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How to Fight For Abortion Rights in Your State
People’s ability to exercise their reproductive autonomy, control their reproductive lives, and decide if, when and how to have children is essential to the full realization of human rights for women, girls and all people who can become pregnant*. Access to abortion is a human right, and international human rights committees have consistently found that criminalizing abortion violates the rights of women, girls, and people who can become pregnant in a number of ways. Pregnant people themselves—not the state—should have the ultimate authority when it comes to their decision on carrying a pregnancy. If a pregnant person decides to seek abortion care, it is their human right to have access to a safe and legal procedure without the fear of discrimination.
The following guide has been created to assist activists to fight for abortion rights in their home state, as well as other states across the country, when abortion restrictions are introduced and after they have taken effect.
Fill out this form and we’ll work to connect you with abortion rights advocacy in your state.
May 2022 Leaked Opinion: Crisis Action
Know Your Rights
Find proposed laws in your state
Contact us to get involved
Types of abortion bans
Legislation that protects reproductive rights
What’s at stake
Educate your community
Build an Advocacy Campaign Plan
Choose campaigning tactics
Build a Messaging Guide
Contact Your State’s Legislators
Other actions you can take to support the right to abortion care in the US and around the world
*A NOTE ON INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE WHEN TALKING ABOUT ABORTION
Today, tomorrow, and every day we need to show up, join protests, and take action across the nation for the right to abortion.
Tell your two Senators to vote YES on the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify a person’s right to seek an abortion into federal law.
The right to abortion has been under attack since the moment Roe was ruled by the Supreme Court in 1973. While the abortion rights movement has fought at every level to protect our rights, we now find ourselves in this worst–case scenario:on Monday May 3rd,Politicoleaked the news that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn bothRoeandCaseyin their entirety and end the federal right to abortion in the United States. If it holds, the ruling will reverse nearly 40 years of essential protections in the United States of the rights of women, girls, and those who can become pregnant, and is a massive blow to gender equality. Following the official ruling, over half of states are expected to ban abortion totally or near–totally. This is an egregious attack on our human rights!
Access to abortion ensures people have the right to autonomy and privacy; liberty and security; equality, non–discrimination, and equal protection; health, life, and in some cases to be free from torture. Denying safe and legal access to abortion jeopardizes all of these rights. While we expect the end of Roe v. Wade, we haven’t lost yet; we still have a window of opportunity and now is the time to seize it! It is our responsibility to step up, show up and defend our humanrights.
On Wednesday, the Senate is going to vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify a person’s right to seek an abortion into federal law. It is our responsibility to step up, show up and defend our human rights. Tell your Senators to vote YES on the Women’s Health Protection Act!
TAKE ACTION
By each of us doing a small part, we can use the power of collective action to generate a national tidal wave of pressure on our Senators to respect human rights. It won’t be easy, but it IS possible. Amnesty is using all of the tools in its globaltoolbox, from activism to research—but we need YOU! Members of Congress are influenced by their constituents, and ifthey hear that abortion matters to you, they’re more likely to enact policies that will protect our rights to abortion.
It is your life, your health, your body, your sexuality, your identity, and your reproductive life! Together, we can and must defend all of our rights to live free from fear, coercion, violence, or discrimination. Together, we can and must ensure all people enjoy their rights.
Call your two Senators immediately, urging them to protect the right to abortion access by making the WHPA the law of the land.
Flood your two Senators’offices with thousands of emails, letters, phone calls, postcards, and faxes and tell them to vote YES on the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify a person’s right to seek an abortion into federal law!You can refer to our talking points below.
Taking a standon social media tagging your two Senatorstelling them “Ending the right to#abortion violates the human rights of women, girls, and people who can become pregnant. As your constituent, I urge you[@Senators] to vote YES on the Women’s Health Protection Act”. Please also share content from the @AmnestyUSA accounts and use the hashtag #BansOffOurBodies and #MyBodyMyRights. You can use our Action Graphics here.
Organize or show up at a pro–abortion rally in your town/city:Demonstrations, protests, marches, and other visibleactions are effective at getting attention of the media, which adds to the pressure on our elected officials. We mustfight back and work together to protect abortion access all across the country. When organizing or attending suchactions, please follow CDC protocols for protecting against COVID–19. When organizing or attending actions withclothing or signs that identify you as part of Amnesty International, please use messaging that reads: “The UnitedStates must protect the right to abortion”; “Abortion is a human right”; “Always forward, never back: defend the rightto abortion in the USA”; “Hold the line: Abortion Rights are Human Rights”.Invite your local media to cover the action and take and post lots of photos and videos on social media using the hashtag #BansOffOurBodies and #MyBodyMyRightsand tagging your Senators. Please contact us for help with organizing events, alerting local media or any other questions:[email protected].
Write a letter to the editor (LTE) or op–ed in your local paper:These are great ways to uplift human rights in your localmedia and we have this usefulLTE & Op–Ed Toolkitto make it easy. Please refer to the talking points below forguidance on what to write. If you need help, email us at[email protected].
Get Creative!Share your ideas for creative actions and stunts with us at[email protected].
Let us know the actions you took:Please email us at[email protected]to let us know the actions you took.It’simportant to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade.
Talking Points
Main message
Access to abortion is a human right. Under international human rights law, everyone has a right to life, a right tohealth, and a right to be free from violence, discrimination, and torture or other cruel, inhuman and degradingtreatment. Forcing someone to carry a pregnancy against their will—for whatever reason—is a violation of thoserights. Abortion must be legal, safe and accessible for all.
General talking points
Abortion is a human right
Denying safe and legal access to abortion is a dangerous violation of that right
Access to abortion ensures people have the right to: autonomy and privacy; liberty and security of person; equality, non–discrimination and equal protection; and health, life,and in some cases to be free from torture.
The United States must not backslide on human rights
the US must protect the right to abortion!
Stripping protections for the right to abortion is out of step with the rest of the world as sexual and reproductive rights advance.
Abortionisessential
Abortion is healthcare, abortion is a right
The vast majority of Americans—77%—say the Supreme Court should upholdRoe.
The majority of Americans believe the right to abortion should be protected
80% of Americans support legal abortion.
IfRoeis overturned, as we anticipate it will be:
26 states are certain or likely tofullyoutlaw abortion (out of 50 states)
12 states automatically fully outlaw abortion, and another 14 have laws waiting to outlaw abortion ifRoefalls
Only 14 states and theDistrict of Columbiahave laws protecting the right to abortion
We will see a proliferation of Texas–style abortion bans—many states have already introduced legislation just like that waiting forRoeto be overturned.
People will still need and seek abortions if they are outlawed–people will be forced to travel thousands of miles (if they can afford to) or potentially resort to unsafe means.
Access to abortion in the United States is already unequal;
and abortion bans disproportionately impact poor and rural women, women of color and minority women, Indigenous women, and transgender and gender non–conforming people who can get pregnant
For human rights activists in the U.S.,these attacks and abortion bans are not a surprise.
There have been constant attacks on the right to abortion since abortion through the first trimester became protected by the Supreme Court in 1973.
Every year, multiple states in the USA passhundredsof laws attacking and limiting sexual and reproductive rights. Most are struck down by the court, until now.
Important note
We do not use exclusive “women and girls” language when talking about abortion. Transgender and non–binary people get pregnant and have abortions, too, and can sometimes have the hardest time accessing non–discriminatory and gender–appropriate care, including abortion care. Using gender–exclusive language furthermarginalizes transgender and non–binary people, which can lead to further rights abuses against them.
Additional Information
For more information, please refer to the following Amnesty documents:
Jezebel Abortion Ban Tracker lists bills that aim to copy Texas’ 6-week abortion ban.
Get connected!
Fill out this form and we’ll work to connect you with abortion rights advocacy in your state.
Learn more about types of abortion bans
States across the country use different tactics to pass abortion restrictions. Make no mistake: all abortion restrictions are put in place with the ultimate goal of banning abortion entirely. Some of the most common abortion restrictions are listed below:
(e.g. the Texas, Oklahoma, or Mississippi bills).
The Texas ban allows private citizens to sue anyone in the state they think provided an abortion for a pregnant person after a heartbeat in the fetus was detected, around the six-week mark. This ban has also been described as having a “bounty hunter system”, as people who report possible providers can be awarded $10,000 in damages by the state.
The Mississippi ban makes abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which is about 2 months earlier than Roe v. Wade allows. This ban will be reviewed by the Supreme Court in the summer of 2022, and it is the reason why Roe v. Wade could be overturned.
The Oklahoma ban is currently the strictest abortion ban in the country. It makes abortion illegal in every case except for when a pregnant person’s life is in danger if they continue to carry their pregnancy (which is a functional total ban).
Prohibit abortion as soon as fetal electrical cardiac activity (“heartbeat”) can be detected via ultrasound, which is usually around the six-week mark during pregnancy. This is often before many patients know they are pregnant.
Dictate the point during pregnancy when an abortion is permissible. These limits can be arbitrary, and vary greatly by state or country.
Transvaginal ultrasounds are medically unnecessary, invasive ultrasounds that require a wand to be inserted into a pregnant person’s vagina, and some states require that doctors describe the fetus in detail or play its heartbeat so the pregnant person has to hear it.
Third-party authorization restrictions require a pregnant person to obtain consent from somebody other than a healthcare provider, such as a parent or judge, before they can receive an abortion. Most states require parental involvement when a minor decides to have an abortion.
When states require biased counseling, pregnant people are forced to receive anti-abortion materials created by the state before they receive an abortion.
Some pregnant people are subjected to waiting periods, which are medically unnecessary and can increase the risk of complications for the patient or increase the cost of the abortion procedure.
Health care providers in almost every state can outright refuse to provide abortions and abortion-related care.
Support the notion that a fetus has legal rights that are independent of the pregnant person carrying the fetus.
“Targeted restrictions on abortion providers” are implemented to force abortion providers to be unable to provide services. For example, some states require abortion providers to have an affiliation with a local hospital or have hospital admitting privileges, or they require that the rooms where abortions take place in a clinic meet very specific size dimensions which are not necessary for a safe procedure.
At the national level, the federal Hyde Amendment has blocked Medicaid funding for abortion services for decades, placing an unnecessary financial burden on pregnant people who are seeking an abortion.
Learn more about legislation that protects abortion rights
We are not just fighting bad legislation; we’re fighting for good legislation! Positive legislation that protects the right to abortion care can promote human rights in your state and serve as a model for other state legislatures when it comes to protecting the liberty and autonomy of people who can become pregnant. Examples of positive legislation include:
Like New York’s Reproductive Health Act, that codified Roe v. Wade protections into state law and revised provisions of laws relating to abortion provision.
Like CA Assembly Bill No. 1356, which prohibits photographing or recording of patients seeking abortions within 100 feet of a facility that provides abortion care.
Like llinois’ Reproductive Health Act, which recognizes that every person that can get pregnant has bodily autonomy and should be able to make their own choices about their body; it also requires private health insurance companies in the state to cover the cost of an abortion.
Learn More about what’s at stake
The following information shows what could happen when Roe v. Wade is overturned:
Interactive map of how far the closest abortion provider will be post-Roe (Axios)
What if Roe Fell? State-by-state overview of abortion restrictions (Center for Reproductive Rights)
Educate your friends and family: start conversations with people close to you about why abortion care matters to you!
Build an Advocacy Campaign Plan
Join ongoing efforts
Find out who else in your state is working on this effort. Likely folks are already planning and could use your help. Join them!
Build a campaign plan
In order to work quickly and effectively, it is important to have an organized plan that your advocacy group can follow. The following template has been created to facilitate the planning of activities, identify campaign targets, and create messaging plans to reach as many people as possible: Abortion Advocacy Campaign Planning Template.
Choose campaigning tactics
These are just a few ideas- be creative and do what makes sense for your community!
This guide lays out logistics, publicizing your protest, and some options for different protest formats.
ATwitter storm is when there is a sudden increase in discussion of a topic on Twitter. Be sure you have a specific hashtag for your cause to be able to track.
Organize a call-in event where folks gather (maybe with snacks!) and call their reps while there– or have a table where folks take action when they walk by.
Send folks call-in info to do on their own timeline (harder to track numbers).
Use tactics such as phone zaps to flood legislators’ phone lines for a day.
Or use email campaigns to spread awareness for advocacy work that you are carrying out in your area.
Petition delivered to your school administration asking them to make a statement opposing X legislation/ or what they’ll do to support students’ access to reproductive rights if X legislation passes.
Walkouts- when a large group of students across campus walks out of class to bring attention to an issue.
Sit-ins- when students peacefully gather in or near buildings on campus to occupy space and draw attention to their group.
Silent protests- large groups of students gather en masse and remain silent to show their disapproval of the school administration’s point of view.
If you or members of your advocacy group own small businesses, or if you feel that local businesses showing solidarity with your cause will make an impact on legislators, then advocate for them to sign on to a public solidarity letter (like the “Don’t Ban Equality” letter).
Poetry slams allow participants to share what they are passionate about in an artistic and impactful way. You can learn more about how to set up a poetry slam here.
Disrupt spaces with large numbers of people wearing the same colored clothing or with striking visuals. When creating visuals for this tactic, make sure that you are not using materials that could be disturbing or harmful for other activists (such as graphic images). Be sure you invite local press or record the creative disruption to share it broadly afterwards.
Art displays can take a number of forms. Your advocacy group could create a banner and hang it in a prominent area of your campus/neighborhood, project a video onto the side of a large building, create an interactive art piece that members of your community can contribute to…the possibilities are endless!
Creating a social media filter allows people online to show their solidarity and raise awareness for abortion rights. This guide takes you through all the steps to create a filter you can use on Instagram.
Create an image with information on abortion rights that you and other activists can share on your social media account on a specific date, and “fill your feed” with the chosen image so more people will be exposed to the message you are trying to share.
Amnesty has also created a comprehensive advocacy tactic guide that lists other ways you can spread your message!
Build a Messaging Guide
Using social media to gain support and spread your message is free, easy, and allows you to reach a massive online community. In this guide, we have listed slogans and ideas for social media posts that advocate for abortion rights in your state.
Contact Your State’s Legislators
There are many different ways to get in touch with your state’s legislators. This guide provides information on how to find your legislators; it also provides examples of templates you can use when calling or emailing their offices.
If you decide to contact your state’s legislators using our outreach guide, please fill out this debrief form to log your interaction.
Other actions you can take to support the right to abortion care in the US and around the world
*A NOTE ON INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE WHEN TALKING ABOUT ABORTION
Q: Wait, why does Amnesty say “women, girls, and people who can become pregnant”?
A: Transgender and non-binary people get pregnant and have abortions, too, and can sometimes have the hardest time accessing non-discriminatory and gender-appropriate care, including abortion care. Using gender-exclusive language further marginalizes transgender and non-binary people, which can lead to further rights abuses against such groups.
People’s ability to exercise their reproductive autonomy, control their reproductive lives, and decide if, when and how to have children is essential to the full realization of human rights for women, girls and all people who can become pregnant*. Access to abortion is a human right, and international human rights committees have consistently found that criminalizing abortion violates the rights of women, girls, and people who can become pregnant in a number of ways. Pregnant people themselves—not the state—should have the ultimate authority when it comes to their decision on carrying a pregnancy. If a pregnant person decides to seek abortion care, it is their human right to have access to a safe and legal procedure without the fear of discrimination.
