in Kansas is the Peggy Bowman Fund. The second chance fund assists women who financially cannot obtain abortion services. There are a few ways to donate, but one of my favorites is smile.amazon.com - www.secondchancefund.net. For more information on the Kansas Abortion Fund and Peggy you can check out their website - https://kansasabortionfund.org/
I just set up a recurring donation to Reproductive Equity Now, an org based in MA where I live, that has many legislative wins under its belt and a plan to strengthen the commonwealth’s position as a safe haven for abortion in a post Roe world. https://reproequitynow.org/
Would love to hear any other New England orgs people are donating/volunteering with.
My goal right now is to bring people together in as many ways as I can. Abortion restrictions are going to result in a lot more people entering the criminal punishment system, and I'm leading a small discussion group over Zoom on the history and present reality of policing and prisons through an abolitionist lens.
I'm also hosting events to bring the queer community together to share joy - three potluck picnics so far and a free swim night at a local pool, and a festival of workshops, art, and music this fall celebrating mutual aid and what we can do for ourselves and for one another. It might not seem directly related to the fight for abortion, but it feels like it is to me. We can't organize together if we don't know and trust one another, and have the space to dream of new possibilities together.
With respect to everyone posting about solutions based in electoral politics and established funds/orgs, I’d urge everyone to dig deeper and find more local, community-based efforts, and especially seek out queer, BIPOC and disabled led groups. Your funds and time are most needed there. Voting does not provide immediate, material support to people need it WHILE we are defending our rights. The fight is also about much more than abortion, so I urge folks to expand their thinking and find groups doing reproductive justice work.
Anne shared a bunch of great efforts in her post already. Here’s a few more things I’ve found in my searching this weekend:
Sister Song is a Black-led org based in the south doing important work to expand reproductive justice within other social change movements and train leaders:
I’m really scared that we don’t have the infra in place to do this… (Prove me wrong please!) What’s our equivalent of Focus on the Family and the decades long March for Life? The abortion networks are phenomenal but it seems they’re priority is (understandably) direct aid over political pressure. What’s the 2022 version of NOW? (Or is it still NOW?)
(Disclosure: I work for and lead this campaign) All* Above All (Allaboveall.org) is a women of color led campaign working on proactive abortion policy. We have 135 organizational partners and have always had a long term vision and strategy (originally for ending the Hyde Amendment and recently expanded to achieving abortion justice: abortion care for anyone who needs it). No one organization can do it, but if we are all aligned we can!
We’re getting there! It’s just not getting the coverage it should. We got gerrymandering beaten back in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan - that was supposed to be a slam dunk for the GOP midterms, but it’s not. We don’t have the same infra as the right, but ours is winning some Achille’s heels battles against them. And organizations are organizing with each other better and better now, strategically. And there might be a huge number of red voters who will not vote now because they got what they want. Have you seen Slay the Dragon? It’s about how one young woman won to get Michigan ungerrymandered: https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/3/21200685/slay-dragon-review-streaming-gerrymandering. And check out this video about the states project for serious, real live actual hope too: https://youtu.be/Sj3zmZMOZO0. We are not a mirror image but we are smart and strong enough right now to have a real shot at turning all this shit around.
What states have referendum systems where this one issue could go on the ballot, instead of being adjudicated by state houses? There are many places, like Florida and Arizona, where I trust the direct voters more than their legislators. Abortion polls strongly as a single issue and in this climate would drive ppl to vote. A strategic referendum enshrining basic level of abortion access (like up to X weeks on demand, Y weeks under consultation of a dr), as an initial base win and go from there.
Oh, absolutely. She started an organization that won, and my point with highlighting her was that just regular old us can actually win too. That there is more and better placed infrastructure than you’d know, unless you already know of the groups comprising it, and it’s us, not millionaires. But speaking of that, I was on a phone banking zoom call for Jessica Cisneros and Jane Fonda was on it. She was saying all the things we say and was truly nice and normal.
Wanting to echo this - yes, we must support people directly in need now and going forward. But this is going to be a long fight and I’m looking for what org(s) are leading that fight, and how we support them more specifically. This is a long-term thing and I don’t want to lose sight of that part
Exactly. I keep thinking of Senator Whitehouse's campaign to flag the money behind he Supreme Court and asking myself where is our dark money? Can we crowdfund enough? Is there an ex of a billionaire who would like to do some bribes? If we need to fight fire with fire where do we funnel our dollars?
YES. This is my big question, as well. What is the national org leading us on lobbying, public pressure, and messaging, messaging, messaging. Emily's List?
It's a group effort--In Our Own Voice, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Women's Law Center, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, National Council of Jewish Women, etc. (All of whom are All* Above All partners https://allaboveall.org/about/partner-organizations/)! There truly is no one organization that can do it alone.
This is fantastic to learn about! I’d heard in an interview that organizations were organizing together, especially around abortion rights, but had no idea it was so established. Or that there was an umbrella reproductive rights organization. I joined their email list - thanks so much!!
Yes! There is a short-term effort to respond to the Court case called Liberate Abortion (All* Above All is in leadership of that effort with other BIPOC led national orgs). All* Above All has existed for 8 years (so still pretty new!) and is in it for the long haul 💚
I’m really glad for the coalition organizing now - I looked among Liberate Abortion’s member list for Demand Justice, the group fighting to expand the Supreme Court, and was deeply heartened to see them there. If ever there was a “Yes, and” moment this is it, eh? The court’s illegitimacy was demonstrated by this ruling - or rather the unfit justices on it exposed, and the system that allowed it. No ethics requirements combined with lifetime term limits, what could possibly go wrong? Congress denying Obama his appointment, rushing in Trump’s while getting he’s impeached for trying to overthrow the government. Right? These are not little things. I want to see the court change because of the ruling, and then the ruling itself. And a proportional senate, and the electoral college abolished. But not only those things - the whole fabric of racially just ways of caring for each other on the ground feels like such a good, strong breakthrough. This and fighting police injustice, you can really see it. I think so, anyway :-)
Just posted this as an independent comment, but here are some ways to volunteer in Montana:
1. Find you local Democratic county committee. (https://montanademocrats.org/party/county/) I live in Gallatin County and can get you connected with the very organized, very amazing county committee here. (https://gallatindemocrats.com/). This is YOUR LOCAL PARTY. It's not the national party. It's your neighbors and you are needed!
2. Volunteer and donate to the Democratic candidates running for the Montana Legislature. Not all the seats up for election this fall have a Democratic candidate. There are areas in Montana where more infrastructure (i.e. local county party) is needed. If you live in one of those places - I can help you get started on building that infrastructure. Here are the candidates running in Gallatin County: https://gallatindemocrats.com/2022-candidates/. I can give you ideas on which races need the most help and connect you to the campaigns.
3. Montana is going through a redistricting process that won't impact this election, but has major implications for 2024. You need to be involved in this process to ensure that the new legislative maps are equitable and fair. Here's where you can learn more: https://leg.mt.gov/districting/2020-commission/
Also Forward Montana does fantastic work on many fronts, including voting rights, LGBTQIA rights, and clean energy/environment: https://forwardmontana.org/
Their What the Helena? newsletter during the legislative sessions is invaluable, and they seem to be very effective at organizing and energizing people.
Feel free to email me? I’m in Whitefish. This hasn’t been my specific activist issue, but is of many of my friends. Meeting up with a couple today and will talk more about what is needed where or whom we need to ask. There is also going to be a rally today at Flathead County Courthouse at 11am.
I just donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds - which is the larger umbrella organization connecting the group AHP linked to with other groups across the country.
I would love to do more. I can offer spreadsheet skills, data analysis, too. I can contribute to grant writing too. I have written grants but only got funded for few or small amounts, all below $50k amounts.
I live in NY, not sure how much work there is to do locally, but I know that NY wants to open doors to people needing the services here.
Connect with your local abortion fund. They may have a network of volunteers who help people needing rides to clinics, or needing a place to stay if coming from out of state. That's what I'm doing in NJ where we have a similar situation.
On Twitter, I saw advice from an activist with many years of helping people obtain abortions. Do NOT be a hero. Do not publicly advertise your personal willingness to offer rides and shelter to people looking for help. If you are looking for help, do not take it from a random person you find on social media (apparently, there are all kinds of offers on Tik Tok). The activists are afraid the anti-abortion groups are tracking those making individual offers, and will report them to police or dox or harass them. They also worry that some of the individuals offering help are actually anti-abortion advocates - in other words, they are deliberately tricking people. Work through an established organization or network. They know the tactics to use.
This is very, very important
And use Signal for any conversations about this!
Yes. I am thinking we all need to start being very selective about social media usage.
The organisation I’m starting to volunteer with relies on … less than robust … measures. I’m already combing thru Twitter and Reddit for best practices besides “well no one’s been dox’d yet, so don’t worry about it”.
Recently stopped volunteering after being put in situations that ranged from uncomfortable to down right unsafe. It was disappointing.
And for my fellow red-state sufferers — unless you need to leave for your safety and security, which I wholly respect and support — please stay here and fight. We red staters need all the help we can get. We need people willing to live here and vote and organize and speak and run for office. Leaving will enhance the polarization, and that is one piece of this shit puzzle.
In Missouri and the outright ban immediately feels so crushing. We have an amazing and involved community in St. Louis, with many resources but the urge to leave is strong. Hard to want to raise children in this state.
YES!!!! Omg. I'm in Arizona....
I just talked to one of my kids today, he recently bought his first house in Chandler. He’s aware of his privilege and wants to stay. Some of these young whippersnappers are coming up all right!
Thank you for this post. Im donating to my state’s abortion fund, I’m having conversations with my nearing puberty daughter, I’ve reached out to a state leader who is active in protecting abortion rights. But here’s where I’m struggling. I live in an extremely small, extremely conservative rural town that is at least an hour away from any sort of progressive community. When my spouse and I have expressed even milquetoast liberal views, our jobs have been threatened and we have been harassed online. The local librarian is someone who would *support* book bans, and the school district has cut as much college prep curriculum as is humanly possible. So we should leave right? Welp, my spouse is a community leader enmeshed in local projects that are deeply meaningful to him and would improve the community. I am employed by an arts and culture non-profit that offers the only opportunity to share the joys of art, reading, and welcoming visitors in our community. My child deeply loves it here with her friends and I guess I’m just feeling really discouraged and unable to be the activist I want to be, to help the way I want to help. The thing about being an agent for change in an extremely small rural place is that if you betray too much difference, too much opposition to prevailing values, too much progressivism, you will be shunned from participating in the very activities that allow you to make change, if that makes sense. I guess I am writing this as a way to seek community and encouragement from this group because I feel safe here. Thank you for listening, and let’s all keep going.
You never know who you may quietly influence by your presence! You and your family may be laying the groundwork for the future generation, and this is a long-term effort. Thank you for fighting the good fight even when it feels futile and frustrating.
Thank you for that!
I have lived in a community like this (albeit larger and semi-rural) for over 30 years. Tied by friends, kids, and jobs. I can smile and wave at people on my walks and they smile and wave back. But the differences in our "worldview" are so vast that, even if they were willing, we would struggle to be friends. In some deep red states, there are communities with thriving groups of progressives but there are other communities in which the industries (or lack thereof) where there are few. I don't think there is a good solution except to be an activist for taking care of those in need.
I meant that your community would offer insidious book banning and other comments. And you’ll have to weather those and so will your child.
Let's talk. I'm older and have progressive links in my rural community, and I'm the one enmeshed in local projects through our Soroptimist club.
I don’t know what to offer you. Your situation sounds horrific to me. Do you have any community at all? There must be someone in your non-profits. Consider also that your child with their friends are getting the messages that you say you are against - in school, at play dates, etc. that’s terrifying too.
I don’t know what to suggest at all. I just hope you can continue to stay strong and somehow show values that aren’t close minded and hateful - if only subtlety with a book ban or a backhanded comment.
Yes, my spouse and I both work with people with whom we have shared values, although we are much more to the left. We came to where we live in 2015, before Trump, before Covid, with a real sense of optimism about reviving a rural town with real, transformative public goods like affordable, quality childcare and robust, locally-driven/owned businesses. That optimism has been increasingly difficult to maintain over the last several years, and residents have grown increasingly conservative and conspiracy-minded since 2016. As far as my daughter’s set of friends, she is the unabashedly kind, open-minded kid, that is for sure, but the things she tells me about what her friends and classmates say are the same sorts of things my friends with children in large and more progressive places report too, so I’m not sure how much her experience in that way would differ aside from having a much larger pool of kids to befriend. It’s very strange, and maybe other residents of conservative rural places experience this, but there is so much disconnection between who and what people support politically vs what they say they want outside of political conversations. For instance, some people where we live make a big stink about “government handouts,” but privately they email my husband and ask him how to get federally-funded grants for local projects. There is opposition of gay rights, but also unabashed support of local, LGBTQIA+-owned businesses. It makes no sense! But there are pockets of hope in those contradictions that make it hard to leave. That and while we have economic privilege, we don’t have enough to just chuck it all without firm job offers elsewhere, which we don’t have.
There's a lot of truth to the statement that the kids are saying very similar things. I taught middle school from 2004-2014 and it's surprising to see the degree of similarities in behaviors and words across the nation--I was in contact with teachers across the US. This was during the rise of social media dominance amongst the kids.
I also see the disconnection you talk about. Generous people more than willing to help friends, neighbors, and strangers in need locally, but the rhetoric....
On the flip side, I lived in a city generally perceived as liberal for over thirty years. Blunt statement--the perception is not the reality, and moneyed liberals don't act that different from conservatives when it comes to the place that they live.
Yes to all this, Joyce. I think this conversation is really helpful to me as a rural transplant just because activism and social change look and operate so differently here. I worry too that as the country is pushed further into theocracy, the rural and urban divide will continue to calcify, and then what? I appreciate this space to consider how I can fight for abortion rights even in a small place, even if I don’t have the answers yet.
I’m not suggesting you leave. I live in an ultra-blue neighborhood in a blue city in a blue state. Hypocrisy abounds wherever you are. I struggle with the same lack of common sense here. It’s like it’s a circle the ultra left and ultra right meet up in their conspiracy theories and anti-vax stances and idealistic ideas of society that can’t possibly exist outside a tiny bubble. I am very left but also it’s hard to ignore the bewildering lack of common sense and critical thinking. It’s hard to ignore the close minded selfishness.
Agreed. It seems like there’s a problem calibrating values and beliefs with real world circumstances.
In the Culture Study Discord, a bunch of people are planning on attending the mass online training; join us: https://www.aafront.org/operation-save-abortion/
Whatever you do support your local candidates at all levels of the ballot, and VOTE. You may not be happy with Joe Biden, your senator or the Democratic Party, but suck it up and vote for them anyway. They do this, and that's how we got here. The perfect is so often the enemy of the good. Send money to Tim Ryan, Maggie Hassan, John Fetterman, and other US Senate candidates, we can't afford to lose this time. And find out who your local legislative candidates are and support them.
Seriously, John Fetterman. He is enthusiastically pro-abortion, has been his whole career. Also please donate to Josh Shapiro - he's pro-choice and is running for governor of PA against a man who was at the Jan 6th insurrection and has vowed if elected for a total ban of abortion in the state, no exceptions for rape, incest, or *health of the pregnant person*. Our legislature is Republican dominated and the governor is the only thing standing between us and them successfully banning abortion.
Tim Ryan is within 3 points of douchecanoe Vance. His race is winnable and I'm totally sending him some money...
I live in Arkansas, have a 14 year old daughter, a 14 year old son, and a 12 year old son. I am now a recurring donor to Arkansas Abortion Support Network, and am having extensive conversations with my kids about how
they will need to maneuver in this new world. Also offered PR work and fundraising help to AASN.
This post is perfect - it is exhausting to keep hearing people say vote and donate. And yet, our local elections are far more critical than ever.
There is a really great organization called the States Project that’s flipping state congresses blue and it’s got the best chance of stopping all this in its tracks right now. State congresses will choose who to send as electors for the presidential election and whether to certify election results. They control abortion rights now. They control voting rights and drawing the districts, education policy, healthcare, policing, and climate policy. And the incredible part is we are REALLY CLOSE to winning there. The margins are often in the hundreds of votes in the strategic districts that will flip the whole state. Arizona only needs ONE seat in their senate and ONE seat in their house to flip. If you want a way to focus your efforts where they will really make a change, this is a great choice.
Here’s a link to their site: https://statesproject.org/why-states-matter/ with a great video about why states are the big battleground, and here’s a great interview with their founders on what they do and why: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fight-back-with-63967557.
This is great - just donated!!
Thank you!! Oh that's great to hear.
In Montana, only TWO state legislative seats stand between us and a Republican supermajority that will destroy the Montana Constitution, a very progressive document that protects our right to privacy (among many other things). The Montana Constitution is why Montana is an island in our region, and why abortion is still legal here. Every state around us has trigger laws about to go into effect. (https://twitter.com/jmpalmieri/status/1540691951934226433) Here's how YOU can help:
1. Find you local Democratic county committee. (https://montanademocrats.org/party/county/) I live in Gallatin County and can get you connected with the very organized, very amazing county committee here. (https://gallatindemocrats.com/). This is YOUR LOCAL PARTY. It's not the national party. It's your neighbors and you are needed!
2. Volunteer and donate to the Democratic candidates running for the Montana Legislature. Not all the seats up for election this fall have a Democratic candidate. There are areas in Montana where more infrastructure (i.e. local county party) is needed. If you live in one of those places - I can help you get started on building that infrastructure. Here are the candidates running in Gallatin County: https://gallatindemocrats.com/2022-candidates/. I can give you ideas on which races need the most help and connect you to the campaigns.
3. Montana is going through a redistricting process that won't impact this election, but has major implications for 2024. You need to be involved in this process to ensure that the new legislative maps are equitable and fair. Here's where you can learn more: https://leg.mt.gov/districting/2020-commission/
4. Don't forget to support Montana's only abortion fund: https://www.susanwicklundfund.org/
Cannot agree hard enough with all of this. Protecting Montana’s state constitution is absolutely vital, for right to privacy but also environmental rules and stream access laws. There has been a long-term push by large landowning billionaires to overturn these. AND we need to ensure that the Montana Supreme Court stays out of the hands of right-wing idealogues. There are two seats up this year, I believe. It is REALLY important to vote in those boxes (a lot of people leave them blank because they don’t feel they know anything about the candidates).
I cannot stress enough the importance for all Kansans to VOTE NO, August 2nd! This is a monumental vote in our state. This is the first electoral vote since Roe was overturned. To learn more and donate here is one link - https://www.jocodems.org/vote/.
The other fund here in Kansas is the Peggy Bowman Fund. The second chance fund assists women who financially cannot obtain abortion services. There are a few ways to donate, but one of my favorites is smile.amazon.com - www.secondchancefund.net. For more information on the Kansas Abortion Fund and Peggy you can check out their website - https://kansasabortionfund.org/
I posted below about using Voter to Voter. Highly recommend as a strategic way to get people voting.
I just set up a recurring donation to Reproductive Equity Now, an org based in MA where I live, that has many legislative wins under its belt and a plan to strengthen the commonwealth’s position as a safe haven for abortion in a post Roe world. https://reproequitynow.org/
Would love to hear any other New England orgs people are donating/volunteering with.
My goal right now is to bring people together in as many ways as I can. Abortion restrictions are going to result in a lot more people entering the criminal punishment system, and I'm leading a small discussion group over Zoom on the history and present reality of policing and prisons through an abolitionist lens.
I'm also hosting events to bring the queer community together to share joy - three potluck picnics so far and a free swim night at a local pool, and a festival of workshops, art, and music this fall celebrating mutual aid and what we can do for ourselves and for one another. It might not seem directly related to the fight for abortion, but it feels like it is to me. We can't organize together if we don't know and trust one another, and have the space to dream of new possibilities together.
Knowing your community is super important, and the fight for reproductive justice is tied to so many other things. I think what you're doing is great!
With respect to everyone posting about solutions based in electoral politics and established funds/orgs, I’d urge everyone to dig deeper and find more local, community-based efforts, and especially seek out queer, BIPOC and disabled led groups. Your funds and time are most needed there. Voting does not provide immediate, material support to people need it WHILE we are defending our rights. The fight is also about much more than abortion, so I urge folks to expand their thinking and find groups doing reproductive justice work.
Anne shared a bunch of great efforts in her post already. Here’s a few more things I’ve found in my searching this weekend:
Access fund for survivors, started by Freeform, an org that focuses on gender based violence: https://www.gofundme.com/f/abortion-access-fund-for-survivors
Maryland is one of the southernmost states where abortion will be protected. Independent clinic raising funds to open there near major public transit:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/expand-abortion-access-in-maryland
Apiary helps folks find and connect with Practical Support orgs that help with logistical needs (includes of list of orgs by state):
https://apiaryps.org
Fund that provides legal support for anyone prosecuted for seeking or self managing abortion:
https://reprolegaldefensefund.org/
Org that advocates for sustainable, safe jobs in the reproductive health field: https://www.reprojobs.org/
This is a GREAT, short doc with more groups, strategies and facts:
bit.ly/roewycd
A lot of local efforts are happening via Twitter and IG. Look at who your local clinic or fund follows and keep digging.
Sister Song is a Black-led org based in the south doing important work to expand reproductive justice within other social change movements and train leaders:
https://www.sistersong.net/
I’m really scared that we don’t have the infra in place to do this… (Prove me wrong please!) What’s our equivalent of Focus on the Family and the decades long March for Life? The abortion networks are phenomenal but it seems they’re priority is (understandably) direct aid over political pressure. What’s the 2022 version of NOW? (Or is it still NOW?)
(Disclosure: I work for and lead this campaign) All* Above All (Allaboveall.org) is a women of color led campaign working on proactive abortion policy. We have 135 organizational partners and have always had a long term vision and strategy (originally for ending the Hyde Amendment and recently expanded to achieving abortion justice: abortion care for anyone who needs it). No one organization can do it, but if we are all aligned we can!
We’re getting there! It’s just not getting the coverage it should. We got gerrymandering beaten back in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan - that was supposed to be a slam dunk for the GOP midterms, but it’s not. We don’t have the same infra as the right, but ours is winning some Achille’s heels battles against them. And organizations are organizing with each other better and better now, strategically. And there might be a huge number of red voters who will not vote now because they got what they want. Have you seen Slay the Dragon? It’s about how one young woman won to get Michigan ungerrymandered: https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/3/21200685/slay-dragon-review-streaming-gerrymandering. And check out this video about the states project for serious, real live actual hope too: https://youtu.be/Sj3zmZMOZO0. We are not a mirror image but we are smart and strong enough right now to have a real shot at turning all this shit around.
What states have referendum systems where this one issue could go on the ballot, instead of being adjudicated by state houses? There are many places, like Florida and Arizona, where I trust the direct voters more than their legislators. Abortion polls strongly as a single issue and in this climate would drive ppl to vote. A strategic referendum enshrining basic level of abortion access (like up to X weeks on demand, Y weeks under consultation of a dr), as an initial base win and go from there.
Apparently 26 have it! https://ballotpedia.org/States_with_initiative_or_referendum And DC. Really good idea.
Those are great stories but I worry about relying on "one young woman" etc. Organizations are the way we'll get this done!
Oh, absolutely. She started an organization that won, and my point with highlighting her was that just regular old us can actually win too. That there is more and better placed infrastructure than you’d know, unless you already know of the groups comprising it, and it’s us, not millionaires. But speaking of that, I was on a phone banking zoom call for Jessica Cisneros and Jane Fonda was on it. She was saying all the things we say and was truly nice and normal.
Jane Fonda is a national treasure!
Wanting to echo this - yes, we must support people directly in need now and going forward. But this is going to be a long fight and I’m looking for what org(s) are leading that fight, and how we support them more specifically. This is a long-term thing and I don’t want to lose sight of that part
Exactly. I keep thinking of Senator Whitehouse's campaign to flag the money behind he Supreme Court and asking myself where is our dark money? Can we crowdfund enough? Is there an ex of a billionaire who would like to do some bribes? If we need to fight fire with fire where do we funnel our dollars?
'The anti-abortion folks called their strategy
"boots & suits" apparently--big money at the top and lots of grassroots action at the bottom. I am wondering the same about our "suits"
Exactly this! Following to see what others say...
YES. This is my big question, as well. What is the national org leading us on lobbying, public pressure, and messaging, messaging, messaging. Emily's List?
I bet Planned Parenthood knows. I might call or just check their site today, it’s a really important question.
It's a group effort--In Our Own Voice, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Women's Law Center, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, National Council of Jewish Women, etc. (All of whom are All* Above All partners https://allaboveall.org/about/partner-organizations/)! There truly is no one organization that can do it alone.
This is fantastic to learn about! I’d heard in an interview that organizations were organizing together, especially around abortion rights, but had no idea it was so established. Or that there was an umbrella reproductive rights organization. I joined their email list - thanks so much!!
Yes! There is a short-term effort to respond to the Court case called Liberate Abortion (All* Above All is in leadership of that effort with other BIPOC led national orgs). All* Above All has existed for 8 years (so still pretty new!) and is in it for the long haul 💚
I’m really glad for the coalition organizing now - I looked among Liberate Abortion’s member list for Demand Justice, the group fighting to expand the Supreme Court, and was deeply heartened to see them there. If ever there was a “Yes, and” moment this is it, eh? The court’s illegitimacy was demonstrated by this ruling - or rather the unfit justices on it exposed, and the system that allowed it. No ethics requirements combined with lifetime term limits, what could possibly go wrong? Congress denying Obama his appointment, rushing in Trump’s while getting he’s impeached for trying to overthrow the government. Right? These are not little things. I want to see the court change because of the ruling, and then the ruling itself. And a proportional senate, and the electoral college abolished. But not only those things - the whole fabric of racially just ways of caring for each other on the ground feels like such a good, strong breakthrough. This and fighting police injustice, you can really see it. I think so, anyway :-)
I’m in Montana and would love to volunteer.
Just posted this as an independent comment, but here are some ways to volunteer in Montana:
1. Find you local Democratic county committee. (https://montanademocrats.org/party/county/) I live in Gallatin County and can get you connected with the very organized, very amazing county committee here. (https://gallatindemocrats.com/). This is YOUR LOCAL PARTY. It's not the national party. It's your neighbors and you are needed!
2. Volunteer and donate to the Democratic candidates running for the Montana Legislature. Not all the seats up for election this fall have a Democratic candidate. There are areas in Montana where more infrastructure (i.e. local county party) is needed. If you live in one of those places - I can help you get started on building that infrastructure. Here are the candidates running in Gallatin County: https://gallatindemocrats.com/2022-candidates/. I can give you ideas on which races need the most help and connect you to the campaigns.
3. Montana is going through a redistricting process that won't impact this election, but has major implications for 2024. You need to be involved in this process to ensure that the new legislative maps are equitable and fair. Here's where you can learn more: https://leg.mt.gov/districting/2020-commission/
Also Forward Montana does fantastic work on many fronts, including voting rights, LGBTQIA rights, and clean energy/environment: https://forwardmontana.org/
Their What the Helena? newsletter during the legislative sessions is invaluable, and they seem to be very effective at organizing and energizing people.
Thank you. I’m in Flathead county.
Feel free to email me? I’m in Whitefish. This hasn’t been my specific activist issue, but is of many of my friends. Meeting up with a couple today and will talk more about what is needed where or whom we need to ask. There is also going to be a rally today at Flathead County Courthouse at 11am.
amalchik@gmail.com
Hey me too!
https://www.susanwicklundfund.org/ MT abortion fund!
I just donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds - which is the larger umbrella organization connecting the group AHP linked to with other groups across the country.
https://abortionfunds.org
You can also donate to a bunch of local funds directly with one page: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fundabortionnow
I have a recurring donation to this fund splitting across multiple smaller funds: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/abortionfund
I would love to do more. I can offer spreadsheet skills, data analysis, too. I can contribute to grant writing too. I have written grants but only got funded for few or small amounts, all below $50k amounts.
I live in NY, not sure how much work there is to do locally, but I know that NY wants to open doors to people needing the services here.
Connect with your local abortion fund. They may have a network of volunteers who help people needing rides to clinics, or needing a place to stay if coming from out of state. That's what I'm doing in NJ where we have a similar situation.