What To Do About Abortion Rights

Banning abortion means forced birth. Forced birth is abuse. It is at odds with the basic human rights of bodily autonomy and self-determination. In many cases, it is even life threatening.

If you, like us, are feeling outraged, powerless, horrified, and/or brokenhearted by the news of last week’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe Vs. Wade, here are some things you can do to work to make things better. No one of us can fix this alone, but if many of us do something, we can collectively dig ourselves out of the very bleak place that we are finding our country in right now.

If you pick a couple of things from this list that feel doable for you, you can help move things in a better direction.

1. Buy at-home abortion pills. They are good for several years, so if you or someone you know needs them in the future, it will be so helpful to have them on hand. Find them from Plan C Pills or AidAccess.

2. Donate to an abortion fund, especially one in a state where abortion is banned or hard to access. Here are some:

• JEN - Justice Empowerment Network (South Dakota)
• ND WIN Abortion Access Fund (North Dakota)
• Lilith Fund (Texas)
• Chelsea’s Fund (Wyoming)
• Abortion Care for TN (Tennessee)
• Indigenous Women Rising (Indigenous folks in the US)

3. Learn how to access an abortion so you’re ready if you or someone in your life needs one. Abortion Finder and ineedana.com are great resources. So is the Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline (1-833-246-2632).

4. Share abortion info in print and online. Wasted Ink Distro has free abortion info zines to print and distribute. Best Value Copy is a cheap website for printing zines. Plan C Pills has free printable abortion access stickers to distribute. Sticker Guy is a good website for printing custom stickers.

5. Share your abortion story. Talking honestly about abortion can help people in your life see the importance of abortion access (and possibly vote in favor of abortion rights!). Also, abortion stigma is one factor that prevents people seeking abortions from taking the steps necessary to acquire an abortion, especially as there are more and more barriers to getting an abortion — and talking about it openly can help to break the stigma. See Shout Your Abortion for inspiration and guidance.

6. Host a fundraising event for an abortion fund! It could be a concert, party, storytelling event, bowling night, or whatever you think would be engaging and draw a crowd. The National Network of Abortion Funds has a guide for hosting an abortion fundraiser.

7. Vote. We’re not saying the Democratic Party will save us. (Have they been hanging the possibility of losing abortion rights over our heads for years, instead of codifying Roe into law, to keep us voting for them? Possibly!) But voting for pro-choice politicians matters, especially to prevent Republicans from gaining enough political power to pass a national abortion ban (which would be so, so much worse than where we are now). And it’s not just about voting for president! There will be ballot questions about abortion rights — and voting to protect abortion on a state level is crucial.

8. Donate to Repro Legal Defense Fund. They support people who are investigated, arrested, or prosecuted for self managed abortion or for helping someone else end their own pregnancy. Even better, make it a monthly donation so they can count on having those funds in an ongoing way.

9. Talk to the people in your life about what you can do together. Envision the world you want to live in, and brainstorm ideas for steps you can take to move in that direction. Then, with the foundation of the loving community you have with each other, work toward bringing these ideas to fruition. Here's a post about how to do long term transformative activism with your community.

10. Support comprehensive sex education in schools (and beyond!) and talk to the young people in your life about sexuality. Increasing knowledge about sexual health, contraception, healthy relationships, and consent can prevent a whole lot of unintended pregnancies, as well as instances of reproductive coercion / forced pregnancy as a tool for power and control in abusive relationships.

11. Be conscientious about your privacy. Avoid talking about your pregnancy/abortion using messaging apps that don’t have good privacy policies. Use the app Signal for private texting. Also, you may want to delete any period tracker apps and avoid making social media posts where you offer to help people access abortion. These things could put you at risk legally.

12. Be proactive. Take action to protect same sex marriage and contraception rights, since those may be challenged next.

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This post was written by Nicole Mazzeo in collaboration with Kink Academy.