The Future of Abortion, Every Day
Help me keep it going!
After Roe was overturned, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Like a lot of you, I felt angry, depressed and powerless. We didn’t even have a moment to grieve before the horror stories started rolling in: Women being denied medical care as they bled for days or carried dying fetuses; raped and impregnated children forced to leave the state for abortions; a teenager arrested after police looked at her Facebook messages.
Between the constant court battles over state bans and their tragic real-life consequences, it was impossible not to feel frozen with overwhelm. Which, of course, was the point. Conservatives needed us to be pushed back on our heels, unable to get a firm grasp on all that was happening and what was most important.
So I started writing it all down: Every national, state and local story I could get my hands on. Every ban update, every quote, every medical nightmare and arrest. Then I started publishing them.
When I started Abortion, Every Day, it was make sure we didn’t miss a thing in this avalanche of news. Less than three months later, it’s become much more than that.
We are living through one of the most important moments in history for American women. 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.
Since I’ve started publishing Abortion, Every Day, the response from this community has been explosive. Thousands of you have been reading, sending tips and sharing stories. I’ve heard from major cable hosts, doctors, reporters, teachers and activists all around the country who tell me they rely on the newsletter to keep them informed—and that it shapes their work on the ground and on major platforms.
The newsletter has unearthed stories that went on to go internationally viral, and is helping to ensure that whatever happens in statehouses and doctors’ offices, in schools or workplaces, that it’s being informed by the everyday stories of those most impacted.
As for me, I’m just happy to feel like I’m contributing something tangible and useful in a moment like this one.
Here is where I ask for your help: As time passes, the consequences of abortion bans are only growing and getting more dire. The scope of doing this work is already a lot for one person, and I don’t want to burn out. (This is a marathon, not a sprint!)
To maintain Abortion, Every Day, make it even better, and grow it even bigger, I need to hire a part-time researcher to work with me. To find a qualified person that I can pay well, I need at least 500 new paying subscribers—about 25k. There are thousands of you who read the newsletter, so I think this is totally do-able. I just need a small percentage of you to take the leap!
(As a reminder, anyone who cannot afford a subscription but wants one should email me.)
I’ve also heard from some of you that you want to support the work here at a higher level—to do that, you can donate here or reach out to me directly.
Admittedly, I’m not a great fundraiser. Asks like this don’t come naturally to me, and I really don’t love this part of the job. But I want to keep doing this work and doing it well—and I need to be realistic about my time, energy and sanity.
So if you’ve ever been on the fence about signing up for a paid subscription, hop on the fuck over! And if you’re already a paying subscriber, please consider donating a subscription, donating towards the researcher, or telling a friend about Abortion, Every Day. Every little bit helps.
That said, I am so incredibly grateful to all of you in this community—whether you sign up for a paid subscription or not. If we have to be in this awful nightmare, I’m glad to be in with you all.
~Jessica