Abortion Justice Now! Calls to Action
Take ACTION to demand abortion access for ALL.
Now more than ever we need a strong coalition fighting for abortion justice: a coalition that is committed to racial justice, queer and trans* liberation, reproductive justice, worker’s rights, and disability justice – because abortion is healthcare, and healthcare access is dependent on a much larger web of liberatory fights. The impending fall of Roe v Wade is part of a concerted, white supremacist, radical Evangelical effort to strip the most marginalized of their autonomy and dignity. Bans on trans* healthcare for youth in Alabama, an anti-LGBTQ ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills, a backlash on “Critical Race Theory” that is whitewashing education – this is not solely about individuals in power, we must also strive for a transformative culture shift.
This means we need collective action and long-term movement building to assert what we know is true: the majority of people who call this country home believe that abortion care should be protected legally, and ALL people deserve to have autonomy over their bodies and reproductive futures. No matter who they are, who they love, where they are from, or how much they make.
Read below for a list of four calls to action to defend abortion access in Illinois and beyond. These demands are not comprehensive, and we encourage you to engage with our partner organizations listed below to stay connected after the action:
Distribute Resources
We know that legal barriers aren’t the only thing that prevent access to care – from Illinois to Texas, from Nebraska to Kentucky – and existing care networks will become even more vital in a post-Roe world, so get connected & listen to their needs. Abortion funds, abortion clinics, and abortion providers have already been getting people the care they need, creating cross-state networks of care, and preparing for the fall of Roe.
Support brick & mortar independent clinics and abortion providers via Keep Our Clinics.
Support abortion funds. Find your local abortion fund by entering your address in the National Network of Abortion Fund’s fund locator. Consider becoming a monthly donor – a recurring donation is a great way to sustain your support when abortion funds are not in the press, and are generally getting less contributions.
A non-comprehensive list of Midwestern groups and providers you may consider supporting and connecting with:
Donate to the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF)
Donate to Midwest Access Coalition
Donate to Planned Parenthood of Illinois
Donate to Stigma Relief Fund
2. Disseminate Knowledge
Be an informed and affirming resource about abortion in your community! It is important, especially as logistical difficulties increase, to be sure that factual, affirming information surrounding abortion access is easily available – and you can be one of those sources for the people in your life!
Be aware of the fake clinics, or “Crisis Pregnancy Centers,” in your area and know how to identify them. Here is a map of fake clinics via ExposeFakeClinics.com
Be able to navigate and share sites that house information regarding abortion access, including (but not limited to):
To find clinics near you: ineedana.com
To refer someone to an affirming counseling services for all pregnancy outcomes: all-options.org
To connect someone with their local abortion fund, to assist with financial support and more: abortionfunds.org/funds/
To learn about self managed abortion: Pregnant people can safely self-manage their abortions up to 12 weeks. The reasons people decide to self-manage their abortion are as various as people’s lives. And we acknowledge the many many reasons one may not want to have an abortion in a medical environment. However, we also recognize that over-regulation, anti-abortion politics, and legal threats put people who manage their own abortions at risk of punishment, for what should be a protected decision. To learn more about legal rules regulating self-managed abortion visit If/When/How’s Repro Legal Helpline. For a campaign doing work to demystify SMA, see Abortion On Our Own Terms.
Check out and share CAF’s toolkit for people seeking abortions.
3. Demand Access + Expansion
While we organize our communities, we know that we need to advocate for institutional change. Vote for pro-abortion public officials, and then call on them to act on their commitments!
Register to vote: Especially pay attention to state and down-ballot elections (like state justices!), as a weakened Roe means that the legality of abortion will be fought out on a state level.
Visit the League of Women Voters of Illinois’ non-partisan Illinois Voter Guide to check your registration and, if needed, register to vote!
Check out Vote For Judges, a website that educates voters about judicial elections in Cook County.
She Votes IL created a comprehensive guide to voting matters in Illinois.
Fight voter suppression-demand the freedom to vote for all: Oppose efforts to disenfranchise voters especially in black and brown communities. Demand expanded opportunities to vote–early voting, mail-in voting, adequate and accessible polling places, same-day voter registration.
Advocate for insurance coverage: Tell your state legislators to support $0 copays for abortion care in IL and enforce the accountability about the Reproductive Health Act, under which all insurance companies based in IL must cover abortion care at the same level as other required private insurance plans to cover abortion care at the same rate of other ‘maternal healthcare’.
Support Abortion Rights Legislation in IL: HB1464 will protect providers who are licensed in Illinois from discipline if their license is disciplined or revoked by another state because they provided, authorized, or participated in any health care, medical service, or procedure related to an abortion. This bill has already passed the House. Now, ask your Illinois State Senator to support HB1464.
4. Destigmatize Abortion
Make it known that you will be supportive of people in your life who may need access to care by saying the word abortion. This also includes being inclusive of all people who may need abortion care in your advocacy, including trans* and non-binary people. See the chart below for some helpful language tips to ensure that our movement and advocacy is intersectional and affirming, and check out this CAF toolkit for more on how to talk about abortion in your community.
Trust Pregnant People: Rather than policing the bodies of folks in our communities as anti bans like SB8 encourage, trust pregnant people– and all people– to make their own reproductive decisions. Listen and center people who have had abortions, and show your support to those who choose to share their story. See WeTestify to read abortion stories and support abortion storytellers.
Join Planned Parenthood Illinois Action’s Stop Abortion Stigma campaign
Highlights of ‘Say This, Not This…’ (see more in this CAF’s toolkit)
SAY: “Abortion is safe.” / “We have the resources and medications, like abortion pills, for people to self-manage their abortions safely.” / “Self-managed abortion gives us another option for care on our own terms, with the support of people we love and trust.” NOT: “Make abortion safe.” / “Keep abortion safe.” “Dangerous illegal abortions” / References to “going back” to underground procedural abortion, coat hangers, back alley abortions, botched abortions; Handmaid’s Tale references
Abortion is already an incredibly safe procedure and medication abortion is available—something that wasn’t available prior to 1973. Just because something is illegal does not mean it is unsafe. What is risky is the criminalization of people who have abortions. There are many people who are trying to obtain abortions and may choose to self-manage their abortion. We do not want to scare them nor do we want to undermine the availability and safety of medication abortion pills.
SAY: The word abortion! “Abortion access” / “funded abortion” / “accessible abortion” “abortion access” NOT: Euphemisms for abortion like: “choice” / “pro-choice” / “access to choice” / “the right to choose” / “a woman’s right” / “reproductive rights” / “Save Roe”
It’s time to move past euphemisms. It’s time to name and ask for what we want. We only destigmatize abortion by using the word abortion. Additionally, using phrases like “reproductive rights” as a euphemism for abortion, without an expansive definition that explicitly highlights all reproductive choices, erases the discrimination and barriers that particularly BIPOC people face when making the choice to parent.
SAY: Inclusive language when talking about people who have abortions! “People have abortions” / “folks who have abortions” / “those of us who have or have had abortions” / “abortion patients” / “people seeking abortion care, abortion fund grantees” NOT: Gendered language designed to exclude trans and nonbinary people (i.e. narrowing your language to only include “women” or “girls”)
Abortion access and reproductive healthcare include people of all gender identities. All people have reproductive healthcare needs, including access to prescriptions for sex and sexual health, IVF, etc.
SAY: “Abortion is healthcare.” / “Abortion is a medical procedure.” / “Abortion is a human right.” / The only thing to compare abortion to is abortion. NOT: Comparisons between abortion and things that are not abortion or unhelpful hypotheticals. ““If men could get pregnant there would be a clinic on every corner/available like Starbucks.” / “We should ban Viagra!” / “We should make men get vasectomies.”
People of all gender identities have sexual and reproductive health needs, such as miscarriage management, abortion care, infertility, contraceptive needs, and more. Abortions and sexual healthcare should be widely available, on every corner, and fully funded. Historically, our nation has forced sterilization on people of all genders, particularly because of their race—we do not take that lightly and it is not a joke. Reproductive healthcare and medicine shouldn’t be taken away from anyone.
SAY: “Fund local abortion clinics, abortion funds, and support people who’ve had and need abortions.” NOT: Start a new Jane Collective / Start a new “Underground Railroad” / Start a new clinic / Starting new abortion funds to provide abortions or abortion access
This work already exists and has existed for decades. The people who do this work on the ground are experts and need support, funding, and attention in order to keep providing abortions, getting people to their abortions, and getting them the funding they need. Using the phrase “Underground Railroad” is a racist co-opting of the very real horror of chattel slavery that the United States has still not reckoned with.