TOOLKIT: Protect Abortion Access

Written By Feminist

We believe everybody is entitled to reproductive freedom - that includes access to safe and legal abortions. Our hearts & gratitude are with abortion providers and those in need of care now. 🙏

How to explore the toolkit:

This FEMINIST toolkit is organized into FIVE different categories: CONTEXT, ACCESS, ACTION, CARE, and CONVERSATION. The dropdown menu describes each section. If you are looking to take action to protect the human right to abortion, visit the ACTION section.

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  • To learn more about the context of abortion rights in the United States and World, check out the CONTEXT category.

  • To see a map detailing abortion access currently in the United States and World, check out the ACCESS category.

  • To take action for abortion rights through advocacy, check out the ACTION category.

  • To find ways to get an abortion or tools for self-care and mental health help, check out the CARE category.

  • To catch up on the latest conversations from FEMINIST on abortion rights, reference the CONVERSATION category.

At a glance:

1️⃣ You can still access legal abortion care in the US—safe at home abortions are available visit “CARE” below for more information.

2️⃣ Your vote matters— you have the power to vote for bold, unapologetic champions for abortion rights in elections. Access the Pro-choice voter guide.

3️⃣  You have the power to protest and contact your local lawmakers. This ruling has no power without people enforcing it. You can continue to advocate and protect abortion in your local community.

4️⃣ Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations will continue to fight back. Alongside NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY’s List.

👥 Join us in fighting back to protect abortion access all across the country. 🛠 This is your toolkit to take action and share with your friends & family.

CONTEXT

📣 STATE OF ABORTION IN THE UNITED STATES AND WORLD

UNITED STATES: Post-Roe

On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, crucial legislation that made abortion access a protected federal right in the United States. This devasting decision reversed 50 years of legal protection and allowed the decision to guarantee abortion rights to go to individual states.

Following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end all federal protections for abortion, a total of 19 states have moved to ban or restrict abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, at least 24 U.S. states in total are expected to ban abortions or heavily restrict access to them.

"Abortion restrictions are about control—they are designed to make care harder to provide, obtain and afford."

Guttmacher Institute

After Roe fell, a federal judge in Texas’ made an unprecedented decision to attempt to revoke the FDA approval of mifepristone in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA. On April 21, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay in the case, temporarily preserving access to medication abortion using mifepristone. The case is pending and ongoing.

Guttmacher Institute/ Abortion (United States)

THE WORLD

The right to safe and legal abortion is a fundamental human right protected under numerous international and regional human rights treaties and national-level constitutions around the world.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, 970 million women (representing 59% of women of reproductive age) live in countries that broadly allow abortion. Yet with that majority, 41 percent of women live in countries with restrictive laws. The inability to access safe and legal abortion care impacts 700 million women of reproductive age.

The World Health Organization reports that around 23,000 women lose their lives every year due to unsafe abortions, and tens of thousands suffer from significant health complications globally.

Despite the preconceived notion and biased belief that legal restrictions on abortion would lead to a decline in the number of abortions, global evidence indicates the contrary. Restrictions often drive women towards seeking out unsafe, potentially fatal methods of abortion.

“The inability to access safe and legal abortion care impacts 700 million women of reproductive age.

Center for Reproductive Rights

To explore more data and resources for 150 countries use the “Select a country profile” box on this page.

Guttmacher Institute/ Abortion (Global)

ACCESS

🌎 REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACCESS AROUND THE WORLD

📍ABORTION ACCESS: UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES

The Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe, created by the Guttmacher Institute provides an insight into the increasingly polarized and fragmented abortion landscape. The map categorizes states into one of seven categories: Most restrictive, Very restrictive, Restrictive, Some restrictions/protections, Protective, Very protective, and Most protective.

To select any state to see details about abortion policies, characteristics of state residents and key abortion statistics, including driving distance to the nearest abortion clinic, click here

A state by state guide to abortion rights:

To get information about what to expect and to locate abortion support resources and assistance, for Abortion Finder’s State-by-State Guide → click here

Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe, Guttmacher Institute (April 24, 2023)

📍ABORTION ACCESS: THE WORLD

The World Abortion Laws Map, created by the Center for Reproductive Rights, is an ongoing record of the legal status of abortion in countries across the globe. The Laws Map categorizes the legal status of abortion continuously, ranging from severe restrictiveness to relative liberality. Using categories such as “prohibited altogether” to “to save a woman’s life,” and indicators to describe the legal grounds, advocates can gain a better understanding and monitor how countries are protecting—or denying—reproductive rights around the world.

To see the World Abortion Laws Map in real time, click here

To see the World Abortion Laws Map through 25 years of progress, watch the video below ⤵

ACTION

🪧 ADVOCACY ACTION—Here are action items you can take right now:

Take Action Now!

✅

Take Action Now! ✅

1️⃣ Support Abortion Funds

When you support abortion funds, your money goes directly to help patients and people on the ground who work to provide access to abortion.

2️⃣ Support Reproductive Justice Organizations

Reproductive Justice means the human right to decide when and whether to have children, and the right to raise your family in a safe, healthy environment. Here are some organizations to support:

The fight for abortion justice is a fight against white supremacy

3️⃣ Show your support through petitions and pledges.

  • Text: ‘ACCESS’ to 22422 to sign the #BansOffOurBodiesPledge.

  • Tell our courts: Save mifepristone! Sign here to join PPAF to protect abortion access.

  • Take the pledge: to protect abortion rights with the ACLU. → Join here

  • Sign: this Action Network petition “I believe abortion is a human right. We must protect abortion access.”

  • Tell President Biden, Congress, and the Department of Health and Human Services that Abortion Is Health Care.→ Sign here!

  • Share on social media: Download these graphics by FEMINIST and Use these hashtags ↓

    #BansOffOurBodies #AbortionRights #ProtectAbortionAccess #LiberateAbortion #AbortionisEssential #AbortionisHealthcare #ReproRights #ReproductiveJustice

Photo credit: Anna Watts for The New York Times

4️⃣ Demonstrate. Join a rally near you!

Protest for your right to abortion.
Let lawmakers hear you and see you. Join us in Nonviolent action to protect our constitutional right to abortion. → Find local rally’s near you.

Wear green for abortion rights 💚 Women in Latin America have worn green for abortion rights for nearly two decades. → Learn about the ‘la marea verde’ here.

CARE

💚 IMMEDIATE ACTION FOR THOSE IN NEED

 

🔊 What are abortion pills?

A safe, at-home abortion is here. The “abortion pill" or "abortion with pills” is a modern option for ending an early pregnancy safely and effectively.

  • It is also called "medication abortion." It uses two kinds of pills: mifepristone and misoprostol (or misoprostol only, if mifepristone is not available).

  • The availability and use of medication abortion may vary state by state, but even if state laws restrict you, PLAN C has you covered with a comprehensive guide on resources available for you. Click the button below to learn more.

  • Watch this tiktok by @heyjane to learn how it works

❤️ Self Care & Mental Health Help

We understand this can be a distressing, there is help for you. You are not alone.
If you or someone you know may be in danger of suicide:
→ Call 1-800-273-8255
→ text “ANSWER” to 839863

🔒How to keep your reproductive health data private

The following guide to helps you protect your privacy and avoid detection from authorities when planning or having an abortion. → Discover this resource

CONVERSATION

🎙FEMINIST CONVERSATIONS ON ABORTION RIGHTS, ACCESS, AND HEALTHCARE

 

ICYMI: Here are the FEMINIST TALKS on abortion healthcare, rights, and justice with special guests and the FEMINIST Team!

↓ Click on the images to listen back

We are in this fight together. We are continuing to update this toolkit, check back for more information.

In Community,

💖 The Team @ FEMINIST


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Feminist

FEMINIST is a women-led social-first digital media platform and collective that exists to actualize the intersectional feminist movement through the amplification of a diverse network of change-makers and creators. With a global audience of over 6.5M+, it is the largest social platform serving the multifaceted lives of women, girls and gender expansive people. As the hub for a socially conscious global community by and for purpose-driven makers through media, technology and commerce, FEMINIST seeks to amplify, educate, inform and inspire.

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