Chicago Abortion Fund Opposes South Side Billboard Campaign
Anti-Choice Ads Employ Racism to Disparage Women’s Reproductive Decisions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2011
For More Information Contact:
Gaylon Alcaraz, Executive Director
312.663.0336 or 312.330.5506
gaylon@chicagoabortionfund.com
(Chicago…) Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF) is against the billboard being unveiled at 58th and State Streets on the South Side of Chicago on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. The ongoing anti-choice movement to target women of color in cities across the country is both despicable and deplorable. Not only is the ad attempting to shame black women but placing a picture of the President Obama alongside the message is cynical and misleading. CAF demands that elected officials and community leaders immediately reject this racist billboard campaign.
Life Always, the organization responsible for the billboard, is just one of the many anti-choice organizations seeking shock value through a message that many don’t believe. These organizations and their billboard campaigns fail to address the social conditions that create the need for abortions, including poverty and a lack of access to contraception and reproductive health care.
Gaylon Alcaraz, executive director of the Chicago abortion Fund, says “it's clear those who fight against reproductive choice for women of color know nothing of why women choose abortion. Rather than create fake concern for a community these people have never set foot in, Life Always should spend their energies helping us address the reasons why women decide to choose abortion. The procedures we help fund are because our community is among the least likely to have regular access to healthcare, family planning and comprehensive sex education. Our services exist because our women are among the most likely to be victims of sexual assault. If Life Always wants to talk about those issues the south side welcomes the dialogue.
Women have a legal right to access abortion services and should not be shamed regarding the personal choices they make. Abortion is a personal decision, not a political discussion. We will not be moved by this anti-choice attempt to hijack our communities. Only we, women of color, can speak for our communities. Only we, women of color, know what is best for our families.”
--------------------------------------------------
As I sit here looking at a picture of CAF protecting Dr. Carhart’s Nebraska clinic last year, several waves of emotions hit me all at once. We just got a call this week that another Illinois clinic, Northern Illinois Women’s Center, is now under siege with anti-choice individuals and priests injecting their beliefs into the lives of women. We must now prepare to counter protest those that don’t believe women can make their own choices. This war of the wills appears to never end. I’m sad, angry and frightened!
Our phone lines continue to ring off the hook from women looking for support any and every where as she attempts to make one of the most important decisions in her life. These women have resorted to selling their belongings or food stamps, pawning the valuables they have, or sex work just to pay for a LEGAL MEDICAL PROCEDURE! Can you imagine resorting to these measures to have a root canal or a heart transplant? This makes me sad, angry and frightened!
And where will the women we serve end up in the health care reform? Our elected officials continued to thrust abortion into the health care reform discussion while avoiding the real issues. Further, if this is a legal medical procedure, why can’t poor women access it? How will they be better off in the whole health care reform? This makes me sad, angry and frightened!
Further, how will we continue to do the work, the work you value, with all these changes on the political and economic scenes? Women continue to get thrown under the bus by everyone! Even those in our own community! When will women garnish the full respect they need and deserve to live whole, healthy and successful lives? The inequality alone makes me feel sad, angry and frightened!
• Yet, when we help another woman access true reproductive freedom by helping her pay for her procedure, providing her with comprehensive follow-up services (calls and referrals) and inviting her to be a part of this movement protecting her right, I have hope!
• When another woman joins our “My Voice, My Choice Leadership Group” in search of a sisterhood connection and opportunities for growth, I have hope!
• When that woman takes all those opportunities and turns her life around – all because she was given a chance and fully supported, I have hope!
• When new donors arrive at our doorstep ready to support, write checks and volunteer, I have hope!
We are here in our 25th year still doing the work to ensure that low-income women have the opportunity to participate as equal citizens in society.
Gaylon Alcaraz, Executive Director
“When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid” - Audre Lorde
--------------------------------------------------
Twenty-five years ago pro-choice allies came together to start the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF)! These women, connected to the Jane Movement through family and friends, still saw a need for poor women in the Chicagoland area to access financial resources for their abortion procedures. Unfortunately, we are still fighting the same fight in ensuring that women can pay for their legal right. Still, there are glimmers of hope! Under my leadership, we've not only continued on with the mission of the founders, but really began to live out the "Statement of Values", where the women we serve become engaged in the organization. Through our "My Voice, My Choice" leadership group, the women that have received financial assistance from us, are invited back into the organization to be a part of the solution! It makes sense to have the women affected be a part of the solution.
September 2010, we celebrate 25 years of assisting poor and marginalized women with such a difficult and personal choice. From providing financial assistance to women seeking abortion procedures to our advocacy related efforts, last year we've been in full force doing the work you value and spreading the message of choice and freedom for all women. We started off 2009 with a rally on Federal Plaza in Chicago to celebrate Roe v. Wade. Then from Amherst, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., the CAF staff and the "My Voice, My Choice" leadership women sat on various panels and attended quite a few speaking engagements. In August we found ourselves in Nebraska protecting Dr. Carhart's clinic and then back in Chicago protecting the Family Planning Associates clinic on Elston. Of course the year would not have been complete without some good old fashion lobbying in Springfield during the last legislation session. So as you can see, we've been busy "Making Choice Possible"!
I’ve had many highlights in my four years of leadership. Here are a few:
• Being hired to bring the organization back from a very low point has humbled me greatly. When I started in 2005, CAF looked like it was getting ready to close up shop. However, I absolutely love a challenge! I came on board, applied for and was awarded a prestigious marketing and design grant by “firebelly design”, which enabled CAF to have the new look it has today!
• Having a great conversation with Heather Booth, the founder of the Jane Movement, had me smiling for days! This amazing woman started the underground movement when abortion was illegal!
• Another amazing highlight was meeting so many long time donors that continue to give to CAF today. Connecting with and meeting them face-to-face has been an absolute joy.
• Having great mentors and colleagues that supported me, gave me words of wisdom and connected me to great opportunities has been a blessing.
• Meeting the women we’ve funded and bringing them into the fold of the organization through our leadership program. Their stories, lives and experiences have touched me deeply. I am forever changed by this work.
• The murder of our colleague and friend, Dr. George Tiller, by an anti-choice fanatic numbed me to the core. We have all taken for granted how dangerous and difficult this work is. However, I can’t back down even if I wanted to. I will protect a woman’s choice until the day I die.
I came to CAF with great expectations, hopes and dreams. As I continue to do this work, I remain steadfast and true to the mission of “Making Choice Possible”!
Twenty-five years later we are still going strong!
We hope you will continue to support the work we do on behalf of marginalized women seeking to exercise control over their bodies. Consider a donation to support the work we do. We now accept all credit cards or you can make your donation through PayPal.
NOTE: Our mailing address has changed! We are transitioning away from our post office box due to issues of mail delivery and returned mail. Please direct all mail to: 333 W. North Avenue, Ste. 267, Chicago, Illinois 60610. All other contact information stays the same!
--------------------------------------------------
“When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid” - Audre Lorde
The Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF) joins the reproductive rights community in mourning our friend and ally, Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas physician who dedicated his life to a woman's choice, despite previous attempts on his life and business. Dr. Tiller was murdered in his church during service by an anti-choice fanatic. Did you know he faced on a daily basis, harassment, vandalism, threats and violent attacks by those fanatics? Still, he was committed to ensuring that women in need of abortion services - including late term procedures, were served with compassion, care and understanding.
And we will not be afraid!
Having financially supported several women that utilized Dr. Tiller's clinic, we are absolutely numb and still in a state of shock at this senseless tragedy and unbelievable loss of such a wonderful person. Further, we here at CAF, are not only saddened but extremely angry that the anti-choice movement has bred this level of hatred and fear; endangering the lives of those that disagree with their beliefs. Dr. Tiller's violent death was a direct result of this out of control hate mongering.
Yet, we will not be afraid!
Recent events in the field of reproductive justice has made me step back and really reflect why I do this work. The tragic and untimely death of Dr. Tiller, has made me think a little more on my work, why I must do and why I won't be afraid to do it. My anger is an understatement!
I am angry at the fact that a legal medical procedure is being attacked by those that don't believe in it.
I am angry that a medical professional lost his life providing reproductive health care.
I am angry that "some" don't believe women are intelligent enough to make their own decisions about their lives and bodies.
I am angry that poor women can't access safe, affordable abortion services.
I am angry at those attempting to force their moral and religious beliefs on the rest of us.
I am angry at the fact that Dr. Tiller's clinic has been closed and women will no longer have a place to go for late term abortions procedures.
Yet, all the reasons I'm angry are the very reasons why I do this work. Women need a choice on when to become a parent. Poor women need the ability to make their own reproductive health care decisions regardless of their economic status. No one should be targeted and killed because they are pro-choice.
Dr. Tiller was the ultimate role model for the reproductive justice work that we do! With courage and compassion he carried on with dedication that truly supported a woman's choice. He knew the work he did and the positions he took a stand on were dangerous ones, yet he did so without any doubt that he was doing the right thing. His humble nature was one we admired greatly. Dr. Tiller didn't back down on what he thought was right. His courage and commitment to protect a woman's choice is one that we will never forget.
Will will not be afraid! We applaud and thank Dr. George Tiller and the life he lived. He will never be forgotten as we continue to carry forth the work he believed in: Making Choice Possible!
--------------------------------------------------
HB2354 – Making Choice Possible!
The Illinois Reproductive Health and Access Act (HB2354), would ensure that all women, including some of the most poor and disenfranchised women, have the ability to make their own reproductive health decisions, access a variety of affordable birth control options and prevent the government from interfering with a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. It would seem like because abortion is legal (and has been) and birth control is available none of this should be a problem, right? Wrong!
Women on a daily basis are denied these basic rights to self-govern their bodies. Whether it means having the financial means to have an abortion, buying monthly birth control or even getting to a provider to have their procedures, women encounter serious obstacles accessing their “Choice”. However, here at the Chicago Abortion Fund, we deal with these injustices and inequities on a daily basis. The women that call us for financial assistance every week have either been on birth control that failed or have been on the wrong birth control.
Having a variety of birth control options that women understand, agree with their body type and can afford is a key component in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Further, when women have the resources, they can make informed and healthy decisions about their reproductive health. Every woman has that right regardless of her economic situation. This is why we fully stand behind HB2354!
Some of the bill’s highlights are:
• bars the government from interfering with anyone’s ability to use birth control, carry a pregnancy to term or terminate a pregnancy;
• requires all Illinois public schools to teach medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive sex education. Parents would be allowed to remove their children from classes if they do not want them to participate;
• makes sure that government-funded health care programs, like Medicaid, cover basic reproductive health care services like family planning, pre-natal care, and pap tests as they do for other health care services;
• protects both patients and doctors by allowing individual health care professionals to object to providing certain services, while still ensuring that patients receive timely, accurate and complete information about care options.
Why we need the Reproductive Health & Access Act in Illinois:
• We must protect the right of women to a continuum of choices throughout their reproductive lives -- from honest sex education to access to quality birth control, prenatal care, and the right to choose abortion.
• We must ensure that a woman has as many responsible options as possible when it comes to making important personal decisions about her reproductive health care.
• We must guarantee everyone the ability to use or refuse contraception and ensure that every woman is able to make her own personal decisions about when and whether to have a child and to control her own reproductive health without interference.
• We must ensure that government will not interfere with women’s personal decision-making based on their own personal values and their doctors’ advice.
--------------------------------------------------
“Challenging Times, Yet Not Impossible Times!”
I hope you’ve had a chance to catch some of the wonderful and groundbreaking advocacy projects that we have been working on over this past fiscal year (07/07 – 06/08). As we move forward into another year of Making Choice Possible for women and teenage girls, I wanted to touch upon a few things that we take for granted. Sometimes in the midst of the daily grind we forget how critical and important this work is. Right now as the anti-choice movement pickets outside of abortion clinics in Chicago, women that have chosen to make a very personal decision are bombarded with negative messages, pictures and religious rhetoric. Those of us not on the provider side of this movement can take for granted the work we do and how that work truly touches the lives of women. Women on a daily basis call our hotline for assistance and financial support to exercise an extremely personal decision only to be met by madness when they get to their appointment. I am so humbled to do this work and support them.
The work around abortion and abortion access continues to come under attack from all corners of the boxing ring. From harmful legislative policies and lawsuits against abortion providers to the spreading of misinformation and outright lies and protesting outside of clinics – these are the realities that the women we serve live with everyday. Still there is a reality that we as a small not-for-profit face everyday as well. Operating from a budget that is NO WHERE comparable to other pro-choice organizations in Chicago there are always financial challenges that hinder the work we do.
From grant denials and decreases in foundation support to previous donors that for what ever reason chose to no longer support the work we do. We are constantly put to the test trying to oversee a powerful grassroots organization, provide critical funding and advocacy services to women while spreading our message of true reproductive freedom. However, despite these challenges, we will continue to do this work unapologetically. Women and teenage girls have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of when they make their own personal decision to terminate a pregnancy and we will support them proudly and visibly. This is what our logo represents; the work we ALL (CAF, donors, foundation and allies) are doing to assist a woman, while creating a network of support and acceptance.
Through our groundbreaking 3 prong approach we are moving CAF into the future:
Intake and financial assistance
Follow-up calls and referrals to supportive services linkages
Developing new reproductive justice leadership through group invitation, leadership development/training and empowerment
As you can see we are servicing these women in some very different, yet absolutely critical and meaningful ways.
This is what our work is all about: direct services and advocacy related projects. In fact, gone is the band-aid solution of just providing money for abortion procedures and sending the woman on her way. Since 2006 we have been providing follow-up services with every single woman we’ve given funding to. Since 2007 we’ve invited those very women back to our table to take part in the My Voice, My Choice leadership group. As CAF moves into the uncertain political future, the only way it makes sense to do our work is through a 3-prong approach to services and support. Our core mission will NEVER CHANGE! We have to fund the women in order to invite them to the table and into the conversation. However, we are establishing ourselves as an organization that truly supports women and teenage girls in all areas of their lives. Despite the challenges, we will always Make Choice Possible!
--------------------------------------------------
“Imagining What Leadership Looks Like”
What does leadership really look like? Can poor, marginalized women be leaders? Can these women contribute to the discussion around reproductive justice? Do they have a say so in the policy decisions around the bodies they live in? We at the Chicago Abortion Fund believe that the women we serve can be and should be leaders in the fight for reproductive justice. Our Statement of Values clearly outlines this belief and how we hope to achieve reproductive justice for the women we serve. So when we started the “My Voice, My Choice” leadership group a year ago in March, I was a bit surprised by some of the concerns around this direction we needed to take. We were actively seeking to empower the women we’ve given abortion funding to. Providing critical funding and leadership opportunities – sounds easy right? Well, not so much.
What could be wrong with empowering the women we’ve given funding to? If a woman comes to CAF for assistance, we provide her with the financial resources to pay for her abortion and then invite her back to the table to become a leader, what could possibility be wrong with that? This is a good question that I would like to know the answer to. However my gut feeling is that issues around power, oppression, classism and racism play some role in these complaints. Is there something wrong with poor, marginalized women being leaders in this movement?
It is a known fact that historically the mainstream pro-choice movement has perpetuated racism and classism by not only ignoring the very real needs of women of color and low-income women but failing to see them as leaders in the movement. The movement has failed to bring the women they serve to the table for discussion around their needs and to engage them in leadership opportunities. The women we serve are not invisible. We actively aim to empower the women we serve, by helping them discover and utilize resources, by supporting their abortion decisions and finally by bringing them into the decision-making body of the organization.
Some say that the other side is winning the war because they are framing and defining the agenda for us. I say we are equally guilty if we frame this fight and define the agenda on our end without the input from women of color, poor and low-income women – all marginalized voices. We have to look at leadership through a different lens. And we must create visibility around these often ignored voices because not only do we eliminate the shame around a personal decision but we provide an opportunity for the women we serve to be heard.
The women that come through CAF are not viewed as leaders in society’s eyes, yet these are the women we are actively recruiting for this leadership group. They deserve the right to be a part of the conversation that is happening about their bodies! Is it justice that the women we serve have no say so in their reproductive health? Is it justice that we, in the pro-choice movement, make decisions without the input of the women we are serving? One of the many things that was confirmed to me at the “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice” conference in April was the way to change power is from the community up. Reproductive freedom without conversations around class, sexism, oppression and privilege continues to marginalize those women we serve.
Bringing women to the table and providing them with leadership opportunities that not only will empower themselves but will empower other women in their families and communities is vital to the world we live in. Simply put, when we provide women with information and education, they can make informed decisions about their lives. And in order for women to be full participants in society, they need FULL control over their reproductive health….which means that should have the opportunity to make some policy decisions too!
--------------------------------------------------
“Choice Without Access is Injustice!”
The issue of “choice” plays an insignificant role in abortion rights for women of color, low-income women and teenage girls if “access” is restricted. Even if abortion is legal, if women can’t “access” abortion services, what is the point? As restrictive laws denying “access” to abortion services (the Hyde Amendment, parental notification, etc.) are enacted and abortion providers dwindle by state, it is obvious that women especially low-income women, young girls and women of color will suffer the greatest. Without the ability to obtain safe, legal and affordable abortion services, these women will resort to other measures, often dangerous and life threatening. Further, without both “choice and access” women and girls will be forced to carry pregnancies to term when they are not ready to do so. Women and girls who decide to have abortions do so after they have determined that they are either not ready for, do not want or cannot financially support children.
“Access” has been a hot button topic lately in the pro-choice community. Whether it is the issue of parental notification laws and what those laws mean for the women and girls we serve or the grassroots efforts and organizing around repealing the Hyde Amendment, there is a lot of conversation amongst many at the reproductive rights table. Still, as the pro-choice community continues the fight for abortion rights, a key issue often ignored is how these changes, restrictive laws and paternalistic measures really affect women of color, marginalized women and poor teenage girls (who by the way can make their own medical decisions if they are pregnant or already a parent). Those who can afford abortion procedures, have the means to “access” abortion services. Those who don’t are out of luck.
In a Guttmacher Institute population survey from 2005 -2006, there were 289,000 women and girls between the ages of 15 – 44 years in Illinois receiving Medicaid. This means that these women and girls are in the prime of their reproductive lives and may need abortion services at some point. How do they pay for their procedures if they are on Medicaid? The Hyde Amendment prohibits Medicaid funding for abortions. The affect this one particular law has on low-income women and girls is dramatic! Women who are young, poor and struggling to make ends meet truly do not have total control over their reproductive health. They do not have a choice! They do not have access!
So the question becomes not whether abortion is legal for the women we serve, but if it’s so legal why can’t poor women, teenage girls and women of color “access” abortions as part of their overall reproductive health? Despite the economic status and class of a woman, she should be able to control her “choice” and have “access” to that choice. From lack of economic means, restrictive laws, diminishing abortion providers or no providers available, “access” for women becomes a key point in the argument for reproductive justice. Poor women need choices. What all women and girls need despite their financial resources is true opportunities to control the bodies they live in.
Traditionally abortion funds have provided financial assistance to low-income women, with no follow-up services. We here at CAF, in existence since 1985, have never provided follow-up services. CAF realizes that we need to provide not only funding but more meaningful services and put in place innovative programs and strategies that will holistically assist the most marginalized women in society beyond abortion funding. The women we serve are existing on the margins of society, unaware of the reproductive health movement and the power in their voice and choice. They have been ignored and marginalized. We at CAF believe that the voices of these women need to be heard in important settings where their voices can indeed make a difference in the lives they live. We believe the possibility for change in their lives can be considerably substantial and life altering.
In March 2007 we started a exciting and innovative project! The “My Voice, My Choice” leadership group is a social change project that allows women to become empowered and change their lives. The goal of this group is to provide empowerment through leadership trainings and workshops so that the women we serve can not only advocate for themselves but for other women in their communities as well. CAF understands this is a huge risk but in order to change women’s lives overall we must think about multifaceted ways of providing leadership to marginalized communities. We want to educate while organizing, giving the women in the leadership group the tools that will help them navigate certain situations, linking them to additional referral services and providing them a real opportunity have a real voice in a decision making process. The young women we are serving have to be at the table making their voices heard around “access and choice”. Their voices are often ignored and diminished, even when it concerns their own bodies! We want to change this. By coming to the table these women will not only be able to be a part of this movement, but they will be able to advocate for themselves and other women in their communities.
We are excited about this new opportunity and are confident that the leadership group is going to make some pretty powerful changes happen around “access”, “choice” and reproductive justice. So far, five women have joined the “My Voice, My Choice” leadership group and as the word continues to spread we anticipate many voices here at the table fighting for their right to safe, affordable and legal abortion services. It has already been determined that women have a legal right to abortions. However reproductive justice is about fairness. “Access” is a part of “Choice”. They can’t exist without each other. In a just society, they won’t exist without each other. It is a matter of fairness and equality.
--------------------------------------------------
The Following is a Speech Given to Donors, Funders, Supporters and Clients on October 12th 2006 at Las Manos Gallery
As many of you know or may not know, the Chicago Abortion Fund went through a serious period of transformation in the last one and a half years. With staff transitions, the agency found itself not meeting the needs of the women we were there to serve. That was an unfortunate time for us. Several things contributed to this crisis that CAF found itself in.
All not-for-profits have suffered greatly from a decrease in foundation and donor support since 9/11. The political climate we were in and are still in is one of the worst in recent history. The Chicago Abortion Fund has been a barebones agency providing critical direct services to women in crisis day in and day out everyday.
I say all this because sometimes when there is a small staff doing crisis work, internal systems suffer. Some very real things happened, as it does with any organization. This combined with the other issues I mentioned led to huge internal changes. CAF is not unique in this aspect or situation. Not-for-profits all over the country are going through difficulties. A lot of these agencies are closing their doors. Sometimes organizations don't recover from these crises. And other times a few agencies get a special chance come back stronger than before. The Chicago Abortion Fund has been given this opportunity. The dedicated women governing the agency knew CAF still needed to exist and did everything in their power to ensure that existence. And you know what else is amazing? The phone kept ringing. Even during the crisis. The women we serve kept calling.
I know CAF has been through a lot and there are so many relationships that need to be rekindled. As the new executive director, I've put systems in place to ensure that CAF doesn't end up in this situation ever again. We are strengthening ourselves internally through strategic planning and working with a host of consultants. I know many of you have concerns. This I truly understand. But tonight I stand here and give you my word. I promise to be professional and trustworthy. I promise to makes sure that your financial support is handled in the most ethical way possible. I promise to assist the women and girls we serve with compassion and understanding. I also promised to make sure the voices of the most marginalized women are not ignored.
What does the future hold for CAF? Well, a lot of exciting things!
First and foremost, CAF received a marketing and design grant from firebelly design to develop a new tagline, logo, website and marketing materials to bolster our visibility and ensure our sustainability. After being in business for 20 years, CAF needed a facelift and also needed new and innovative ways to reach a broader range of donors, clients and supporters.
As of June 30th, CAF served 125 women with almost $33,000 in grants! Secondly, we intend to double the amount of women we serve and the amount of grants we distribute by the next fiscal year.
Thirdly, we believe in empowering the women we serve. So we will be developing pioneering ways to help women develop leadership skills so that they can advocate for not only themselves but for other women in their communities. For example in December we will be kicking off a new project called "My Voice", where women we have assisted will be invited to the table to attend leadership trainings, work on letter writing campaigns and become involved with CAF. The voices of these women are currently missing from this movement and we intend to change that.
Fourthly, we started a follow-up project this past July to track the women we serve. We are anxious to find out if the women are having trouble accessing health care services or birth control options. As well, we are continuing to link women to additional supportive services if they need it.
And lastly, with our new tag line "Make Choice Possible" and logo, we are cementing our existence into the reproductive health movement. Our logo of the interchanging and connecting circles represents the linking and continuous roles that the community, donors, foundations and our agency play in meeting the needs of low-income women.
Why does this all matter?
Well, we want to show women we serve, donors and funders that our mission is not confidential. We are proud of the work we do and we refuse to be invisible. We are proud to empower women. The logo along with the colors, are beautiful and compelling. By putting such a strong statement on our visibility, it lets the community know we are not going anywhere. Abortion is not a dirty word. We want to dispel the shame that surrounds a choice many women make and have a right to make.
Yes, we provide women with grants, but the grant is much more than just financial assistance. We are altering a woman's live by giving her choice over her reproductive health, empowering them in their decisions and being supportive after they have exercised that choice. We treat women with respect after so many other systems have failed them. By providing women with a positive experience in their reproductive health, we believe that they will feel empowered enough to advocate for themselves in other areas of their lives.