Happy Free the Pill Day!

Today is Free the Pill Day! (actually it was yesterday, took me a while to get this newsletter out, sorry!) It is a day to celebrate theUS Food and Drug Administration approving the very first birth control pill in 1960. And THIS YEAR, it also marks the beginning of the agency's two-day advisory committee meeting to review the first-ever application for an over-the-counter birth control pill in the country! Hot off the presses right now are reports that the FDA is leaning towards over-the-counter birth control pills here for the first time! Here’s hoping the FDA continues landing on the right side of history.

We have momentum on a lot of fronts and in a lot of places like never have before. For instance:

1.     Nebraska legislators blocked an abortion ban.

2.     Women legislators across the aisle in South Carolina are fighting for reproductive justice. This is why it is so important to elect more women everywhere!)

3.     Ballot initiative to get choice on the ballot is announced in Florida. A coalition of organizations announced this week an effort to get abortion rights on the ballot in Florida in 2024. We have seen cowardly legislators and governors crawl into backrooms in the dead of night to pass abortion restrictions. This is to appease a tiny slice of the electorate in ways elected officials know are deeply unpopular with their constituent’s writ large. This is not sustainable in a democracy, even one as deeply flawed right now as ours. Getting choice on the ballot is a key strategy for legalizing abortion rights everywhere.

Here are a few things we can do today to support reproductive freedom and justice:

1.     Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine Access (ACT Access). Support this brand-new organization helping states adopt telemedicine shield laws to allow for reproductive health care across state lines. I know the folks who started this group, they have been in the field for a while, know how to fight hard for repro rights, and are honing in an incredibly important area to expand reproductive rights.

2.     Tell Google to stop tracking us! Accountable Tech, a trusted advocate in the tech for good space, is running a campaign to get Google to stop storing users’ location data that can be used by right-wing states to prosecute people for abortions, or for aiding in abortions.  

3.     Support Heather Boyd in Pennsylvania. Next Tuesday, another special election is happening in PA to maintain the one person House majority for the Dems. Remind anyone living in Delaware County, PA to vote for Heather Boyd!

Keep fighting everyone!