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Our Bodies Our Choices
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25.01.2022 The hypocrisy of supposed pro-lifers not caring about actual human lives.
25.01.2022 We need your help to make accessing abortion care safe! South Australia is currently debating legislation that would finally introduce safe access zones to protect patients and staff from anti-choice picketers BUT there is an amendment on the table that would ALLOW 'SILENT PRAYER'. Our friends at Fair Agenda are gathering stories from people across the country who have experienced 'silent prayer' while accessing health care to show just how harmful it can be.... This is a tactic of intimidation and harassment. No one should have to run the gauntlet to access health care. [ID: a person with a coat slung across their shoulders walking down the street on a sunny day.]
25.01.2022 Join in the conversation with wonderful Gina Rushton! Health consumers, medical professionals, advocates and policymakers are all getting together to talk about the future of abortion care in Australia. This online event is free - just register for tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/future-of-abortioncare... September 28 is International Safe Abortion Day
24.01.2022 We stan an icon. The US Supreme Court is currently hearing a case that will decide if employers are allowed to deny employees free insurance coverage for contraception because not only do anti-choicers not want people to have access to abortion care, they don't even want people to have access to contraception. They are, in fact, forced-birthers. [ID: Notorious RBG.]
24.01.2022 They're asking the FDA to declare the pill used in about 40% of abortions in the US an imminent hazard to public health. [ID: Senator Ted Cruz, a man deeply unqualified to speak on reproductive health, speaking about in a hearing.]
23.01.2022 "Two major barriers to abortion access exist in Australia: its patchwork of laws, and the lack of public provisions in hospitals ... Both are being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic." [Image description: a person holding a small child on their hip / a person in a pink coat, wearing a face mask, looking at their phone.]
21.01.2022 In March the Government introduced Medicare rebates for telehealth, including for early medical abortion. It's the most they've done to improve access since abortion drugs were added to the PBS. Now we need support for abortion telehealth to stay. Add your name to the petition here: https://bit.ly/3gH0J4X [ID: person typing at a laptop, a stethoscope lying on the table next to them.]
20.01.2022 "By not using their power to make a difference for women in childbirth, ultra-conservatives reveal how their interests actually lie elsewhere - in promoting and defending childbirth as "women's work", something that we must do in patriarchal societies, and that we should not "complain" about." That's why we call them anti-choicers or forced-birthers. [ID: a young person in a mask holding up a black and white sign that says 'pro-life first' despite their ideology being the opposite of actually pro-life.]
20.01.2022 Northern Ireland's laws, which previously criminalised abortion care, were changed last year by the UK Parliament after the Northern Ireland Assembly did not meet for three years. Now the NI anti-choicers are back and angry the world moved on without them. [ID: two people in hospital scrubs, their backs to the camera. one person has their arm around the other's shoulders.]
19.01.2022 The decision June Medical Services v. Russo struck down admitting privileges laws in Louisiana as an undue burden, reaffirming precedent set just four years ago when the court struck down almost identical Texas legislation. While an important victory, this decision does not expand access but maintains the status quo. Trump's appointees, Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, voted to uphold the anti-choice law.... [ID: a pro-choice rally outside the SCOTUS, a pink sign reads: protect safe, legal abortion.]
19.01.2022 UPDATE: THE SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED. Thank you so much to everyone who responded! ______________________________________________________________... You know we love data so heres your chance to put on the record just how pro-choice our community really is. Flinders University is conducting a national study into abortion attitudes, beliefs and preferences of all Australians 16 years and older. It seems the Australian Christian Lobby are attempting to skew the results because theyre super salty about being in the minority with their regressive views. These are the kinds of studies that get brought up when reproductive rights are debated so your participation is very important. It only takes a few minutes
19.01.2022 We love to see it. [ID: a person holding a tampon out of its packet.]
18.01.2022 "At least eight American states have restricted abortion as part of directives banning "non-essential" medical procedures. In Texas, all of the state's abortion providers were forced for stop offering services for more than four weeks. It marked the first time a state has banned legal abortion since Roe v. Wade legalized the procedure nearly 50 years ago." [ID: a person dressed in red robes from the Handmaid's Tale with a sign that says 'the uterus is not state property'.]
18.01.2022 FROM ENGLAND: Following the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, five clinics across England have been targeted by anti-choice protests. Abortion care clinics in England still don't have safe access zones but a Labour MP has introduced a bill to change that. [ID: White boomers on picnic chairs with anti-choice signs who really don't get the irony of claiming to be pro-life while endangering the lives of others.]
18.01.2022 A strike is under way in Poland by women opposed to a court ruling that introduced a near-total ban on abortion in the mainly Catholic country. SOLIDARITY There are just over 1,000 legal abortions every year in Poland, but the real number of abortions could be between 80,000 and 120,000.... [ID: people protesting in Warsaw for the seventh day straight, wearing mass and holding up signs.]
18.01.2022 Amy Coney Barrett has been confirmed to the US Supreme Court, cementing a 6-3 majority. We don't really have the words to express the mix of rage and heartbreak at yet another stolen judicial appointment that is set to radically rollback the rights of many. [ID: Illegitimate SCOTUS appointee Amy Coney Barrett.]
17.01.2022 The Liberal National party senator Gerard Rennick and the Brisbane Broncos chairman, Karl Morris, are among the financial backers of a prominent anti-abortion disinformation campaign targeting marginal seats ahead of the Queensland election. As Gina Rushton said, Cherish Life have been behind the most relentless and extreme misinformation campaigns (unsolicited robocalls, medically inaccurate flyers, misleading billboards ) on both abortion decriminalisation bills in QLD.... Reminder: The Queensland LNP have promised to create additional restrictions around abortion access if they win the upcoming state election. [ID: LNP senator Gerard Rennick sitting in the Australian Senate, just thinking about ways to make people's lives harder on an issue that will never personally affect him.]
16.01.2022 It's been almost a year since NSW decriminalised abortion but that has meant almost nothing for improving access. Most GPs aren't trained in or prescribing medical abortions, particularly affecting regional people, and surgical abortion services are still concentrated in major metro area, forcing many to travel. This is a serious failing on the part of the NSW Government who are content to leave service provision to the private sector, hurting those who can least afford it.... [ID: a backlit person's face in profile.]
16.01.2022 Abortion may be disappearing from criminal codes across Australia, but a lack of access to providers means the fight is far from over. PS. We're so glad to see the wonderful Gina Rushton back in a by-line. [ID: CBC co-founder Beryl Holmes on the steps of Queensland Parliament, people standing next to her hold purple umbrellas.]
15.01.2022 Telehealth abortion care is not permitted under South Australias 50 year old abortion laws but the COVID-19 Emergency Response 2020 Act allows various temporary modifications of the states laws during the pandemic. The state's police commissioner has had weeks to make a small tweak so pregnant people don't need to travel to a hospital during a pandemic to take RU486. He hasn't. [ID: a person wearing a mask on the phone / a white pill in the palm of a hand.]
14.01.2022 Abortion care is for anyone who needs it.
13.01.2022 Abortion care is ALWAYS essential. [ID: the UN emblem as a metal wall feature.]
13.01.2022 We are better off because of the work of Buzzfeed Australia. Gina Rushtons incredible reporting on reproductive rights and health, considerately telling important stories that might not otherwise be heard, made a real difference.
11.01.2022 A year ago today, more than 50 women in NSW put their hands up and said #arrestus because they'd gotten abortions while it was still a crime in NSW. They didn't want anyone else to have to do the same. One of the most incredible and powerful campaigns we've seen.
11.01.2022 One of the things getting us through 2020 is seeing the teens volunteering with Charlotte for Choice in the US on TikTok. They face down hate from anti-choice protestors with dance moves, incredible comebacks and beautiful solidarity. We needed to share this one with you. When one of the anti-choicers started sermonising, Alex started one of her own - reading out Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's WAP lyrics.... This is art.
10.01.2022 You all know the case of Roe v Wade but you may not know that the woman at the centre of that case later became vocal in the anti-choice movement. Now her deathbed confession has revealed it was all an act. For years she was paid by the anti-choice Christian right and fed scripts to read. [ID: Norma McCorvey, smiling has she wears a head scarf and oxygen tubes.]
10.01.2022 "Reyes founded the West Alabama Clinic Defenders, a volunteer clinic escort organization, in 2015 while she was a student at the University of Alabama. She donned the trademark rainbow vests indicative of the reproductive rights movement and guided patients past graphic signs made by anti-abortion rights protestors to ensure they made it safely in and out of the clinic. Now, she runs the same clinic." [ID: a person sitting on a green couch, with a colourful wall behind them, looks off camera.]
10.01.2022 In the words of Mariah Carey, why you so obsessed with me? Queensland LNP have said that if they win the state election in October, they won't seek to criminalise abortion (gee thanks) but they WILL try to add additional restrictions. Abortion is health care and any attempt to restrict access, including forcing people in potentially traumatic mandatory 'counselling' is playing with people's health and lives.... [ID: a colourful pro-choice rally in the rain with people holding signs and umbrellas.]
09.01.2022 "The United States has joined Egypt, Uganda, Brazil, Indonesia, and Hungary to co-sponsor an international declaration against the United Nation's universal right to abortion." This should really come as no surprise since one of Trump's first acts in office was to reinstate and expand the Global Gag Rule. His administration has since consistently undermined access to abortion care at the UN and in foreign policy. [ID: US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, speaking at a lectern flanked by flags. This dude is hella anti-choice.]
09.01.2022 While anti-choice politicians in the US were shuttering abortion clinics, taking away essential healthcare in the middle of a pandemic, fake womens health centers were staying openevening profiting from CODI-19 relief. Hypocritical doesnt even begin to cover it. Via NARAL Pro-Choice America... [ID: black and white photo of Trump speaking on a big screen at a March for Life rally.]
09.01.2022 "Our proposal removes abortion entirely from the criminal law, a move that would bring us in line with all other Australian states and territories." South Australia once led the way on abortion law reform in 1969, though now lags behind. A bill to decriminalise abortion was introduced yesterday that would see it catch up. [ID: a photo of South Australian Attorney-General Vickie Chapman.]
08.01.2022 SA is (finally) debating safe access zone legislation but there's an amendment on the table that would allow harmful and intimidating 'silent prayer'. Below are actions you can take from Fair Agenda People in SA, email your MPs. You can also share your story if you've experienced picketers while accessing repro health care.
07.01.2022 Remember when he called NSW's abortion bill 'death on demand'? Yeah, we do. [ID: Tony Abbott speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank because apparently some people are still willing to give him a platform.]
06.01.2022 Wagga has few GPs able to prescribe a medical abortion. When Anne* found out she was pregnant, her doctor was unable or unwilling to provide her with information on where to get one near where she lived so she was forced travelled to Canberra, using the private health system. Pregnant people from NSW still travel over the border to access abortion care. The border closure has made that difficult, creating extra hoops to jump through for essential and time-critical health care.... With pre-existing and new barriers to access, you really have to question why the Federal Government has rolled back access to telehealth services in the middle of a pandemic. [ID: The silhouette of a person inside, their front yard visible through the window.]
05.01.2022 'I once observed a midwife ask a young Aboriginal mother who was pre-labouring on the other side of the desk, Where are your other kids? And without checking the womans file, another midwife quipped, Theyre probably in child services.' [ID: Wiradjuri woman and First Nations midwife, Angela Coe, with her daughter.]
05.01.2022 The pandemic has reinforced existing barriers for rural and regional people when it comes to termination services. A lack of public services, pregnant people and doctors having their movements restricted, loss of employment, increased family and domestic violence including reproductive coercion and telehealth not being available are all contributing. [ID: two side-by-side images, first of a plane's wing while flying, second of a health professional in blue scrubs seated at a table.]
04.01.2022 It's been seven years since abortion drug RU486 was added to the PBS. This should have lowered the price from up to $800 to around $12 for healthcare card holders but the reality is a pregnant person in far-north Queensland can still pay up to $500 to take two pills while one in Adelaide will pay nothing. Our fave Gina Ruston looks at decades of failed political leadership to improve abortion access in Australia, and what the pandemic has taught us about improving it.... [ID: a person looking at information on RU486 (mifepristone) on their phone.]
03.01.2022 FROM THE US: For more than four decades, the Hyde Amendment has banned access to abortion for low-income people receiving healthcare through Medicaid. It disproportionately harms people of colour, perpetuating cycles of poverty and economic inequality. These are the women fighting to repeal it.... [ID: Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley.]
03.01.2022 Marie Stopes clinicians have had to charter private planes to deliver surgical abortion services in central and north Queensland, with domestic travel seriously restricted. "Even in those areas, where we do provide clinics in central Queensland and the north of Queensland, women already quite often will have to travel quite a fair distance to get to the clinics, so this obviously is adding an extra degree of anxiety." [ID: a person outside in an Akubra hat and flanno shirt.]
01.01.2022 Live in South Australia? This one's for you. Next Wednesday, SA MPs are due to debate safe access zones legislation that would finally protect patients and staff from harassment at abortion care clinics. Make sure they hear your support by emailing them today ... [ID: a person walking down a public footpath on a sunny day.]
