(Speech given by MNAAC member, Carolyn, at a recent protest to defend Mifepristone)
Good afternoon everyone! Thank you for being here on a day full of important actions.
I’m Carolyn, a member of MNAAC and am also a menstrual health educator.
We are here today because some anti-abortion misogynists and supreme court judges are once again trying to take away our human rights.
Mifepristone, a medication used for medication abortions, is currently being ruled on by the supreme court for its mail order accessibility and FDA approval.
Mifepristone is one of two medications used not only for abortions, but also miscarriages. Its been around for over 40 years and was approved in the US in the year 2000.
This medication helps stop a pregnancy and get the body ready for the second pill, Misoprostol which is used to complete the abortion process. These pills can be taken in the comfort of your own home.
They’re safer than Tylenol and Viagra, and super effective.
While abortions can still be done just using the second pill, the first pill, Mifepristone, helps make the process go faster, smoother and with far less side effects. Abortions can be painful and mentally and emotionally challenging. We need and deserve all of the resources that help us in this process.
Medication abortion is how over half of all abortions are performed. Since 2016 they’ve been available by mail, making it much easier to access.
It’s been proven time after time that it is SAFE to have abortions at home.
And now, these anti-abortion misogynists are trying to
1.) take away mail order access and force patients to go to a clinic 3 times during the abortion process, and
2.) take away FDA approval of this medication completely if they get their way.
To that we say SHAME!
We know this isn’t about safety like they’re trying to say it is. We know it’s about control over our bodies. We know they’re afraid of us.
If they wanted us to be safe, we’d have paid parental leave, health care, childcare, clean drinking water for everyone, and so on.
We wouldn’t have over 24 states banning abortion, unaffordable health care, people who are unhoused, a militarized border and our tax dollars funding Israel’s genocide in Palestine.
Access to abortion pills by mail is essential to our health as individuals and as communities.
We decide if and when we have children – not the state!
The Supreme court will decide by the summer what they plan to do with Mifepristone.
Whatever they decide MNAAC will be HERE at mayday plaza when the decision comes out.
MNAAC will always continue to fight to make sure abortion is accessible to everyone. We fight for a world where everyone has bodily autonomy!
Now is a great time to join one of the amazing organizations here in the Twin Cities. We need everyone for this fight. It’s a hell of a lot easier getting through this bullshit when you’re fighting alongside other organizers.
MNAAC meets every Thursday at 5:30pm right here at Mayday Books. Come join us!