From January to July 2022, Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund (RRF) provided fast funding to grassroots organizations led by women of color, trans people of color, low-income women, and trans people in critical but unexpected fights to protect and advance reproductive and social justice.
The Rapid Response Fund’s mid-year update highlights grantees focused on issues around bodily autonomy, trans justice, and voter suppression.
This is a snapshot of the larger issues we see in the movement.
Our grantees are meeting the moment as we continue to fight for bodily autonomy–one of our field strategies is supporting bail funds that address the criminalization of self-managed abortion and folks that aid abortion care. With a critical mid-term election coming up this year, now more than ever is the time to fund grassroots organizing.
I Am Human Foundation was awarded $20,000 in February to support and organize its base to get out the vote in the upcoming Georgia elections. They focused on helping trans, and gender-expansive people access identification that matches their identities.
The billboard in the background is part of the I Am Human Foundation's get out the vote campaign
The voices of transgender and gender non-conforming folks are traditionally stifled. The I Am Human Foundation was determined to change that narrative. We provided name and gender marker changes, so these individuals felt empowered to register to vote. Many had their voices heard for the first time when they cast their first ballot. It was a powerful moment.
The negative impact of Roe v. Wade reaches beyond the heteronormative binary system of men and women. It affects all people with a uterus, including trans men, those assigned female at birth (AFAB), and butch individuals.
Trans and gender-expansive people experience oppression and barriers to bodily autonomy. The overturning of Roe makes it harder for people with uteruses to access already limited reproductive health services. These attacks on bodily autonomy threaten advances that TGNC communities have won around increasing access to care in recent years.
I Am Human is determined to continue to elevate the narratives of trans and gender-expansive communities because they acknowledge and understand that healthcare is a fundamental human right.
Avow Foundation for Abortion Access was awarded $10,000 in May to develop a comprehensive survey and inventory of the national legal resources available and to create a legal support network for Texans facing civil or criminal liability due to abortion bans.
Avow Foundation for Abortion Access at a rally outside of Dallas City Hall
In response to the fall of Roe, Avow Texas and the Repro Power Dallas Coalition combined advocacy with the collective need for community healing to coordinate an Abortion Liberation rally outside Dallas City Hall.
The rally centered on the voices of abortion storytellers whose intersecting identities around immigration status, race, gender, and age emphasized the fact that the weight of abortion restrictions does not fall evenly across all Texans.
Young people, queer and trans-Texans, low-income people, folks in rural communities, and Black and Brown Texans shoulder the majority of the burden of abortion bans. They must be centered in the movement for abortion justice. Avow Texas fights for dignity, autonomy, and respect for all Texans. Avow believes that, “to be free requires freedom for all of us, which is the world Avow works towards”.
Abortion is common, it’s normal, and it’s a reality of our lives. Everyone loves someone who has an abortion.
Avow uses gender-inclusive language because trans and non-binary people have abortions too.
It’s not a coincidence that trans and abortion rights are experiencing a full-on assault throughout Texas and the country. Both movements are about the fight for dignity, respect, and bodily autonomy.
We refuse to leave trans and gender-expansive people behind in our fight to secure abortion access for all. We must include everyone to secure full liberation.
If/When/How believes a person’s right to an abortion is vital to exercising bodily autonomy. But many laws and policies keep people from accessing the abortion care they want and need.
If/When/How, Repro Legal Defense Fund was awarded $20,000 from the Rapid Response Fund in June 2022 to support the organization’s bail fund for those criminalized for self-managed abortions.
If/When/How believes a person’s right to an abortion is vital to exercising bodily autonomy. But many laws and policies keep people from accessing the abortion care they want and need.
Ending a pregnancy should never be the business of cops or courts. In fact, from gender-affirming care to abortion care, the state should not have control over these decisions.
People who self-manage abortion — either because they can’t access a clinic or because it’s the care that feels right to them — can depend on the Repro Legal Defense Fund to fund bail and provide the financial support needed to mount strong defenses if they’re investigated, arrested, or prosecuted for ending their pregnancy.
Our grantees are meeting the moment as we continue to fight for bodily autonomy–one of our field strategies is supporting bail funds that address the criminalization of self-managed abortion and folks that aid abortion care. With a critical mid-term election coming up this year, now more than ever is the time to fund grassroots organizing.