How to be Inclusive at the Rally for Abortion Justice

Across every state in the nation, thousands of people are taking to the streets on Saturday, October 2 for the Rally for Abortion Justice! Amid the countless attacks on abortion from the Missouri Legislature, activists are raising their voices in every corner of our state to protect and expand access to abortion.

We cannot wait to see Missourians’ creativity shine through at this weekend’s Rally for #AbortionJustice. Visuals, poetry, and props are powerful communicators of our messages. And remember a picture is worth a thousand words.

But what we say and how we say it matters. Together, we want to send a clear, unified, defiant, and feminist message across race and place to every corner of this country. We also want to fight disinformation circulating on the internet that can undermine or obscure that message.

Here are some tips to ensure your signs, clothing, and symbols are inclusive and pro-abortion! These tips build on the recommendations from the National Coalition leading the Rallies for Abortion Justice!

Ditch the coat hangers: While we work together to fight back against the attacks on Roe v. Wade at the local and federal level, we do not want to reenforce the anti-abortion movement’s talking points that self-managed abortions are automatically dangerous, scary, and harmful. Medicine has come a long way since 1973, and medication abortion, including self-managed abortion, is safe.

Abortion storyteller and founder of We Testify, Renée Bracy Sherman shares more in this Bustle article: This Is What’s Been Missing From The Conversation Around Abortion Bans

What to do instead: Share information how to get an abortion safely.

• Missourians can text Missouri’s pregnancy options hotline a https://www.rightbyyou.org/
• Learn about safe self-managed medication abortion at PlanCpills.org

Save the red cloak for Halloween: The use of Handmaid’s Tale imagery to characterize the controlling of women’s reproduction has proliferated, primarily by white women across the country, since the show has gained popularity. This message has resonated as people compare the real-life attacks on reproductive rights with the scenarios that play out on TV. However, this narrative also erases the fact that Black women, undocumented women, incarcerated women, poor women, disabled women have always had their reproduction controlled in this country. It’s not some dystopian future or past. This is just a heightened attack. This op-ed from Srishti Bungle explains the context: Opinion: White women, Texas is not your personal ‘Handmaid’s Tale’

What to wear instead: Comfortable shoes and your favorite pro-abortion t-shirt!

Leave the pink pussy hat at home: Pink pussy hats were an understandable and visible response to candidate Trump’s misogynist comments on the infamous Access Hollywood tape, and they resonated with people across the globe. However, people of all gender identities get and need abortions, and many people severely impacted by abortion bans do not have the pink body parts implied by the hats. Our fight for equality includes creating an inclusive environment that allows everyone — especially Black and Indigenous people of color and trans people — to be safe, supported, and heard.

C. Mandler explains more in this Seventeen Magazine article: Please Stop Wearing Those Pussy Hats To Women’s Marches

What to use instead: Make a sign with the hashtag and slogan “#AbortionJustice for All.”