Dear friends,
We are no longer surprised that Trump’s Republican Party is coming for birth control, IVF, and all the other reproductive rights. It makes sense to try to get them to play defense on these issues in this election cycle.
Stories are still the best way to win hearts and minds. Jessica Valenti, who does the daily, heartbreaking work of analyzing the attacks on reproductive freedom and telling the stories that make me gulp back tears, shared these in a recent post:
When Chelsea Stovall was forced to leave Arkansas to end a nonviable pregnancy, her veteran husband Thomas spoke about how the experience shifted his view on abortion:
“It was a monumental change for me. I grew up believing it was wrong...I don’t believe that way anymore. I think every woman should have the choice to get an abortion if they want to. It’s not a dirty word.”
Justin George in Ohio told TIME about what it was like to desperately search for nearly a week to find a place that would give his wife an abortion, after finding out her pregnancy was doomed and dangerous:
“It was so taxing on both of us emotionally, even physically. You can’t sleep, you can’t eat. And then you just keep getting these horrible phone calls. You’re canceling hotels, you’re missing time from work, you have to reschedule days. It just got to be so much within just a few days.”
Ryan Hamilton in Texas has put himself in front of the camera instead of his wife, sharing their nightmare of being denied treatment as she miscarried.
Part of her purpose in telling these particular stories is to highlight the fact that all of us are affected by the attacks on reproductive rights.
I terminated a pregnancy when I learned that the baby would have been born with Tay-Sachs disease. The loss was not mine alone. I was 20 weeks pregnant when we found out and it is difficult to imagine what it would have been like to be denied an abortion.
There are not good and bad abortions. There are human stories. Birth control, fertility treatment, pregnancy, miscarriage, and birth are intimate, human experiences that entail risk and heartbreak. These stories must be told to protect all of us.
Heather McGhee tells the stories of people of faith who have been assisting people who need abortions since before Roe v. Wade.
Last week, the US Senate voted on legislation to protect in-vitro fertilization. Senate Republicans, with the exception of Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, blocked the legislation.
Moms Rising is collecting IVF stories. Tell yours.
Although the unanimous ruling allows continued access to the drug, no one is celebrating the decision because it’s clear that new plaintiffs will bring the case again.
Americans United for Life said that it “will continue to offer legal prescriptions for the strengthening of protections for unborn children from abortion pills through action on the federal and state levels in both executive and legislative branches of government, including through executive enforcement of the Comstock Act and RICO Act.”
Right now, it’s necessary to fight the battle for access to abortion medications on the state level. Last month, Louisiana became the first state to add both mifepristone and misopristol to the list of controlled dangerous substances.
Tell your governor to veto any bill that reschedules and criminalizes possession of abortion pills. You can add a story to this quick action.
When I was in my first year of college, I gathered signatures in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. The full text of the ERA is
Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.
Although the words are unchanged since the original text was revised in 1943 and Congress passed it in 1972, the significance of the ERA has broadened with our better understanding of the sexes (i.e., there are not just two).
Sign the petition to Congress in support the Equal Rights Amendment. The link contains a short history of the amendment.
Today is Eid-ul-Adha, a commemoration of the Prophet Ibrahim’s devotion to Allah. If you were educated in the Judeo-Christian tradition or are a fan of Dylan’s “Highway 61,” you may recall the story of Abraham (aka Ibrahim), who prepared to sacrifice his son at god’s command.
It doesn’t matter that I don’t really get this story. What I do understand is that this traditional Muslim feast day is hard to celebrate in Gaza, where the prospect of sharing a goat or lamb with family members is pretty remote. Meals of any kind are pretty scarce.
Children are dying of malnutrition in Gaza.
On Friday, the United States imposed sanctions on a “violent extremist” Israeli group for blocking and damaging humanitarian aid convoys to Gaza. The Group of Seven leaders also stressed UN agencies must work unhindered in Gaza.
Last week, an aid truck from UNICEF was to deliver nutritional and medical aid for 10,000 children. The shipment, which had been approved by Israeli authorities, was held up at multiple checkpoints and ultimately denied access.
In this terribly disturbing video, a child describes eating animal feed and fainting from only eating barley. Her family has moved five times since the war began.
In Rafah, her family depends on a water tap that runs only an hour a day and the food that they can scavenge. They line up at the food bank, but sometimes, the food runs out.
Donate to World Central Kitchen, which is on the ground in Gaza.
Everytown for Gun Safety is collecting stories from people whose lives have been touched by gun violence.
Tell Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons and bump stocks. I made it easy.
The good folks at Riders’ Alliance are collecting stories from real New Yorkers about how killing congestion pricing will affect us — delayed trains, inaccessible stations, and buses stuck in traffic.
Tell your story and be part of the campaign to get congestion pricing back on track.
Here’s a quick action from Moms Rising to make sure that care issues are on the agenda at the first presidential debate.
Call on CNN to ask the presidential candidates about care at the first debate. Add a short care story with your question!
with love,
L