I am not a doctor, lawyer, or politician. I am a woman who believes that all women should have the right to decide if and when to have children. And I’m far from alone in this belief; study after study shows that the majority of Hoosiers agree that women should be in charge of these very personal medical decisions.

Maybe this support is because Hoosiers understand that when access to abortion is restricted, it disproportionately affects people of color and low-income individuals. These impacted individuals are rarely represented in the Indiana statehouse. Just in case I need to clarify, the elected officials proposing restrictions and making decisions about women’s health in the statehouse are typically white men. I firmly believe that a woman’s decision about if and when to have children should be made with her trusted health care provider, not by politicians.

Sadly, people who oppose women’s access to abortion, although in the minority, are some of the loudest influencers at the statehouse. It is vital that we, as abortion allies, become louder. Our elected representatives need to hear from us. In order to feel secure in their representation and, let's face it, re-election, they need to know they can support abortion access and in turn be supported by their constituents. Supporters care deeply but often remain silent about abortion access as they worry those around them may feel differently and they are hesitant to offend. Perhaps as a supporter, you are not ready to share publicly your support on social media, much less around the holiday family dinner table. Your quiet support of organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the ACLU is still vital and very much appreciated in the fight to maintain abortion access for all.

Still, as abortion access remains under attack across the country, and right here in Indiana, I believe the time to be bold and speak up is now. I am fortunate to be surrounded by a family that shares a belief in supporting equal rights, including access to abortion. This internal support encouraged me to become a more public supporter of reproductive freedom. I’ve taken risks to publicly support Planned Parenthood and the ACLU through 100% donation days at my business. While I braced for backlash, I was instead, awash in fervent support. The silent majority of people who support reproductive freedom showed up in our stores and online, from across the country, resulting in historic single day sales, all of which were donated to the organizations protecting women’s reproductive rights.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet the leaders of these organizations whose own bravery in leading this fight in Indiana continues to inspire my public support. The lawyers, doctors, lobbyists, and volunteers for these organizations are my heroes. When we take bold actions, we embolden others to do the same. I hope their bravery and our public support at Silver in the City might inspire more supporters of abortion access to speak up, feel the embrace of fellow supporters, and continue to inspire their network of friends and family to un-silence their support for reproductive freedom in Indiana and beyond.

Double Your Impact!

Reproductive Rights are under attack in Indiana, and we need your help. Silver in the City is generously matching donations to the ACLU of Indiana, up to $10,000, now through December 2.

We need you with us to keep fighting – donate today to double your impact!

Make a Donation

With multiple abortion cases at the Supreme Court and a continuing onslaught of anti-abortion restrictions sweeping the states, abortion is likely to come up in conversations about the news — including among friends and family during the holidays.

Here, we share a handy reference guide on this timely issue — full of the quick, crucial facts on abortion rights you’ll want to be equipped with if it comes up at your dinner table.
 

What to Know About: The Facts

• Abortion is overwhelmingly safe
• The right to abortion is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans.
• Abortion is common. One in four women who are able to get pregnant will have an abortion at some point.
• Abortion is essential health care, a constitutional right, and a human right.

Abortion should be accessible to anyone who needs it. Period.

What to Know About: What Forced Pregnancy Is and Isn’t

• When it comes to discussing abortion access, the focus should remain centered on the people who need, or will need, this critical care — and the direct harm forced pregnancy places on lives.
• Despite how anti-abortion politicians may frame it, forced pregnancy is not some political talking point: Forced pregnancy is taking away a person’s constitutional and human right to control their body and their future.
• Denying someone abortion care has devastating and lasting consequences for the pregnant person — it can jeopardize their health, economic well-being and ability to determine their own future, for not only themselves but their family.

Forced Pregnancy laws include:

1. All bans on abortion
2. Medically unnecessary restrictions designed to shut down clinics so that people have to travel further to get abortion care
3. Creating medically unnecessary hoops to jump through in order to discourage and block people from getting an abortion
4. Laws that require insurance plans to exclude abortion coverage
5. Laws designed to run out the clock that force people to delay their abortion care
6. Medically unnecessary laws that increase the cost of care but do nothing to increase patient safety
7. Denying people under 18 years of age access to confidential care by requiring the consent of others

What to Know About: Who Forced Pregnancy Impacts the Most

• While it has been a legal right for five decades, almost since the beginning politicians have passed laws that push abortion out of reach. The impact of those policies fall disproportionately on those struggling financially, Black, Indigenous, and people of color, undocumented people, young people, and LGBTQ people.
• Black, Indigenous, and other people of color do not have equal access to health care, from abortion to prenatal care to preventive care. Their concerns are often ignored or not taken seriously. They have worse outcomes for COVID-related health issues, higher rates of maternal and infant death, and are more likely to be investigated, prosecuted, and punished for their pregnancy outcomes.
• Some people have the resources to overcome the obstacles imposed by anti-abortion laws, but people with low incomes, young people and undocumented people are more likely to be forced to continue a pregnancy even if that’s not the outcome they want.
• Abortion access for all means ALL. Restrictions on abortion care directly impact transgender men and nonbinary people — and we’re fighting to protect the reproductive freedom of everyone who can get pregnant.

What to Know About: The Landscape of Abortion Access

• Since January, states have introduced more than 560 medically unnecessary and politically motivated abortion restrictions. This year alone, more than 100 abortion restrictions were enacted — more than any time since Roe was decided.
• All of these attacks show anti-abortion politicians’ true agenda: To push abortion out of reach, shut down clinics, and criminalize patients and health care providers.
• Anti-abortion restrictions are chipping away at Roe, creating a web of barriers to safe and affordable abortion care and forcing people to remain pregnant against their will.
• The Supreme Court is considering several abortion cases right now. The decisions in these cases will have a tremendous impact on the availability of abortion in this country and even whether we continue to have any constitutional right to abortion at all.

What to Know About: Abortion at the Supreme Court

The Mississippi case: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

• The state of Mississippi has asked the court to expressly overturn Roe v. Wade and take away the federal constitutional right to abortion. Full stop. It’s also possible that the court stops short of that but dramatically reduces our ability to get abortion care. The case will be argued by the Center for Reproductive Rights before the Supreme Court on Dec. 1.

The Texas cases: Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson and U.S. v. Texas

• On Nov. 1, the court heard two cases challenging Texas’ extreme ban on abortion (SB 8): one brought by the ACLU and coalition partners, and one brought by the Justice Department. Since Sept. 1, when the ban took effect and the Supreme Court initially declined to block the law, most Texans have been unable to access abortion in the state.

The Kentucky case: Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center

• SCOTUS is also considering whether to grant Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s last-minute request to intervene in a case in order to try to revive an abortion ban that two courts have already declared unconstitutional. The court’s ruling will determine whether Cameron is allowed to keep the case going to try to reinstate the ban.

What to Know About: The Future of Abortion Rights

No matter how the Supreme Court rules, we’ll continue to fight forced pregnancy laws because everyone deserves the ability to get the abortion care they need, no matter where they live, how much money they have, or who they are.

Take action by urging the Indiana General Assembly to protect Hoosiers' reproductive freedom.

TAKE ACTION

It’s nearly Trans Day of Remembrance again. It seems like everyone is reading lists of people who’ve been murdered for the crime of being transgender. This year, far-right moral crusaders have settled on children as the next target in their years-long mission to make damn sure those lists of killings keep getting longer.

I’m not lucky enough to have children of my own.

Like a lot of women in my community, mothering to me means taking care of my chosen family. Giving rides to the clinic. Throwing birthday parties and making sure everyone gets some cake. Writing scholarship recommendations. Doing the dishes. Bringing casseroles to hospital rooms. Bringing casseroles to weddings. Bringing casseroles to funerals.

Love, for me, involves a lot of casseroles.

When I dream of having children of my own, as I often do, I dream of raising a transgender girl.

Like my own parents, I guess I want to offer my child something I don't have: a wide and friendly world of possibility that’s completely open. One where all she has to do is reach out … just as if she might pluck fruit off a branch.

But too many of the ways we talk about transness today revolve around death. It forces me to relive memories of people I personally know who died because they are trans. Grim statistics in the media and online are inescapable. I crave lighter fare.  

I know my trans family understands this. We all feel it – especially our Black sisters.

It’s important to understand that Trans Day of Remembrance is about cisgender people. Weird right? But yeah. One day a year we collectively do our best to show cisgender people what it feels like to carry the weight – the collective weight of these bodies. It’s a day for us to try to convince cisgender people to sit, for just a little bit, with something we feel all year round.

It doesn’t feel like this day is really meant for me.

I want our special days to be about dancing. I want them to be in the spring and the summer, not in the fall and the winter.

I’d prefer to introduce my someday-future-maybe daughter to my people as I want to see them. Lovely. Funny. Strong. Wise. Joyful. With a friendly world of possibility open to them and all they have to do is reach out … just as if they might pluck fruit off a branch.