Hi, Daily Kos community!
Many of you may recognize my name from campaign action emails you receive from the Daily Kos activism team. For those of you who don’t know me, however, I’m Sarah Hogg, a campaign manager here at Daily Kos focusing on abortion rights and access.
I’ve worked in the abortion access and funding movements for eight years, and I know firsthand the drastic measures extremists will take to attempt to implement draconian measures to restrict reproductive freedom and autonomy.
It comes as no surprise to me that anti-abortion politicians are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to try to end or severely restrict access to abortion. From new legal challenges based on what is considered an “essential” medical service during a pandemic to existing arbitrary regulations like abortion pill restrictions, abortion patients and providers face roadblocks and barriers to receiving and giving care every step of the way.
The landscape of abortion restrictions is intentionally confusing—and it’s made even more so by extremist conservatives trying to capitalize on a crisis to score political and moral points. During a national public health emergency, we need answers, not more questions.
That’s why Daily Kos and our nonprofit media partner, Prism, are thrilled to host a livestreamed panel, “Abortion Access in the Age of COVID-19,” this Friday, May 29, at 3 PM EST.
Friday’s panel will be livestreamed on Facebook. Click here to visit the event page and RSVP! (If you’re not on Facebook, don’t worry! You can tune into Daily Kos’ YouTube channel at 3 PM EST on Friday to view the livestream.)
We have a stellar lineup of abortion access and reproductive justice advocates for Friday’s livestream. I’ll be joined on the panel by Carole Joffe and David S. Cohen, authors of Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortion in America; Kamyon Conner, executive director of the Texas Equal Access Fund; Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an abortion provider; and Tina Vasquez, Gender Justice staff reporter at Prism.
While the outlook on abortion rights and access is bleak, we won’t just be discussing obstacles and barriers. Our panel will also speak to patients’ resilience and tenacity, providers’ brilliance and compassion, and the necessary work of trusted, community-rooted organizations like abortion funds that help people get the funding, transportation, and child care they need in order to access care.
Whether you want to learn more about how COVID-19 impacts abortion, the existing restrictions that make it difficult for many to access care, or ways to take action, we hope you’ll join us on Friday.
Do you have a question for our panel about abortion access in the age of COVID-19? Leave it here in the comments and tune in on Friday to see if we answer it during our Q&A portion!