Milwaukee, WI – On Friday, February 16, Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee (RJAM) held a press conference outside of Milwaukee City Hall to call on Wisconsin Assembly Leader Robin Vos to hold a public hearing for the Reproductive Freedom Act.

RJAM Chair Lauren Forbush started off the press conference with a chant, “When reproductive rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” 

“We are outside City Hall this morning to call attention to the Reproductive Freedom Act. The Reproductive Freedom Act would expand access to abortion services statewide,” Forbush said.

Isabella Gargi of RJAM was the first speaker for the press conference. “This legislation has three parts. The first part restores the power of individuals to make their own pregnancy health care decisions by removing medically unnecessary restrictions and bans on abortion care, and removes inappropriate political interference from the doctor-patient relationships. The second part affirms the obligation of health care providers to provide medically accurate information to patients and creates a right for patients to receive medically accurate information from their healthcare provider; and the third part ensures that publicly funded pregnancy counseling services provide all options counseling and services.”

Maya Seshan from Medical Students for Choice used her speaking time to highlight the need for a public hearing for the Reproductive Freedom Act. “Voters across Wisconsin have affirmed the need and right to be able to access abortion care! Restrictive abortion laws affect patients, healthcare providers, and medical workers.”

After voicing her support for the public hearing, she went on to explain how the previous abortion ban has impacted pregnant people with life-threatening complications during pregnancy. One of these conditions is preeclampsia, which causes life-threatening complications to the pregnant person during pregnancy, and if they continue with giving birth they can experience life-threatening conditions postpartum as well. Preeclampsia is only diagnosed at or after 20-weeks of gestation, while the current abortion restrictions in Wisconsin only allow abortion up to 21 weeks.

“Under current Wisconsin law, this condition cannot be treated safely. All healthcare professionals and patients will experience uncertainty until the Reproductive Freedom Act is codified into law,” Seshan said.

The next speaker was Tracey Schwertfeger, a registered nurse and leader with the Saint Francis Hospital chapter of Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5000. She spoke in favor of a public hearing for the Reproductive Freedom Act on behalf of labor activists in the medical field.

Schwertfeger stated, “Abortion access is access to healthcare and access to freedom. The denial of access is an undue burden on people, disproportionately affecting those who are already marginalized and facing socioeconomic challenges. Our duty as healthcare professionals is to advocate for equitable care ensuring that all people can exercise their right to make informed decisions about their reproductive health. By facilitating an open discussion on this matter, we have a democratic process that is for us, by us!”

The last speaker was Blake Jones of RJAM, who read off a statement from the authors of the Reproductive Freedom Act, Senator Kelda Roys and Representative Francesca Hong. The statement went on to reiterate the three components of the bill and emphasized, “A key piece is about ensuring Wisconsinites have access to evidence-based information to make the best decisions for themselves.”

To close out the press conference, Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee called on all Wisconsinites to demand Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to hold a public hearing for the Reproductive Freedom Act. Back in January, the Wisconsin Assembly on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care held a public hearing for a proposed referendum that would enact a five-week abortion ban. These activists believe that if the committee held a public hearing for legislation to take away healthcare access, they must hold a public hearing for legislation to expand healthcare access.

You can help support this demand by participating in their call-in and email-in campaigns to demand the public hearing. Check out @reproductivejusticeaction on Instagram to find out more information about this ongoing campaign and RJAM’s fight to expand abortion access in Wisconsin.

#MilwaukeeWI #ReproductiveJustice #AbortionRights #AbortionAccess #RoevWade #WomensLiberation #ReproductiveFreedomAct

Minneapolis, MN – 30 supporters of reproductive rights rallied at May Day Plaza on January 6 to demand that the Supreme Court uphold the existing status of the drug mifepristone.

On December 13, 2023, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit. If upheld, the lower court ruling would only allow access to the drug via direct prescription from a doctor – preventing online ordering, mail delivery, and pharmacy dispensing of abortion pills. It would also restrict the time to access pills from ten weeks to seven weeks.

“In the state of Minnesota – which is supposedly a sanctuary state for abortion – there are only eight in-person abortion clinics, five of which are located within the Twin Cities. Because of this, folks rely on the accessibility of abortion care through mail delivery,” explained Robynne Johnson, a member of the MN Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC).

Johnson further detailed the additional barriers to abortion imposed by the predatory practices of anti-abortion centers, commonly known as crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), which deepens the crisis of abortion accessibility. Johnson continued, saying that CPS “are funded and operated by right-wing Christian organizations with the intent to guilt folks into not getting an abortion. They are not medically licensed professionals, and they do not adhere to prevailing medical standards. They have been proven to provide biased, misleading and inaccurate sexual and reproductive health information in service of their goals.”

Carolyn Hadke, a member of MNAAC and a menstrual health educator, spoke on the hypocritical goals of pro-life politicians, saying, “If they wanted us to be safe, we’d have paid parental leave, health care, childcare, clean drinking water for everyone. We wouldn’t have over 24 states banning abortion, unaffordable health care, people who are unhoused, a militarized border and our tax dollars funding Israel’s genocide in Palestine.”

The “Defend Mifepristone Protest” was organized by the MN Abortion Action Committee, with endorsements from the MN Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, and several other organizations.

#MinneapolisMN #WomensMovement #ReproductiveJustice #AbortionRights #MNAAC

Minneapolis, MN – On Tuesday, October 16, a group of students and community members rallied on the steps of Northrop Hall at University of Minnesota. They were there to protest U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett at the annual donor-funded Law School public lecture.

The rally was covered by over a dozen local and national news outlets. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at UMN and the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) jointly organized the rally, where at least 250 people mobilized in support of abortion access, affirmative action, and the rights of marginalized peoples.

Justice Barrett is a key figure in the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority and played an instrumental role in striking down Roe v. Wade (1973) in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022). Roe v. Wade was a longstanding precedent for the Supreme Court which protected the constitutional right to an abortion. Since the Dobbs decision, 13 states have banned abortions, and many others imposed client and/or provider restrictions on abortions, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Abortion rights movements in the Twin Cities, especially MNAAC, are currently in the struggle to expand legitimate abortion clinics and shut down the nearly 90 illegitimate “crisis pregnancy centers” across Minnesota.

Barrett also voted with conservative justices to strike down affirmative action in SFFA v. Harvard (2023) and SFFA v. UNC (2023). Student movements in the 1960s and ‘70s called for affirmative action in efforts to increase Black and brown enrollment in U.S. universities. Though legal decisions have debated what affirmative action can look like, affirmative action remains an important tool to increase diversity in higher education. Alongside attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion in states like Florida, Texas and Louisiana, where SDS chapters are currently engaging in struggles against university administrations, the SFFA decisions are certain to make higher education for Black and brown students even less accessible.

Florida members of SDS, the Tampa 5, were arrested on felony charges and are being put on trial for protesting similar attacks on education by Governor Ron DeSantis.

Rally speaker Maggie Moynihan of MNAAC spoke about the contradictions the UMN presents when they invite a Supreme Court justice with a track record of harming women and students of color. “As a white-majority school, the University of Minnesota has an especially important duty to provide its marginalized students with a diverse and inclusive educational experience,” said Moynihan. “Amy Coney Barrett is a threat to all working-class and marginalized people in the United States and the university administrators have invited this threat to spread her hateful ideology to students on this campus. The message this decision sends is clear. The university does not value the safety of the women, people of color, immigrants, or queer people on this campus.”

Speaker Bryce Riesner of SDS reminded the UMN administration that when they invited Barrett to campus, they had invited “a representative of bigotry.” Speaking against the fallacy of “free speech,’”Riesner pointed out that the university has the power to draw the line at hate and intolerance. “I have so many conservative family and friends who have no hatred in their heart for anyone. [Barrett] does not represent them,” said Riesner. “Her fundamentalist beliefs are not conservative. What she practices in her home is her business, but when she takes a seat as a Supreme Court justice, her beliefs affect all of us!”

During the rally, a handful of experienced UMN SDS members disrupted Barrett’s lecture inside Northrop Hall, where over 1500 attendees sat. Video of the interaction posted to the chapter’s @umnsds Instagram account shows protesters chanting “Not the court! Not the state! The people must decide their fate!” and “When affirmative action is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

In their rally speech, Sasmit Rahman recounted the experience of being removed from the lecture, stating that the removal was a cowardly act by Barrett, who apparently refused to acknowledge the protesters. “You’re so comfortable stripping us of our rights,” Rahman said of Barrett, “but too scared to face the consequences of your bigoted decisions! Shame on you Amy, you fucking coward!”

Over a dozen rally speakers represented progressive grassroots organizations across the Twin Cities. These organizations include the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Young Democratic Socialists of America, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, Students for Climate Justice, Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and local trade unions.

Progressive organizations agree that giving Barrett a platform is a disgrace to the UMN and that we must fight back.

Abortion is a human right!

Defend affirmative action and queer rights!

No to Amy Coney Barrett!

#MinneapolisMN #Minneapolis #AmyConeyBarrett #SDS #MNAAC #UMN #ReproductiveJustice #Abortion #SupremeCourt #AffirmativeAction #RoevWade

Milwaukee, WI – On July 11, Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee (RJAM) held a press conference in front of Milwaukee City Hall concerning the recent updates to the lawsuit being pursued by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul against the 1849 state statute 940.04. This lawsuit was launched by Kaul on June 28, 2022, in response to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision and came in the wake of mass protests across the state.

If this lawsuit wins, the next hurdle to abortion access will be from a different state statute, 940.195, which says that anyone who “causes bodily harm to an unborn child by an act done with intent to cause bodily harm to that unborn child, to the woman who is pregnant with that unborn child or another” is guilty of a misdemeanor and several felonies. This was included as a part of Wisconsin's Abortion Prevention and Family Responsibility Act of 1985. The law is vague by design and keeps the door open to criminalize women and others seeking abortions as well as those medical professionals who provide the services.

On July 7, Dane County Judge Diane Schlipper said in a ruling, “There is no such thing as an ‘1849 Abortion Ban’ in Wisconsin. A physician who performs a consensual medical abortion commits a crime only after the fetus or unborn child reaches viability.”

“In short, this doesn’t mean abortion access will be immediately restored,” said Blake Jones, propaganda chair of RJAM, during their July 11 press conference. “However, this ruling will most likely be referred to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to vote on sometime after August 1.”

After the Wisconsin Supreme Court decides on this lawsuit, Wisconsin would revert to the more recent state statute 940.15. “This statute includes banning telehealth consultations, requires parental consent for an abortion, and a mandatory 24-hour waiting period,” said Jones.

During the press conference, RJAM recognized the importance of 940.04 being made obsolete, but also recognized that the fight for abortion access is not over. The organization is calling for abortion access on demand, with no mandatory waiting periods, access to telemedicine consultations, and rural access to abortion services.

“We, along with other grassroots organizations, are committed to fighting for the expansion and protection of reproductive healthcare, to protect the right to bodily autonomy, and to ensure that right can never be threatened again in the state of Wisconsin,” said Jones.

#MilwaukeeWI #AbortionBan #AbortionRights #reproductiveJustice

Milwaukee, WI – At a press conference on the evening of April 30, members of Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee (RJAM) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) addressed local media with a call to action for people in Milwaukee and around the country to mobilize on June 24, the day that marks a year since the overturning of Roe.

Haley McNeil, the logistics and finance chair for RJAM, said that the Dobbs decision, “left the majority of the country without access to legal abortion care due to trigger laws. The people most impacted by this are working-class Black and brown people. Without access to legal abortion and other reproductive health services, marginalized communities are at greater risk of mortality due to complications; where Black women are 3x more likely to die during child labor.”

“Throughout the past ten months, RJA-M has built a movement in Milwaukee County to fight for safe, sustainable communities and reproductive justice by taking it to the streets. We’ve seen that we cannot rely on voting alone, as electeds rarely follow through on their campaign promises. That's why we need to continue to be out there fighting,” McNeil said. “However, we can show up in the streets all we want, but nothing concrete will come if we are not organized in our efforts and direct with our demands.”

McNeil continued, “We're calling for this national day of action in the hopes of building a nationwide grassroots movement to restore national abortion access. The demands of this day of action are: one, reinstate Row v. Wade and codify abortion access; two, federal funding for reproductive health and women's health; and three, public access to contraceptives and menstrual products for all. Additionally, RJAM is calling for the overturning of state statute 940.04.”

RJAM has done a number of things already in their overall fight to win back abortion rights for people in Milwaukee and all across Wisconsin. The first struggle ended in a ballot initiative that asked the residents of Milwaukee County whether they wanted to see the state's abortion ban overturned. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of striking the law from the books, with 76% of voters voting 'Yes'.

In that same election, a new Wisconsin Supreme Court justice was elected, flipping the court from a conservative to a more liberal majority and inspiring hope for legal changes. The electoral result represents the will of the broader state population, as one of the main things incoming Justice Janet Protasiewicz ran on was abortion. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is currently pushing forward a lawsuit that, if successful, would result in the overturning of 940.04 and therefore would legally end the abortion ban in Wisconsin. This result, however, is not guaranteed.

“Whatever the result of the court case, we will continue to be in the streets and fighting for reproductive justice for people in this city and all over Wisconsin,” said Lauren Forbush, a leader with RJAM.

“While it's good that the case headed by AG Kaul is moving forward, we were never hedging all our bets on the outcomes of this bureaucratic process,” said Ryan Hamann, a leader with FRSO. “The fact is that the people and the people alone are the motive force in the making of history.”

RJAM has since moved on to demanding that Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm sign a binding pledge to not prosecute anyone giving or receiving an abortion within his jurisdiction. Chisholm offered his verbal support for such a course of action months ago, but in follow-up meetings and communications with RJAM, he has come up with every excuse to not put it in writing.

Additionally, the organization is fighting for another resolution through the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors that would provide funding for Milwaukee County employees to seek reproductive healthcare outside the state. This comes after a similar resolution was passed in Dane County where Madison, the state's capitol, resides.

As the conditions in Wisconsin begin to shift in favor of the movement for legal abortion, RJAM is committed to the long struggle, not just for abortion but for expanded reproductive healthcare, a broad category that includes things ranging from universal access to contraceptives to the availability of labor and delivery units in all communities and more.

“We’ve seen the effort it took to get Roe established, but Roe is the floor when it comes to the possibilities of what reproductive healthcare can be. We must build a better and more sustainable system for our communities,” said McNeil. “With a nationwide grassroots movement we can continue to fight back and achieve nationwide legal abortion access on demand!”

#MilwaukeeWI #AbortionRights #reproductiveJustice

“These anti-choice politicians are spreading blatant lies about the safety of a medication that has been scientifically proven to be safer than Viagra, birth control, or pregnancy. But we know that it’s not about safety at all; it’s about trying to control people’s bodies,” said Carly Klein of RJAM. “Today we say enough is enough. We want access to abortion, and we want it now!”

Throughout the course of the rally, people chanted slogans like “All power to the people!” and “My body, my choice!” The location of the rally outside the courthouse was chosen by RJAM because District Attorney John Chisholm is the target of their on-going campaign to make Milwaukee an abortion sanctuary.

“76% of Milwaukee County residents made clear their support when they voted ‘Yes’ to having access to safe and legal abortion in this past election. We won’t stop fighting for legal protections for abortion in our county until DA Chisholm signs on the dotted line!” said Klein, referring to the current struggle for the DA to sign on to a pledge to not prosecute people receiving and providing abortions in Milwaukee County.

Other organizations that turned out to support the action included the community powerhouse Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

“The history and continuation of policing pregnant people, abortion providers, and their supporters will be resolved through grassroots actions,” said Lo Cross, one of the co-chairs of the Milwaukee Alliance. “We’re protecting any way that working class people are able to make decisions about their own bodies. The officials of this county need to show us through their actions that they are here to protect the most vulnerable.”

“People are dying at the hands of a few politicians. We will not sit back and watch while our bodily autonomy is stripped away. We know this is another attempt to push forward the reactionary agenda and we will not stand for this,” said Lauren Forbush, a leader with RJAM and a member of FRSO. “We cannot have full reproductive justice without socialism. We will fight for socialism, but we must win everything we can along the way. We will continue showing up and fighting back to win a better world for all of us!”

#MilwaukeeWI #AbortionRights #reproductiveJustice

Milwaukee, WI – Grassroots organization Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee (RJAM) proudly endorsed the Coalition to March on the DNC in 2024 and joined several other groups in Chicago on April 18 for the press conference officially launching the effort. RJAM is now a coalition member of both the Coalition to March on the RNC in 2024 (in Milwaukee) and the Coalition to March on the DNC (in Chicago) the same summer, the first in July and the second in August.

“We want to put on display for the country that Chicago is having a new day, and we want to invite everybody in the movements around the country to come and add their voices together with us,” said Joe Iosbaker, coalition organizer and long-time community and labor activist in Chicago.

The Coalition to March on the DNC includes organizations like the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, and many more. RJAM, and the rest of the coalition, is looking forward to using this opportunity to remind the Democratic Party that their actions speak louder than their words. For too long have the people been lied to through campaign promises and then gaslighted once these promises disappear as their rights continue to be stripped away.

“The crisis in democracy at this point is deeper and broader, involving everything from the continued struggle that we’ve been waging around community control of the police, and meanwhile nothing’s been done about the George Floyd bill in Congress,” said Shasta Jones of the Chicago Alliance, reading a prepared statement from Frank Chapman, Executive Director of the National Alliance.

“With the attack on abortion rights, there has been a great leap backwards in the rights of women; there are also attacks on the LGBTQ community. There has been no progress in Washington on the rights of immigrants. There is also a renewed struggle for the rights of workers to organize and to strike to change the deplorable conditions under which they work,” Jones continued. “This includes the drive for new unionization, both at Starbucks and Amazon. Also, Biden betrayed the railroad workers unions in their demands for safe working conditions.”

Jones went on: “Finally, we have to march against war. What happened to Biden’s Build Back Better legislation? What happened to the great renewal we were supposed to have after the COVID epidemic? It’s been gobbled up by the war in Ukraine, which is a proxy war that our country is waging with Russia. We’ll march against the U.S.-backed occupation of Palestine, against the U.S. military aid to the dictatorship in the Philippines, and to oppose U.S. threats of war with China. All of these issues have matured and gotten deeper, and so we have to address those issues with the People’s Agenda.”

Lauren Forbush, a leader with Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee, commented after the press conference, urging others to follow their lead.

“The coalition is just kicking off and planning is in the early stages, but RJAM is calling on reproductive rights activists throughout the country to show up in the streets of both Milwaukee and Chicago to make sure the Republicans and Democrats hear loud and clear that the movement will not stop until the people have safe and legal abortion access and all other reproductive health services!”

#MilwaukeeWI #InJusticeSystem #AbortionRights #reproductiveJustice #DNC2024

Tampa, FL – On Wednesday, September 14, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society organized a protest as a part of a National Day of Action around reproductive rights. The rally brought out about 30 students to march across campus to show their support for abortion rights. Members from many other student groups gave speeches to show solidarity on this issue.

Diego Falcon, a member of UndocUnited, said that he “saw this coming since the Trump administration” and that “the abuse of women in ICE detention centers facing forced hysterectomies” was a precursor to the loss of bodily autonomy.

Florida’s own abortion ban, House Bill 5, was passed at the beginning of this year. The bill bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and allows no exceptions for rape or incest.

“Despite the passing of HB5 and the overturn of Roe v. Wade we are still out here to demand safe, legal abortion,” said Eithne Silva of Tampa Bay SDS. “We demand that the Florida government repeal HB5. The right to a safe, legal abortion should be available to anyone and the law should reflect that.”

Tampa Bay SDS has a long history protesting against HB5. They mobilized to Florida’s state capitol in response to the bill when it was first presented and again when it was voted on.

“We were out there to remind everyone that we are still fighting,” said Bashak Newman, a member of Tampa Bay SDS.

The marchers chanted, “My body, my choice” and “Repeal HB5”. The protest had support from students on campus, with many expressing solidarity by joining the march.

#TampaFL #students #Florida #AbortionRights #reproductiveJustice