Susan Yanow
Speeches:
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In Poland, abortion is legally restricted. Yet there are underground abortion providers and many who have an unwanted pregnancy receive abortion pills through telemedicine services. Those who advocate abortion face threats and harassment by anti-abortion thugs and by the government, yet throngs of people have filled the streets. In the USA, abortion is legal but increasingly inaccessible to many, although there is at least one clinic in every state. There are networks of community-based providers and evidence that increasing numbers of people are choosing to manage their abortions with pills obtained through a range of sources, but 18 women have been arrested. In both countries, there are activists working to put abortion pills in womens hands and de-stigmatize the practice of self-management and the language around home use of abortion pills. On this panel, a member of the Polish Abortion Dream Team, the Director of Women Help Women and a member of the USA project SASS (Self-Managed Abortion, Safe and Supported) will discuss the parallels and lessons learned in their work, both from advocacy and security and activism perspective, that may be relevant for the pro-choice movement at large.