Em-URGE-ing Voices
Your urgent thoughts, urging action.
This week marks the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the famous Supreme Court Case that “guaranteed” the right to abortion to American women. But as we discussed just last month, subsequent court cases like Planned Parenthood v Casey seriously compromised the Roe promise, especially for young people. Limited funding and restrictive laws like parental …
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Written by Andrew Jenkins, URGE Field Associate In a few short days we’ll be celebrating a historic moment in the reproductive health and rights movement: the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. As a young person, it can be hard to see what it is we’re actually celebrating though. Despite …
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Jan 17, 2014
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Nick
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Our Folks Blog
As if shutting down reproductive health clinics throughout the country with ridiculous restrictions and TRAP laws, anti-choice activists are making it even more difficult for people to exercise their freedom of choice. This past Wednesday, the US Supreme Courth began the hearings to the McCullen v. Coakley case. The Massachusetts buffer zone law creates a …
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I am a huge fan of “Hello Pronoun Stickers” ever since I saw them featured on the blog “fuckyeahfeminists.com” All I could think of was “finally!” and “I can’t believe these weren’t a thing already.” What are “Hello Pronoun Stickers”? Creator Al describes them as: “A handy sticker that tells the world your name and …
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Sometimes social justice can be exhausting. Trying to convince the general public that issues like abortion, birth control, and sexual violence aren’t only important for women, blogging consistently, attending meetings, organizing protests – a social justice advocate’s work is never over. This work can be emotionally draining and every once in a while, I find …
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Jan 10, 2014
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Nick
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Our Folks Blog
“Feminism: a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche The use of language and the connotation attached to words we use can be quite divisive. The word feminism, in itself, has become a word many men are turned off by. Gender, sexual orientation, and race …
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Over the past few years, the movement for LGBTQ equality has made some tremendous progress throughout the country. With the number of states that allow same-sex marriage nearly doubling in 2013, and the landmark decision of Windsor v. the United States this past summer, it’s hard to believe that the movement is still barreling forward …
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I got into a lot of trouble as a teenager. But this time was different. It was spring of 2008. I was sitting by our desktop, my father was getting a cup of water in the kitchen. I don’t remember exactly what we were talking about but I remember distinctly saying “I don’t like people, …
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So often the conversations around reproductive justice focus solely on what happens to a person and their (sometimes potential) fetus before birth – contraception, abortion care, safe sex, and sex education. Especially as a young person who is in no rush to start a family, what matters most me today is access to the contraception …
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So often the conversations around reproductive justice focus solely on what happens to a person and their (sometimes potential) fetus before birth – contraception, abortion care, safe sex, and sex education. Especially as a young person who is in no rush to start a family, what matters most me today is access to the contraception and abortion care which will enable me to make informed and conscientious choices about my future family life. At age 21, on the cusp of graduating college and moving on to “the real world,” babies weren’t high on my Christmas list and they won’t be for quite awhile.
But that isn’t true for all 21-year-olds and its not true for all people which is why I recognize that it is essential that the reproductive justice movement discuss not only how to give people opportunities for choice around family planning but also how we can best support those who do have children. One method of support is to implement not just 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for all new moms but a complementary policy of parental leave for new parents in general. In The Atlantic’s recently published “Daddy Track: The Case for Paternity Leave” Liza Mundy argues that paternity leave is good for children, fathers, mothers, and society as it re-shapes expected gender roles but also promotes the “neutral leave” policies pursued by countries like Norway, Iceland, and Germany. In these policies, different strategies are used to promote fathers taking time off work to spend with new kids.
For this young reproductive justice advocate the idea of starting a family today is, quite frankly, terrifying. But I know I would feel much more confident and capable were I to be assured that if I went down that road with a partner, both of us would be supported by our community and offered the opportunity to take a moment to bond, establish a new rhythm and settle into new patterns.
One of the reasons I so strongly support reproductive justice is because it gives people the information and tools they need to make choices. And when that choice is to start a family, I want to be the kind of advocate that supports that new and growing family.
