100 Women Are Live Streaming Their Abortion Stories Right Now as Political ‘Speak-Out’

The forthcoming Supreme Court case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, is the “most significant abortion rights case in two decades,” according to reproductive rights advocates. With 27% of the 1,074 abortion restrictions that have been passed since Roe v. Wade taking place in the last five years, it’s clearly a high-stakes moment for groups on both sides of the argument. Today, 100 women are taking turns sharing their abortion stories on a live stream, aiming to reduce abortion stigma and increase unity and visibility for the one in three American women who have undergone the procedure.

This week marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe and advocates are ramping up their efforts. A few weeks ago, 113 lawyers signed an amicus brief full of their own personal abortion stories and delivered it to SCOTUS in an effort to add more human components to an argument that can be treated abstractly. The powerful document — titled “BRIEF OF JANICE MACAVOY, JANIE SCHULMAN, AND OVER 110 OTHER WOMEN IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION WHO HAVE EXERCISED THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO AN ABORTION AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS” — came after last year’s #ShoutYourAbortion movement and inspired today’s “speak-out.”

The stream, which stretches from noon to 6:00 p.m., is hosted by Advocates for Youth and their 1 in 3 Campaign which hosts speak-outs regularly. It features Senator Wendy Davis, as well as Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, and NARAL Pro-Choice America’s president, Ilyse Hogue.

The founder and CEO of Whole Women’s Health, Amy Hagstrom Miller, is a proponent of this sort of first-person storytelling as activism, calling it a way to combat “black-and-white dualism” in discussions surrounding abortion.

You can watch the stream above and join in on Twitter using the hashtag #1in3Speaks.

[image via screenshot]

For more from Lindsey, follow her on Twitter.