Progress is Possible, Not Guaranteed
The title of this post is from the musical Suffs. The song is "Keep Marching." I have it on repeat right now. Looking back at my own assumptions about feminism, I think I had it flipped over for a long time; I assumed progress was guaranteed. It clearly isn’t, but that doesn’t mean that we give up the fight!
So, here we are, where we hoped we would never be again. Of course, over the last nine years, I’ve often said that, but there we were and now here we are (I also just reread Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.)
One thing we have to continue to remind ourselves, and others, is that a large majority of Americans believe in safe, legal access to abortion care. This holds true in every state and for every demographic, including 60% of American Catholics source. We are fighting against a theocratic minority, just a slice of the population, who are using voter suppression, gerrymandering, disinformation, and fear to hold onto power.
No one knows where we go from here, but I’ll take three educated guesses:
Chaos will continue growing. Chaos is their best friend because it keeps everyone off balance and unable to focus on important things. We need to stay focused on the important stuff.
This administration wants nothing to do with abortion. The party line during the campaign is that abortion is now a state’s issue. Perhaps that was just convenient for a man who doesn’t believe in anything other than himself, but I do believe that most activity expanding or contract reproductive rights will take place at the state level for the next few years. This doesn’t mean that they won’t try to restrict access to abortion medication through the FDA, but that the every day experience of people trying to access reproductive support and care will be shaped by what happens at the state and local level.
We need to rethink our political assumptions. We always assumed that they would pay a political price for ripping away a fundamental human right. And although we have had huge success with ballot initiatives because most people believe in bodily autonomy, they still haven’t paid enough of a price for their extremism that they are willing to step back from their most extreme positions (although they are willing to lie about it.) Instead, as you will see below, they are becoming even more extreme every day. We need to focus on the economic as well as the health impacts of restrictions on reproductive health care. And we need to keep telling the horrific stories of what happens when people can’t access care.
What you can do today:
“We are all what we got.” This quote is from the artist Jackie Sumell. Mutual aid is a fancy way of describing community. The term popped up a lot during COVID when neighbors were helping neighbors. It is both what we have most lost this century and what we most need. People helping other people is not only the right thing to do; it is how we were intended to live as tribal beings. We often blame technology for making us distant from one another, and that certainly is a factor, but we have also come to rely on government agencies to do what we used to do for one another.
Now, of course, we certainly cannot rely on the federal government for help and, in many states and counties, the government is not going to show up for people. Instead, we have growing mutual aid networks. If you want to participate in mutual aid networks, you can find one here: Mutual Aid Hub.
Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine: The fight for abortion access at the state level is going to center on telemedicine. New York, Massachusetts, and California have passed “shield laws” indemnifying telehealth providers in their states for providing care across state lines from extradition and prosecution in anti-abortion states. In response, anti-abortion advocates will escalate their tactics. For example, the Texas Attorney General recently filed a lawsuit against a telehealth provider, Margaret Carpenter, in New York: NBC News article. The lawsuit states, “Carpenter’s conduct violates the Texas Health and Safety Code’s prohibition on prescribing abortion-inducing drugs via telemedicine.”
This legal battle is going to be long and complex. States have never politicized healthcare in this way before, making the outcome difficult to predict. However, every abortion telehealth provider is now at risk. That’s why the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine is vital. Their mission is to proactively advance telemedicine abortion in all 50 states by providing clinicians with the legal and technical support needed to operate an interstate telemedicine practice. They say, “We can close the abortion accessibility gap for all patients – regardless of their zip codes.” Their success is critical in this next chapter of the fight. Please share this resource widely and provide any support you can.
FemInEm: If you’ve seen the new TV show The Pitt on Max, the ER doctor (played by Noah Wyle – yes, he’s back with a stethoscope!) casually mentions a teenager returning for mifepristone. This highlights a broader push to make abortion medication accessible through ERs rather than just online or through clinics.
FemInEm is helping to advance gender equity and reproductive healthcare in emergency medicine. Learn more about their work here: FemInEm on Every.org. Please share this information with your friends, and if possible, consider donating to their efforts: Donate to FemInEm.
The road ahead:
The next few years will be tough, distracting, and distressing. We are bound to lose some battles, but not all of them. It’s vital to hold onto the joyful aspects of your life while finding ways to take action.
Despite everything, I remain hopeful that we will find our way to a more just world.