MERJ Newsletter 5/8/2024
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch in a “This is what a feminist looks like” T-shirt, as photographed for Elle UK (10/30/2014).
MERJ Presents: “A Conversation with Elevated Access”
Sunday, June 16, 2024 // 1:00 - 2:15 pm Eastern // Zoom
A reproductive justice conversation with the Executive Director of Elevated Access! Join us for a discussion focused on reproductive justice, gender-affirming care, and access to both. Come away with a dose of inspiration, and take away action steps for all people concerned about reproductive justice today.
A link to see more information and register will be live here soon!
Free of charge! In lieu of a paid ticket for this event, consider making a donation to an organization working for reproductive justice in your area.
💵 Amazing Organization to Support Today — by moving money, we can make an immediate difference!
The Afiya Center
“We act to ignite the communal voices of Black womxn.”
From their website: “TAC is unique in that it is the only Reproductive Justice (RJ) organization in North Texas founded and directed by Black womxn. At TAC we are transforming the lives, health, and overall wellbeing of Black womxn and girls by providing refuge, education, and resources; we act to ignite the communal voices of Black womxn resulting in our full achievement of reproductive freedom.”
Please join us in supporting the work of this inspiring organization!
📖 10-Minute Power Read, from Slate.com:
“The Anti-Abortion Endgame That Erin Hawley Admitted to the Supreme Court”
Written by DAHLIA LITHWICK and MARK JOSEPH STERN. Published March 27, 2024.
Excerpt: “This is the ballgame: weaponize subjective religious beliefs against secular society to degrade the quality of care for everyone. If you can’t persuade Americans to adopt hardcore evangelical views, exploit the legal system to coerce them into it anyway.”
🔊 Podcast Power Listen (50 minutes):
“Abortion, With Love,” hosted by Camila Ochoa Mendoza, season 1, episode 9: “What do Men have to do with Abortion?”, with guest Joe Strong (he/him), 2/2/2021
“What do men have to do with abortion? How does societal expectations of masculinity impact abortion stigma? Why are men so silent when it comes to talking about abortion? On this episode, Joe Strong will be helping us start answering these questions.
Joe Strong (he/him) is a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics, where he is studying the relationships between men, masculinities, emergency contraception and abortion-related care in Ghana. He'll also talk to us about the Abortion Book Club that he co-hosts with Dr. Rishita Nandagiri!”
📚 MERJ Book Club!
If you’re interested in joining the MERJ Leadership Team in reading and discussing this book, email us at action@endthepatriarchy.org and we’ll be happy to invite you to our book discussions!
Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion, by Gabrielle Blair
Published in 2022; notes below from Bookshop.org
In Ejaculate Responsibly, Gabrielle Blair offers a provocative reframing of the abortion issue in post-Roe America.
In a series of 28 brief arguments, Blair deftly makes the case for moving the abortion debate away from controlling and legislating women's bodies and instead directs the focus on men's lack of accountability in preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Highly readable, accessible, funny, and unflinching, Blair builds her argument by walking readers through the basics of fertility (men are 50 times more fertile than women), the unfair burden placed on women when it comes to preventing pregnancy (90% of the birth control market is for women), the wrongheaded stigmas around birth control for men (condoms make sex less pleasurable, vasectomies are scary and emasculating), and the counterintuitive reality that men, who are fertile 100% of the time, take little to no responsibility for preventing pregnancy.
The result is a compelling and convincing case for placing the responsibility--and burden--of preventing unwanted pregnancies away from women and onto men.
Help and Resources to Share with Anyone Needing an Abortion: (from ifwhenhow.org)
Find a local clinic by using the National Abortion Federation map.
If you have questions about your legal rights and self-managed abortion, the Repro Legal Helpline is a free, confidential source for legal advice and information. Visit ReproLegalHelpline.org or call 844-868-2812.
If you are under 18 and need information about your rights to an abortion, you can message or call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812. You can also read more about your rights on our Judicial Bypass Wiki.
If you have been arrested, contacted by the police, or fear you may be arrested for a self-managed abortion, our Repro Legal Helpline can provide immediate legal advice and support, and our Repro Legal Defense Fund can help with bail and legal fees. You can call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812, and for help with bail and other fees, visit ReproLegalDefenseFund.org.
Medically-reviewed, step-by-step directions for how to self-administer a medication abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol can be found on the Hey Jane website.
