Join us for a virtual week of action focused on the power of storytelling in the fight for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice.
All in one week, we will witness the inauguration of the pro-sexual and reproductive health Biden-Harris administration, and celebrate the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, coming together to celebrate our progress and get to work on ensuring these issues are front and center on both a national and state level.
The week of action will feature community discussions, a film screening, and opportunities to share your own story, and will culminate in a two-day virtual lobby event to meet with New York State elected officials. We hope you can join us!
January 19th, 5pm-6:15pm: Lobbying 101 w/ Government Relations
Join us to learn about our Legislative priorituies for 2021-2022, and prepare for our upcoming Days of Action where we will engage our State Legislature about the issues that we are most passionate about.
January 20th, 11am-3pm: Women's March Action Inaugural Watch Party
Come celebrate HERstory with us!! Join Women's March Action for the first of its kind - a LIVE watch party for the Inauguration! Get your Converse and pearls on, and watch with us!
January 20th, 12pm: #WellnessWednesday w/ Ije Ude
Join PPGNY X Ije Ude for Tiny Acts of Self-Liberation: Creating habits that anchor you in your sovereignty. In this session, we will create a tiny, body-based practice you can incorporate into your daily life to stay anchored in your personal values and make decisions aligned with the world you think is possible.
January 21st, 7pm-9pm: Reversing Roe Theater Thursday w/ PAG
Join the Political Action Group Advocacy Collective subcommittee for a film screening, followed by discussion, to celebrate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
January 22nd, 6pm-7:30pm: Repro Rights Story Hour w/ Speaker's Bureau
Join us on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade for a panel discussion and Q+A on the power of storytelling for reproductive health, rights, and justice with Planned Parenthood Storyteller Clara Williams and author of "EmpowHERed Health" Umi Grigsby.
January 25th, 10am-3pm: Day of Action: Day 1
Join PPGNY for Day of Action! Meet newly elected officials in the state legislature.
January 26th, 10am-3pm: Day of Action: Day 2
Join PPGNY for Day of Action! Meet newly elected officials in the state legislature.
A Note About "Would You Be Lonely Without Me?"
Mothers. Daughters. Wives. Sisters. Cis women’s lives are often valued through the relationship to men and ability to give birth, and bodily autonomy is denied because of a refusal to acknowledge women’s humanity. In the “bad old days” before abortion became legal in the United States, thousands of women died each year from botched abortions—estimates are five to ten thousand per year, but it is likely the amounts are much higher because of the stigma attached to these deaths. The reasons these women sought this procedure that was so frequently lethal were the same as now: economic, timing, health, sexual assault, and so on. Women tried to perform abortions on themselves with such objects as knitting needles and wire coat hangers, as well as drank bleach and other dangerous chemicals. Others saw doctors whose qualifications were tough to deduce; women risked (additional) sexual assault and/or death seeing these physicians, their bodies dumped on streets to fake a road accident, buried in shallow graves, cut up and thrown away like garbage.
The title of this series comes from the last words of 17-year-old Arlene Thompson to her mother, just before she left to die from a botched abortion. Understanding she might not return alive, she asked, “Mom, would you be really lonely without me around?”[2] Her body was found over ten days later in a shallow grave in an empty lot, covered with trash.
-Daisy Patton
