Mon 1/30 @ 6PM
So — you thought the new president was going to be “moderate” on social issues and had no interest in revisiting the controversy over abortion? One of his first acts on his first day in office was to reinstate a cruel and poverty-stoking Bush-era ban on sending funding to reproductive organizations overseas that merely MENTIONED to women that abortion could be an option. Farewell to the fantasies that he would leave this alone.
Hearing first-person stories is a powerful way of making the impact of impersonal policies or stubborn ideologies feel real. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of abortion, an issue that has been increasingly controversialized by those on the right, who focus on “unborn babies,” but not on the reality of women’s lives and why they end up choosing to have an abortion.
For the third year, My Abortion My Life and Preterm present “Breaking Our Silence: Abortion Stories” at the Beachland Ballroom. There, a variety of local people (women and men) who share their commitment to a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices will read stories submitted to the My Abortion My Life website that depict a wide range of individuals, situations and emotions surrounding their decision to abort.
The program will be followed by a reception with light food, a cash bar and music by Elizabeth Kelly from local indie rock band the Village Bicycle. It’s free and open to anyone willing to listen and consider these women’s choices.