We are outraged. Now what?
It’s a dark time for anyone who believes in equal rights for all genders. Regardless of whether you have a uterus, live in the US, have ever needed reproductive health care or not, when the human rights of any group are under attack, we should all be afraid and outraged. When a group of people are treated as less human, it opens the door for more of the same.
“Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it.” - the Honourable Rosemary Brown.
Reproductive justice and gender justice are not separate. The ability to make choices about our bodies and our health is a basic human right, and to see that right violated is shocking and heartbreaking.
To be honest, I’ve spent the first few days after Roe was overturned feeling sad, angry, bitchy, distracted, weepy and exhausted. Maybe you have too. I work hard at keeping my optimism up about the progress being made on gender equality, but this just knocked me back. At the same time, as I was feeling all that, I was beating myself up – being sad is not an effective response to injustice! Do something! Yesterday I realized that feeling is part of the process, it is part of doing something.
Here’s where I’m at in terms of where to go next with my own outrage. Maybe this will help you take your feelings and transform them into action too.
Feel the feelings and use them as fuel.
Sadness or exhaustion may be where you’re at. Fair. Let yourself be there. Feeling our feelings and moving through them is part of the journey. I was mentoring a coaching session the other day and the person being coached shifted from being anxious to pissed off. It was powerful to witness that shift! Anxious was inward facing and low energy, pissed off had a lot of energy and led to a systemic view of the issue and some creative actions.
A lot can get done when we’re pissed off. I’ve always said that women are 50% of the population and, as such, should be 50% of every decision-making table. Because it’s fair and equitable, and because we know that everything gets better when women participate in leadership and decision-making. But now I’m pissed off that gender equality just took a huge and very public step backwards. So, my patience is wearing thin. I’m tired of the excuses for why it can’t happen or why it needs to take generations to get there. I’m done. I won’t pull punches on this anymore. It feels like a very different energy, and I’m going to use it as fuel.
Learn from and support organizations who are already doing the work.
I am not an expert in reproductive rights, or in the law, or the healthcare system in Canada. But thankfully, there are organizations who have been working on this for years. Learn from them and support them. For example, did you know:
Although we theoretically have access to abortion in Canada, some Provinces and Territories have a grand total of 1 provider of these services and almost all are in urban centres. So even with the right to reproductive healthcare, the experiences of women, girls, trans, and nonbinary people have not equally matched that right.
Many women in Canada still need to travel to a different province to access reproductive healthcare services.
77% of Canadians support the right to abortion, but that majority is no guarantee. 61% of Americans said the same thing.
Follow, support, and donate to organizations that are working for reproductive rights, like Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, and Planned Parenthood Toronto.
Here’s a podcast From Canadian Women’s Foundation about the connection between reproductive justice and gender justice, HERE, that discusses other ways to participate in reproductive justice in Canada.
Join collective action.
These issues feel so big that I wonder what difference I can possibly make. And the reality is that on my own I can’t do much. But collectively we can. People with uteruses make up over half the population, but add to that allies and everyone else who believes in equal rights, and there are a heck of a lot of us. The more organized we can be, the more impact we can have.
What could that look like?
If you are a woman or nonbinary business owner, join the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Their mandate includes both advocacy for women and nonbinary business owners AND social justice.
If you are a business owner, consider becoming a certified B Corp to demonstrate your commitment to being a business that benefits all people, communities, and the planet.
Remember that we each support systems and organizations with our participation and our dollars. Use your dollars and choices wisely. It can feel like a small act of resistance to buy from small business or not use certain platforms or products, but those choices are empowering and if enough of us make them, it starts to add up.
Get loud. If 77% of us support access to reproductive healthcare, we need to let policymakers know it and never forget it.
Let’s use the outrage we feel over the violation of rights in the US to fuel our resolve for justice and gender equality everywhere.
Stay strong,
Belinda Clemmensen