Do you remember what you were doing on June 24, 2022? That was the day the US Supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, sending the country back 50 years before abortion was made legal on a federal level. We are only beginning to see the harmful impact of what criminalizing abortion in 2022 and beyond looks like, where women of color, non-binary folks, Indigenous, immigrant and low income women will bear the brunt of regressive policies now being passed across many states (some that are reverting to laws from the 1800s…).
There has never been a more important time to speak out and use the resources we have to push back against the attack on bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. We are using our platform to share important stories and articles, amplifying the work activists are leaders are doing. As storytelling is our medium, our founder Asha Dahya has also focused her individual passion on this pursuit, not only through GirlTalkHQ, but in her 2019 TEDx Talk on reframing reproductive rights, her book Today’s Wonder Women: Everyday Superheroes Who Are Changing The World, the podcast series she hosts for Repro Film, and the advocacy work she does as a board member for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
Today she continues using media and film to champion abortion rights by launching a Kickstarter campaign where she hopes to raise money for post production and animation on her new short documentary and build a community of people who want to share films that further conversation. The short documentary is called ‘Someone You Know’, and it profiles three women who are sharing their later abortion stories in a bid to foster empathy and dismantle stigma. This is a film about the barriers and burdens the three women – Valerie Peterson, Sharon Lagos and Mindy Swank – and MANY others face when seeking later abortion, and the need to ensure access to abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
The film also features We Testify founder Renee Bracey Sherman, and Dr. Meera Shah the Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic. You can see both the trailer and a preview of the animation in my campaign video below:
Given the data showing that 1 in 4 people in America will have an abortion before the age of 45, there is a good chance that this issue impacts, you or Someone You Know.
Yet there are no abortion services in at least 89% of U.S. counties, and the number of facilities offering later abortions is even more limited. Additionally, there are only a handful of states providing abortion after the first trimester. The reality of living in a post-Roe America means we are going to see a lot more devastating outcomes, especially for the most vulnerable. How can we push back on this?
Storytelling films have a unique power to connect us as human beings, and potentially shift our perspective on a very big and complex topic like abortion.
For the next 30 days we hope to reach as many people as possible who are looking to support and amplify independently-made films that are championing access to abortion, joining Asha in this mission. The anticipated release date is June 24, 2023, which will be the one year anniversary of Roe v Wade being overturned.
Please consider donating to the Kickstarter campaign, share with your network, and get in touch if you want to get involved with the release of the film in some way.
