About the newsletter

Welcome! Abortion, Every Day is a place for feminist commentary and community on abortion rights. Each weekday, you’ll get a comprehensive newsletter about what’s happening with abortion—from legal updates on state bans and women’s stories about abortion bans’ impact, to analysis of conservatives’ strategy and prompts on how you can help. I also publish a weekly column, open threads where we can chat—even some fun feminist TikToks.

About Jessica

I’ve been writing about women and politics for nearly 20 years (whew): I’ve published seven books, founded one of the first feminist blogs, had columns at places like The Guardian and The Nation and written for publications from The New York Times to The Toast. I’ve hosted a miniseries for Eater, created a documentary about purity culture, given speeches, taught classes and generally worked myself silly. I live in Brooklyn with my husband, daughter and dog, and I am really hoping you’re going to love it here.   

Why Subscribe?

Because we are living through one of the most important moments in history for American women. When I started this newsletter—and Abortion, Every Day—it was make sure we didn’t miss a thing in this avalanche of news. Since Roe was overturned, it’s become much more than that. What we do now will determine what our granddaughters’ lives—and the lives of their children—look like. We can’t afford to be overwhelmed or confused. We can’t watch as women’s experiences, their very lives, are written off as post-Roe statistics.

Putting all of these experiences and news in one place doesn’t just demonstrate the sheer volume of Republican-created horror. It means we’re bearing witness to what’s happening every single day. 

Because there is a big difference in how the mainstream media covers abortion, and how feminists do. In a post-Roe world, feminist media is more important than ever. In part, for the commiseration and community: We’re fucking pissed and need reporting and commentary that’s furious along with us. 

But it’s also a matter of expertise; the knowledge gap between mainstream journalists and those who’ve been writing exclusively about abortion rights and other feminist issues is incredibly stark. Partially because of experience, but also because of bias. Consider how the mainstream media questioned the story of a 10 year-old who was raped and impregnated. Or how when a study came out showing that more women are relying on illegally-obtained abortion medication, one publication’s response was to conclude that it meant state bans were “easy” to get around.

It’s bad enough to live with misogynist laws—do we really need that misogyny, and ignorance, replicated in our daily newspapers, as well? My work here cuts through the bullshit. I know there’s no ‘both sides’ to our lives and freedom. 

Because we can have an actual conversation. Do you miss talking to other feminists online without the constant hum of assholes in the background? ME TOO. I’m tired of trying to have a conversation on social media just to be derailed or drowned out by sexists. 

This community has become a space where feminists can actually talk. Not just about abortion and feminism—but about how we’re doing in this truly impossible moment. One of the newsletter’s most popular features is our One Good Thing thread, where people share something positive that happened in their life that week: From big things like getting a promotion, to everyday joys like gardening or seeing an old friend.

I’m around in comments, too—you can ask me about feminism, abortion, culture, politics, cooking—or just shoot the shit. It’s like the days of blogging all over again, but without the random misogynists in comments! 

Because you know my work. Maybe you’ve been following me since the days of Feministing (RIP), maybe you’ve read Sex Object or like my tweets. No matter how you found me, I’m glad you’re here and appreciate the support. I’ve had homes at traditional publications for the better part of a decade, but I wanted to be able to bring my writing directly to you. And in the same way I did when I started a blog in 2004—I want to make a bet on myself, and the idea that people will be excited about supporting feminist writing, especially right now.

The best way to do that—and to join this community—is by signing up for a paid subscription: Paying subscribers not only have the ability to comment and access to all of the written content here, but will also get a daily podcast version of Abortion, Every Day.

That said, it’s important to me that this work is accessible to everyone: You can still read all my columns and Abortion, Every Day with just a free subscription. And if you want a paid subscription but can’t swing the $5 a month, let me know and we’ll work something out. 

For those who can afford an additional subscription, you can donate a subscription to someone who couldn’t otherwise afford it, or gift a subscription to a feminist in your life.

Thanks for being here, and for supporting this work. If we have to live in our current hellscape, I’m at least glad we’re in it together.