NOW What??!!

The overturning of Roe immediately turned me into a roiling cauldron of anger.  Well, not immediately, because I was camping at the time and wasn’t constantly monitoring media.  I did, however, make the mistake of checking my Twitter feed at some point that morning and unraveled. 

BUT… I have learned, over the last few years, that anger is a fantastic catalyst and has very little ongoing, additional value.  It clouds my vision and keeps me from making logical, proactive decisions and plans.  The key, for me, is to have the anger jolt me into action, but then to be able to calm down enough to create a plan for action.  Thus, I found myself on Friday afternoon sitting with Ron among tall trees and a gentle breeze, brainstorming about what I could do about this travesty of justice.

Here are some initial thoughts; some of these might trigger some action on your own part.  I do know that just thinking and talking about these options with Ron and then with my amazing friend, Mary Kay (the non-prof queen), made me feel more focused and calm.  It also gave me a sense of purpose and the confidence that there would be something I could do, however small, to make a difference in our future.

 

1.      We need to expand the pool of diligent voters.  The only way for our voices to be heard at the polls is to VOTE.  In addition to encouraging registered voters to exercise their voting rights, I vow to find at least one (hopefully, more) unregistered voters and convince them to register and then to vote.  I live in California, so the easiest way to register here is online at this link: Online Voter Registration | California Secretary of State You can easily find information for your own state online.  Best place to begin to find people to register: Young people who have recently turned 18.  Do you know any?  GET THEM REGISTERED!!

2.      I am vowing to no longer do any direct business (in my case, travel is the best example) in states that have anti-abortion laws.  For example, I was on the fence as to whether to attend a wedding in Tennessee in September, and I have now declined to attend.  I am making one type of exception only to my no-travel zone (to be discussed in the next paragraph).  You can find a list of states who have already enacted or are about to enact anti-choice laws here: State Laws and Policies | Guttmacher Institute  This is pretty detailed information, for those of us who are data geeks.  For a simple color-coded map, you can click here: How major abortion laws compare, state by state | The Fuller Project

3.      The one exception to my “travel ban” is states where dearest family and friends live (currently, that would be Idaho, Montana, and Texas).  But I am going to try VERY HARD to give my business (hotel, restaurant, shops) to organizations who are “pro-Roe” and especially those who offer abortion benefits in their health coverage, and hopefully even provide for travel expenses for employees who have to travel to other states to avail themselves of services.  Here's an article about this subject, if you care to check out this issue: The growing list of US companies expanding abortion benefits — Quartz at Work (qz.com) Conversely, some companies have donated loads of money to Trump’s campaigns (and he set up this whole avalanche of crap, by appointing three SCOTUS justices, all of whom voted to overturn Roe).  It’s ALWAYS WORTH checking into things for yourself; information is augmented daily, and looking at current articles is always a good idea. Here is one list of companies to AVOID patronizing: Boycott Trump List - Updated for 2022 | DoneGood

4.      I am going to make myself available to transport women to clinics, if necessary.  Yes, it might mean driving pretty far to pick them up and take them home, but so be it.  I, of course, have no personal knowledge of who would need my assistance, but I tapped into a group who are doing that research and have told them that I’m “way in” to help with transportation when necessary.  This brings up a good point: you don’t have to do it all yourself!  Link up with larger groups who are already being activists and volunteer to help them out with time, talent, or treasure.

5.      My amazeballs husband gave me some amazing advice: Use my skills and passion to do something within my wheelhouse, with hopes of channeling anger into action.  So, we brainstormed and decided that my skills and passion are data collection and dissemination (yes, I do know that makes me a freak of nature, but we data engineers make your lives better in more ways than you know!).  I called my amazing friend, Mary Kay, because she is very like-minded (she gave me a couple of the links included in this post). In the coming weeks and months, MK and I will be gathering data and information, and disseminating it in some form (to be determined), but at the least I’ll make a few more (hopefully, shorter!) blog posts about this.

Stay strong and sane, my friends.  These are crazy times, but we CAN make a difference in so many small or large ways.

Peace,

Janine