In honor of Pride month and the uprising for Black lives, we want to direct your attention to the intersection of some crucial history and ongoing activism.

This Monday, at the Massachusetts State House, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary will begin hearing testimony on the ROE Act.

The ROE Act expands and protects equitable access to abortion care in Massachusetts, a critical step as reproductive health care is under sustained and devastating attack across the country.

The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. in Gardner Auditorium at the State House and could continue into the evening. The ROE Act Coalition, including NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, ACLU Massachusetts and the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, is asking supporters to show up in full force for the duration of the hearing.

If you can attend, please RSVP here.

If you cannot attend, please contact your State Representatives and State Senators to insist that they support the ROE Act.

Abortion care is health care. And it’s not fully accessible, even in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Citizens for Life held a fundraising ‘March for Life’ at the Frog Pond on Boston Common on Sunday, June 2nd—so we did too!

We resisted in solidarity with those who will be most directly affected by the recent abortion bans in Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri, particularly women of color, non-binary people of color, and trans men of color, as well as those who are poor and working class. These bans are part of a long and ongoing history of criminalizing and coercing the bodies of Black, Brown, and poor women and gender non-conforming people.

We also know that those behind these attacks often refuse to recognize the multiplicity of gender identities that exist in our communities, while actively working to harm and restrict the autonomy of transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. We will not stop fighting until everyone is free.

Here’s what we saw last weekend:

• Shame and judgment around bodily autonomy and women’s sexuality
• Crass insults to the memory of Dr. Tiller
• Myths and deceptions about abortion
• Lies about the ROE Act
• The warping of feminist terminology, such as “abortion is a tool of the patriarchy” or “feminists for life.”

But we also noted:

• A diverse, inclusive coalition of pro-choice activists and supporters
• The power and joy of showing up and raising our voices to support abortion access and fight stigma

In response, we’re aiming to match their anti-abortion fundraising with our own, to say loud and clear that all women, trans men, and non-binary & gender non-conforming people have the unconditional right of self-determination over their own bodies.

Donate $8 or more to the Jane Fund today to help us work towards a world where reproductive justice is a reality—a world where all people who can get pregnant have the right to have or not have children under the conditions that they choose and to raise the children they do have in safe and healthy communities. We want to show this reactionary group that they do not outnumber or overpower us.

Read more about the event in the Boston Globe. 

In the days surrounding Tax Day (Wednesday, April 17 in Massachusetts), we encourage our supporters to donate their tax return, or part of it, to abortion funds via a Trivia-Thon donation .

SIGN ME UP FOR TRIVIA!

Why? This action is a way to protest the fact that abortion care is currently barred from receiving taxpayer dollars . We want taxpayer dollars to go to funding abortion coverage because it’s a part of comprehensive healthcare and because it is a necessary social good.

Denying abortion coverage is a tax on people with low incomes . EVERYONE should have health insurance coverage, no matter how they get their insurance.

We’re grateful for a generous dollar for dollar match through April 15 to support the Jane Fund’s stance: We want our tax dollars to fund abortion.

To close the gap between our current total and our goal of $10,000, we’re offering a Jane Fund t-shirt to anyone who gives $100 or more during this stretch.

Hello, friends!

This Saturday, Worcester NOW and Planned Parenthood are phone banking in support of the ROE Act. Do you have a bit of time to help?

This is in direct response to the recent Gag Rule and opposition mobilization on Beacon Hill on March 20th. The group will be reaching out to abortion access supporters and educating them about the ROE Act, which will expand abortion access here in Massachusetts.

Saturday, March 16th, 1-4pm
UU Church at 90 Holden Street, Worcester
If you’d like to participate, please email [email protected] directly.

You may already be familiar with the W.I.S.H. Taskforce, a network of community members, leaders, service providers, youth workers, and more working toward improved educational, economic, and social outcomes for Worcester youth by making a positive impact on adolescent sexual health.

For three years, W.I.S.H. has worked to increase awareness and capacity for sexual health in the City of Worcester, and the implementation of a comprehensive, evidence-based, and inclusive sex education curriculum in the Worcester Public Schools is a critical component of this work. Just months ago, it seemed they were closer than ever to achieving this goal, but today, much of this work is in jeopardy.

In a disappointing turn of events, the Worcester School Committee has announced plans to vote this Thursday, February 7th on an abstinence-based sex education program known as the “Michigan Model.” It is dangerously inadequate.

The Michigan Model will move Worcester in the wrong direction. The program entirely excludes lessons about affirmative consent, how to prevent pregnancy, and LGBTQ youth. Worcester’s young people deserve better. We believe incomplete, shame-based sex education has no place in Worcester Public Schools.

Fill out this form to sign a public letter to demand the Mayor and School Committee vote NO on the Michigan Model. You can also sign up to submit testimony for the School Committee meeting and other ways to take action , such as sharing the open letter with the people in your networks.

After you fill out the form, contact the Mayor and key votes on the School Committee and ask that they vote NO:

Mayor Petty: 508-799-1153, [email protected]
Molly McCullough: 774-502-8731, [email protected]
Dianna Biancheria: 508-753-3440, [email protected]

We only have a matter of days to make our case. Thank you for taking action to stop the Michigan Model.