Our Newest Grant Partners Announced
Abortion Conversation Projects is a volunteer-led group that funds small grassroots projects that challenge the stigma of abortion. “With 62 funded projects and many other projects offering advice and resources, ACP continues to look at the ‘how’ of changing attitudes,” said Peg Johnston, ACP co-chair. Our four most recent grant partners offer four unique approaches to community-based social change.”
The Louisiana Abortion Stories Project archives the stories of women who have had abortions, collected by the Louisiana Abortion Fund. Good storytelling is an important strategy in addressing stigma and the group will access a local radio show to share stories. “Part of how stigma works is by internalizing negative thoughts and telling your story breaks through the silence and shame,” commented Terry Sallas Merritt, co-chair of ACP.
The Sister Network in Sweden focuses its efforts on Polish doctors and providers whose prejudices against abortion, even for fetal anomalies, cause women to seek services in other countries and sometimes less effective methods available on the internet. “Fighting Reproductive Stigma among Polish Healthcare Providers” will expose the medical community in Poland, where abortion is legal but not accessible, to a more supportive, non-judgmental patient-centered model.
“Fixing Our Troops: Making Reproaction Visible in Actions” has a simple strategy: brightly colored t-shirts to brand Reproaction in its innovative demonstrations. “T-shirts are a wonderful conversation starter,” Merritt comments.
Lena Hann has spent years exploring how and whether clinics show fetal tissue to their patients. “ACP has taken an interest in this topic, and Lena has advanced people’s comfort levels in conversations about fetal tissue. Facing the reality of abortion in an open and honest way is a powerful way to challenge stigma,” explains Johnston.ACP is funding the printing and distribution of Hann’s “Fetal Tissue Viewing Guide” for clinic staff.
These four new Grant Partners bring the total number of ACP-funded projects to sixty-two. This cycle yielded nearly $7000; ACP raises funds each year to pay for grants and seed costs. Started in 2012, ACP’s seed grant program recently supported the distribution of Shout Your Abortion’s coffee table book of stories and photos and brings the training of Southern Justice Birth Doulas to black, brown, and other marginalized groups in the South Florida.
