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Mission Statement

Shout Your Abortion is normalizing abortion and elevating safe paths to access, regardless of legality. SYA makes resources, campaigns, and media intended to arm existing activists, create new ones, and foster collective participation in abortion access all over the country.

Following the U.S. Congress’s attempts to defund Planned Parenthood in 2015, the hashtag #ShoutYourAbortion went viral, receiving extensive media coverage and positioning people and stories at the center of the conversation for the first time. SYA quickly evolved into a grassroots movement, which has inspired countless individuals to share their abortion stories through art, media, and events all over the country. SYA has facilitated and supported an enormous range of community level projects, consistently creating campaigns and messaging which have transformed the way abortion is discussed in culture at large.

In June 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating federal protections for abortion rights and setting the stage for abortion to be banned in half of the United States.

Fuck SCOTUS. We’re doing it anyway.

Abortion access was never guaranteed by the courts, and it cannot be broadly eliminated by legal decisions either. Abortion pills are now widely available by mail. Abortion funds and practical support networks have been building systems to help get people the care they need, no matter what. But the people working on the ground need your help.

Together, we can dramatically reduce the harm done by anti-choice legislation. Aiding and abetting abortion—in the form of funding abortions, sharing information about pills, and saving independent clinics—is a moral imperative and a project which cannot be left to activists alone. Abortion access is a community responsibility and requires wide participation. In this moment, SYA will be working to elevate resources, push activist outrage into public consciousness like never before, and galvanize supporters who have previously been quiet or conflicted.

We must show the courts and politicians who enabled this nightmare that they were wrong to bet on our silence or our compliance. Abortion bans are a violation of our inexorable human rights, designed to disenfranchise the most marginalized among us. In a post Roe America, abortion will remain accessible to those who can afford to travel. The potential impact on existing racial gaps in poverty is unthinkable, and in a country where maternal mortality rates are 3 to 4 times higher for Black women than white women, the public health impacts are nothing short of racial warfare. Helping one another circumvent these laws is a fundamental matter of justice.

This moment must be met with a resounding collective promise of defiance: we will not obey unjust laws. We will never abandon each other. They cannot stop us, and we will never stop.

FAQs

Yes! Currently SYA has nonprofit sponsorship, meaning we function like a nonprofit and can accept tax‑ deductible donations, but we’re also an LLC. Currently SYA is in its seventh year as an organization, and we fund our programming with grants, donations, speaking fees, and income from our online shop. Our budget pays our tiny but mighty staff and allows us to facilitate projects and events all over the country.

SYA functions more like a collective than a traditional nonprofit. Each community that springs up around the concept of SYA is responsible for establishing their own values and norms. What works for a group of punks in Brooklyn will probably not work as well for a group of retirees in the Midwest—in fact, these groups might find one another’s tone or tactics questionable!— and that’s okay. In fact, that’s great! We believe this fight requires a range of tones and approaches. You do you.

SYA has no official headquarters. Our work is focused in the U.S., although we do have friends and sister organizations in other countries and we support universal access to abortion without shame for everyone in the universe.

Dozens of SYA events have happened all over the country without anti‑choice people showing up, but sometimes they do. Prepare for the possibility by setting aside time before your event and checking in with event hosts and volunteers. Considerations about security vary based on where you live, whether your event is public or private, the size and nature of the event, the venue, and the resources available to you. Because of all those variables, it’s difficult for us to advise you specifically on what your game plan should be. We suggest discussing what your system of responses will be if anti‑choice people show up, based on their tactics and how uncomfortable they are making you feel. For example, your group might decide that a couple of people holding anti‑choice signs outside of the venue doesn’t merit any response, but that if one of them tries to come inside, you will deny them entry. You might also decide that if a group of protesters becomes more vocal and is harassing attendees or encroaching on private property, you will call law enforcement or campus security, or you may be committed to NOT involving these groups. You may decide to hire professional security for your event or enlist a door person from your favorite bar. We believe in your ability to decide what feels right and reasonable based on your unique situation. If someone is making you or your guests feel unsafe, you have every right to treat that threat as serious and use whatever resources you would normally use to report a threatening person: telling them, “You are harassing me,” “You are making me feel unsafe,” “I need you to stop threatening people and leave,” or “I’m calling security.” And then call for help (the owner of the venue, a mentor, security, or 911 if you wish). We recommend deciding which resource you will call in advance and talking about that with your team so you’re not scrambling for a number in the moment.

When people harass us online, we delete their comments and block them immediately. There is an incredible wealth of information and resources about online harassment at crashoverridenetwork.com. There is also an excellent toolkit at onlinesafety.feministfrequency.com, which was created by activists Anita Sarkeesian, Jaclyn Friedman, and Renee Bracey Sherman. It outlines some quick, easy precautions that are geared toward protecting people who may be more vulnerable to harassment as members of a marginalized group or because they are engaging in online activism. We highly recommend taking a look at these sites before sharing your abortion story publicly, and they’re good resources for everybody who uses the internet.

Probably! Email us a little more information. We might also be able to help promote your event/action/art through our website, newsletter, or social media.

Please do! SYA messaging belongs to everyone and it’s meant to be widely proliferated.

Maybe! Email us to tell us more about what you have in mind and join our mailing list to receive our calls for events.

SYA staff are available as schedules allow, sometimes for a modest fee.

Often! If you have a silent auction or raffle coming up to support your org, hit us up!

Yes, thanks! As a nonprofit project, we can accept tax‑deductible gifts of service, goods, or cold, hard cash, which we use to support all sorts of projects, art commissions, and events. You can donate here. Thank you!

SYA in the Press

Shout Your Abortion has been covered by media outlets the world over.