Report from Reproaction on Starting Conversation During Protests — Abortion Conversation Projects
“Abortion Conversation Projects gave us funding that allowed us to print bold, positive, abortion-forward T-shirts that we use to motivate and unite activists as we protest to abortion opponents. We are pleased and grateful for this opportunity.”
–Erin Matson, ReproAction
Reproaction has a deep commitment to direct action, and we strongly believe in its ability to make real, lasting change. Direct action is a meaningful way to build community, spread information, and challenge abortion opponents. If you want to stand up for abortion access and shed light on the ‘pro-life’ hypocrisy, you should protest outside your local fake clinic.
You may remember the fake anti-abortion clinics from when they took center stage during the Supreme Court case, NIFLA against Becerra. ‘Crisis pregnancy centers’ are anti-abortion centers that, despite marketing themselves as true reproductive health centers, exist to prevent women and people from seeking abortion care. There are approximately 2,700 fake clinics in the United States, which outnumber real abortion clinics. Despite the many fake clinics that present themselves as innocuous low-budget operations, fake anti-abortion clinics are often affiliated with larger networks that provide funding and resources.
Fake clinics are notorious for using a variety of scare tactics, including giving people false information about how far along their pregnancy is, lying about what’s involved in an abortion procedure , and shaming people for their sexual history. Unlike abortion clinics, fake clinics are not regulated in most states, and how they use their funds, some is taxpayer moneyis often unknown.
In a narrow 5-4 decisionthe Supreme Court ruled in favor of fake clinics in June 2018. Despite the setback, activists continue to spread the word about fake clinics through public education and direct action.
Activists spread accusations about fake anti-abortion clinics in Virginia and Washington, DC Activists created flyers with information about fake clinics and resources for people seeking abortion care. In Fredericksburg, Virginia, Reproaction teamed up with University of Mary Washington students to organize a protest outside a fake clinic known for preying on students on their campus. Opponents of abortion soon took notice and tried to reach out to a large group of activists outside. To our surprise, people in the neighborhood came out of their houses to talk to the activists, learn more and support our action.
Direct action outside of a fake clinic is a great way to have conversations about abortion and access in your community. It also moved the opposition conflict from the doors of the abortion clinics to their doors. In all our actions, activists used our new ‘pro-abortion, pro-family, pro-justice’ T-shirts designed to attract attention and boldly spread the message of support for abortion and reproductive justice. Because this message encourages conversation, activists have also successfully led conversations with community members about access to reproductive health care. Bringing community resources together in an accessible format, such as a flyer, has helped activists spread the word about where people can access real abortion care and find of unbiased local sources for reproductive health information.
As activists, it is our responsibility to ensure that people seeking abortion care can do so without fear, shame or intimidation. It’s more important than ever that we take action for abortion access in this country and at the same time have conversations in your community.
Ready to learn more and take action?
