I’m So F#$%king Mad.
Except When I’m So F#$%king Sad.
We are all going through cycles of grief, anger, disbelief, and shock. Pay attention to how you’re feeling and take care of yourself. I hope you are not living inside a pint of Haagan-Dazs like I am (don’t look inside my recycling bin!) Here are 22 ways to calm yourself down.
However, I have made a pledge to myself that I will try very hard to do two things: 1) not to get mean, and 2) not demonize other people. I have no idea what other people are feeling and why they are making the choices they are making. I can just offer an alternative way of looking at the world, and open up lots of doors to let anyone who wants to join come in.
A Few Thoughts on Where We Are Right Now:
Pills Will Always Be Available
We are looking at a bleak future, with access to mifepristone increasingly cut off by states, courts, and the federal government. However, a growing network of organizations here and abroad is dedicated to continuing to mail pills to anyone, anywhere.
Commercial sites like Home Abortion RX will continue to mail pills. You can search any state on Plan C and find ways to access abortion medication.
AidAccess has the ability to mail pills from abroad. There will be providers in Mexico and Canada and other countries that will do the same.
The antis will play a game of whack-a-mole trying to stop access, but it won’t work. We live in a world where information and pills will continue to flow. This doesn’t mean it will always be easy or safe, but access will never be completely cut off.
Burn It Down, Bring in Wikler
My first job out of graduate school was sitting in the basement of the DNC writing fundraising appeals. All the copy was some version of: “The sky is falling, the Republicans are going to cut your [insert: Social Security, Medicare, benefits, jobs] unless you send us $25.”
One mailing included an “official” DNC membership card and asked for an annual contribution. We knew it was gimmicky, just a ploy to get donations. But thousands of people believed it. Every week, we got calls from Democrats asking when their new card was coming or how to get a replacement for a lost card.
I remember those calls because they reflected how important it was for people to feel like they “belonged” to the Democratic Party.
But I don’t think many of us feel that way about the party anymore. Has anyone seen Jamie Harrison in the last four years? Does the “party” have a presence in your local community? Do the people whose doors were recently knocked on by strangers feel connected to the party?
The answer is “no” to all of these questions.
The next step for the Democratic Party is to select a new chair. Lots of hats will be thrown into the ring, most belonging to fundraisers—people trained in the rinse-and-repeat model of endless appeals and state-of-the-art data centers. They’ll raise big bucks from PACs, corporations, and Hollywood stars but won’t address the deeper issues.
If ever there was an urgent time to change the way we do political party organizing it is right now! Moving forward, the party’s focus must shift to relationship building—down to the neighborhood and block level. Democrats need to know us, see us, and experience us caring about them. We need to be part of their everyday lives. Maybe they even need a card to carry around in their wallets that symbolizes their sense of belonging.
Ben Wikler the current chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, understands this. He is rumored to be running for the national chair position. I will be supporting him for chair of the national party. We need to be loud in our support of him to overcome the insider power brokers primarily concerned with maintaining their proximity to power. I’ll share more specific ways to support Wikler soon.
Three Things You Can Do Today:
Share the website: You Always Have Options
Visit youalwayshaveoptions.com. Plan C, Shout Your Abortion, Charley the chat bot, and I Need An Abortion have collaborated to create the most up-to-date, comprehensive resources for accessing abortion care in any state. Please share this vital resource!You can train yourself on what is legal and resources that are available through IfWhenHow.
Volunteer
Help provide information and support to people seeking abortion care. Here are two places you can volunteer:Ensure Your State is Stockpiling Abortion Medication
Several states like Washington and Oregon have been stockpiling mifepristone since Dobbs. Make sure your state is doing the same.