Word to the Wise: The Halls of Power
From the days of slavery to the present, the fight for reproductive justice has required Black/African- American women's courage and stamina. Their struggle for bodily autonomy in America first required a fight for their value as human beings. Black women fought for...
Policy Spotlight: The Next Hundred Days
As the Inauguration approaches, it’s a good moment to focus on some of the executive actions a Biden-Harris administration can take to improve access to family planning services and abortion care in the wake of a federal administration has consistently expanded and...
Word to the Wise: Hope, The Antidote to Fear
With the uncertainties about our country's future, it is easy to fall into a quagmire of fear and anxiety. Yet women who have experienced decades in this world have one of the best weapons against those fears: hope. Where does that come from? For some, it has been the...
Happy Holidays from GRR!
2020 will forever be known as the year that changed us all. While we're very excited to close the chapter on 2020 and head into 2021, we want to thank you for making this year a little less lonely and helping us all to feel a bit more connected. No matter where you...
Word to the Wise: When the World Seems Dark
Every day now we hear new numbers about the pandemic: rising numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. As the days get shorter, the nights longer, a sense of uncertainty grows within us. Some of us may be keeping vigil at home, waiting for news of a loved one...
The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion
Reviewed by Sheila Spear MidCoast GRR! Next time you hear someone claim that abortion restrictions will make women safer, reach for this book. One of the politicians who has pursued legislation to restrict access to abortion is Ohio’s Jim Buchy. When asked why...
Word to the Wise: Resilience
We testified at legislative hearings, wrote letters to the editor, and attended many demonstrations. We called, emailed, and met with our legislators. We objected to a hastily passed appointment of a conservative justice to the Supreme Court. We have fought this...
Welcome Cait Vaughan: GRR!’s National Grassroots Organizer
After the most recent Trump appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, there is no doubt that the right to privacy and bodily autonomy will be decided state-by-state. The writing was on the wall months ago and we knew it was time to dream big. After reviewing more than...
Word to the Wise: We Remember
He stood there; shoulders bent, head down. He told his professor,“I’m sorry, Dr. Kahrl, my term paper will be late. My girlfriend bled to death in our bed on Saturday night.” The year was 1972, a year before the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade when abortion became...
Choice Words: Writers on Abortion Edited by Annie Finch
A landmark literary anthology of poems, stories, and essays, Choice Words collects essential voices that renew our courage in the struggle to defend reproductive rights. Twenty years in the making, the book spans continents and centuries. It is a book I...
Spotlight: Mothers of the Earth-The Voices of Indigenous Women
Indigenous women represent one of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations in the world. For centuries, Indigenous women have been subjected to relentless discrimination and different types of violence based on gender, indigeneity, and class. They are deprived...
Word to the Wise: The Fight for the Right to Vote
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote. The actual fight began a century before the 19th Amendment was ratified. A century after ratification, in August 2020, the battle for safe...
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction
Expanding our vision and our alliances, a review of Reproductive Justice: An Introduction Reviewed by Sheila SpearAugust 2020 Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger: Reproductive Justice: An Introduction, University of California Press, Oakland, California...
It’s Voting Tuesday: Small Actions Count!
Most of us want to see big changes in our country. But that's not happening if none of us change anything about how we go about living our lives. Changing our nation isn't a one-person show! Together, though, we can move mountains! This Tuesday, pick one small thing...
Word to the Wise: When can we fully celebrate Independence Day?
That first cry, that first breath taken independently, is a critical moment for every infant leaving the womb, which gave shelter and nourishment for nine months. That first step without support, followed by more steps by the toddler, is another marker point of...
Word to the Wise: The Changing Roles of Fathers
There he was, kneeling on the floor, with a baby wipe in his hand, changing his grandchild’s diaper. For a man of his generation, he clearly had an unusual attitude toward caring for young children. Many of us GRR!s started our families in the 1950s and 1960s. Back...
It’s Voting Tuesday: COVID-19 State Primaries Schedule
COVID-19 State Election Alerts Due to Covid-19 many states rescheduled their primaries. Do you know where and when your state primary is taking place? Find out here. Then, please share it with your friends! We are stronger together!
It’s Voting Tuesday: Racial Justice is Reproductive Justice
Vote Your Values: Freedom from Racial ViolenceThe reproductive justice framework holds three tenets at its core. Every woman has the human right to:1.Decide if and when she will have a baby and the conditions under which she will give birth,2. Decide if...
Word to the Wise: “To become a mother or not to become a mother…”
In honoring mothers this month, let us also honor the complexity of being a mother. “To become a mother or not to become a mother…” That is a question for half of the world’s population. This is an existential question, not a political one. A question that always...
It’s Voting Tuesday: Ask Your Candidates
Voting for Reproductive Justice "Voters, no matter their gender, benefit when women in society do well. They should support candidates who back efforts to ensure women get the health care they need and oppose measures to limit treatment and access to contraception and...
