There are just four days left until the election.
On that day, Americans will decide whether Black and Brown women continue to die from abortion bans. Currently, 14 states have enacted near total abortion bans. Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida have banned abortion past six weeks of pregnancy.
Read more: 2 Years After Roe, Abortion Access a Patchwork for Black Women
But in a new campaign launched Oct. 28, four Black-led organizations are joining forces to start conversations and fight for Black people’s right to an abortion. The ad campaign will run through the end of November across social media platforms, streaming services, local entertainment spaces, and will be on billboards until the first week of December. Â
With abortion care at stake, these Black feminists are centering Black women in four key states: Colorado, Georgia, Nebraska, and Florida. The latter three have some level of abortion bans that continues to disproportionately impact Black women.
A May report, produced jointly by the National Partnership for Women & Families and In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, paints an alarming picture of how severely abortion restrictions have affected Black women.
According to the report, 57% of Black women ages 15 to 49 live in the 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion. And more than roughly six in 10 Black women in these states are already mothers.
Word In Black conducted email interviews with each of these Black women-led organizations. Here is what they shared.
Word In Black: What is the goal of this ad campaign?
Paris Hatcher, Executive Director of Black Feminist Future: This campaign was created to destigmatize abortion, highlight how bans threaten Black people’s freedom and autonomy, and to encourage people to take action to protect abortion care. We know that people are overwhelmed, exhausted, and outraged by what they are seeing with these bans, and we want them to know that there is a way to take action and build power to create a new future for us.
WIB: How have the deaths of two Black women influenced the decision to launch ads in these four states?
Sarah Parker, President and Executive Director of Voices of Florida Fund: We cannot forget that long before Roe was overturned abortion care was out of reach for many Black people, particularly in the South. Reproductive justice organizers braced themselves for decades about what would happen if SCOTUS banned abortion, warning us that more lives would be lost.
We are outraged that these bans killed Candi Miller and Amber Thurman and know that the same anti-abortion laws are putting Black and brown Floridians at risk. That’s why we’re fighting so hard to change this reality on Election Day and beyond.
We refuse to accept the same outcome for the 84,000 patients impacted by our state’s near-total abortion ban. Candi, Amber, and so many others who have been killed by these bans remind us that this is life or death for Black mothers like me.
WIB: Can you briefly tell me about your organization and why it has joined the fight for the right for reproductive and abortion care?
Courtney Anika, Co-Executive Director of Soul 2 Soul Sisters: Soul 2 Soul Sisters is a Black-led, love-based, racial justice nonprofit organization based in Denver, Colorado, centering liberation for all through Black healing and joy. Our love-based revolution supports our fierce knowing that we will all be free, and cultivates programs, spaces, resources & tools to support our collective liberation.
We uphold abortion as freedom and understand that restrictions to reproductive and abortion care create deadly conditions for Black Women, femmes and gender-expansive folks. Our reproductive justice work is deeply personal and sacred.
We know that reproductive justice is nuanced and includes interconnecting systems from housing to genocide to environmental justice and more. To fully actualize Black liberation, we must uproot any and all systems that deny Black folks today, and in the future, the right to make decisions about our lives, bodies, and futures.
WIB: What would you tell Black women who are nervous about this year’s election and what’s at stake for abortion and reproductive health care?
Ashlei Spivey, Executive Director of I Be Black Girl: Every election cycle is important, and Black women have always been at the helm of saving democracy. Your voice and your vote are powerful tools of change, and that is why people are working so hard to suppress our votes. This election is critical and taking the time to educate yourself about the candidates and issues, both nationally and locally, is important. We need you now. We need you always.
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