This Speakout Fights Abortion Stigma

On March 21, over 100 people will be sharing their own personal stories of abortion during the 1 in 3 Campaign's "Stories from the Resistance" speakout. The event aims to remove the negative stereotypes society layers on top of abortions and those who seek them; additionally, it hopes to push back against our current administration, which continues to stigmatize people who exercise their right to choose. We shouldn't have to keep saying this, but abortion is legal — and neither it nor those who seek or perform it should be treated as if it's criminal.

The 1 in 3 Campaign is a grassroots movement that gives a voice to people who have long been silenced. As they put it on their main website, by sharing our stories, we can "build a culture of compassion, empathy, and support for access to basic health care." Debra Hauser, the president of the 1 in 3 Campaign's parent organization, Advocates for Youth, shared her thoughts in a press release: "Too often the political has overpowered the personal in the fight for abortion access, and now more than ever we cannot afford to remain silent and let stigma invade the conversation around a procedure that one in three women will have in her lifetime."

These rights to health care don't discriminate. They don't recognize age, race, or color. People are affected by it all across the globe.

The argument in favor of abortion rights hasn't changed: It's not to remove the sensitivity of the issue, but rather to say as the only rightful owner of their body, the decision should be left entirely up to each individual whether or not they have a child. In other words, it's demanding the right to control our bodies and our fates — a right so naturally afforded to cisgender men that we don't even question it. For anyone else, the right to bodily autonomy is so rare as to seem like a luxury.

For the third year, the campaign will host the Speakout, inviting activists from other movements that are also feeling unsafe in our current cultural climate — including members of the LGBTQA+ community and Muslim rights groups. The overarching fight here is one against the stripping of our basic human rights — something of which many diverse people are frightened right now.

Additionally, there will be a Lobby Day on Capitol Hill, where these storytellers will visit members of congress to further make their voices heard.

The 1 in 3 Campaign speakout will take place on Tuesday, March 21 at 12:00 p.m. EST and will be livestreamed from their website.