Abortion Academy with SYA

Leila Isaak and colleagues join SYA's Abortion Academy from Kenya to talk about the work of Youth Voices and Action Initiative (YVAI), a youth and women-led grassroots organization that advances sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) through community-led advocacy. In this session, they discuss YVAI's approach to youth leadership and its efforts to improve access to SRHR information, post-abortion care, and reproductive justice in Kenya, where abortion remains heavily restricted and stigmatized. Drawing on YVAI's grassroots organizing and their own advocacy, they speak to what it takes to build safe, youth-driven pathways to care in East Africa, and how healthcare providers and communities can become allies in the fight against abortion stigma.

SYA talks with playwright Lesley Lisa Greene (The Turnaway Play), her sister Dr. Diana Greene Foster (The Turnaway Study) and Deb Coffy (The Turnaway Project). Over ten years, Dr. Foster's landmark study followed 1,000 people who sought abortions and found the truth: it's being denied an abortion, not having one, that causes lasting harm. Join us as we dig into the study, the play, and how research and art can work together to fight stigma.

Links:Turnaway Study ANSIRH Fact Sheet The Turnaway Study Book Dr. Diana Foster TED Talk Lesley Greene's website Dr. Diana Foster The Turnaway Project Host a Play Reading Request a book club kit Turnaway Project Instagram Turnaway Project TikTok About Turnaway Turnaway Project Take Action Page Turnaway Study Book Dr. Diana Foster TED Talk

In this session, we sit down with Cath Harry, the Cambodian vlogger behind A Dose of Cath who broke national taboos around sex, contraception, and abortion, and Abigail Peprah, a Ghanaian feminist and digital advocate telling unapologetic SRHR stories from Accra. Together Cath and Gail co-host Unholy Feminists, a podcast that promises "feminist chaos that might radicalize you." They deliver on their promise! We'll explore how they build feminist media in contexts where abortion advocacy must often stay quiet, why digital storytelling is reshaping movements across Southeast Asia and West Africa, and what a global, intersectional, unapologetically unholy feminism looks like in practice.

Unholy Feminists on ITunes

Unholy Feminists on Spotify

YT: https://youtube.com/@unholyfeminists?si=d1k7Bvb3WMn0ztQO

IG: https://www.instagram.com/unholyfeminists?igsh=M3dpOHpuZHZvMzB1&utm_source=qr

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unholyfeminists?_r=1&_t=ZN-98HC4wlSH8I

In this session, we talked with writer and former SYA Artist-in-Residence Beezus B. Murphy. Beezus was SYA's youngest artist-in-residence, working with SYA to create the 2021 graphic novel My Mom Had an Abortion. Illustrated by Seattle artist Tatiana Gill, the text is a hilarious and heartwarming coming-of-age story written by a teenaged Beezus. Beezus has since moved on to write Waiting Room, an American College Theatre Festival 2026 National Individual Event Award winner, which centers abortion as a key theme. We talked with Beezus about their new play, her journey as a writer, and how and why she works with the topic of abortion in their artistic practice.

Bio Beezus Murphy is a Seattle-based author, playwright, and activist who describes herself as a dyslexic-asexual-lesbian-feminist. She is best known for My Mom Had an Abortion (PM Press/Shout Your Abortion, 2021), an autobiographical graphic novel illustrated by Tatiana Gill that follows her journey from absorbing harmful media narratives about abortion to becoming an outspoken reproductive rights advocate. Murphy recently added playwright to her résumé, winning a playwriting prize at Western Washington University. Beezus is a passionate voice for inclusive, mindful storytelling and proof that teen writers and activists can be incredibly powerful. Beezus is a one-of-a-kind creative visionary, and a force of inclusive, thoughtful pro-abortion storytelling.

Plan C is turning 10! In the ten brief years of their existence, Plan C has absolutely transformed access to abortion in the U.S. by normalizing the option of abortion pills by mail. In this session we'll talk with Plan C's Partnerships and Engagements Director Imani Askew-Shabazz about Plan C's growth over the past decade, how the landscape has changed, and what Plan C is envisioning for the next decade.

Dr. Imani Askew-Shabazz (she/they) is a visionary reproductive justice scholar, activist, and educator whose decade of transformative research and advocacy is reshaping how we understand and demand care, equity, and bodily autonomy for those most marginalized by existing systems. Dr. Askew-Shabazz brings both rigorous academic grounding and fearless community commitment to her work. As Partnerships and Engagement Director at Plan C, Dr. Askew-Shabazz translates that vision into direct action, forging community partnerships that expand awareness of and access to abortion pills across the country.

Plan C Pills Pills in advance of pregnancy Plan C Community Plan C Road Trip

In this session we talk with Sahar Pirzada from HEART to Grow. HEART works to promote sexual health, uproot gendered violence, and advance reproductive justice by establishing choice and access for the most impacted Muslims. Muslims seeking abortion access do so while combatting the ways their Muslim bodies are already politicized and surveilled by the state. We discuss all things HEART and their work to decolonize, de-stigmatize, and secure abortion access for Muslims.

Bio Sahar Pirzada is a Pakistani American Muslim woman who grew up in the Bay Area of California and currently lives on Tongva land in Los Angeles with her family. She is the Director of Movement Building for HEART where she explores the intersections of gendered islamophobia, reproductive justice, and abolition. Sahar is the co-author of the HEART Reproductive Justice Framework and RAHIM campaign. Sahar's work with HEART has been featured in Truthout, Teen Vogue, Now This, NPR, and at the People's Choice Awards 2022. Shout Your Abortion is normalizing abortion and elevating safe paths to access. 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.

ShoutYourAbortion.com

In this session of Abortion Academy we speak with Laura, Ciné, and Lana'e from the Florida Access Network (FAN). Florida has extremely restrictive abortion laws including a six-week limit, a parental consent law, and penalty fines for doctors providing abortions over the legal limit. It's a challenging environment to provide abortion support, but that doesn't stop people in Florida from needing abortions. That's where the beautiful people at FAN come in - providing funding, practical support, peer support, mutual aid, and more to abortion seekers. FAN's work is built around principles of reproductive justice and sexual liberation, and they practice what they preach. This trio talks to us about the creative ways they support abortion access, including the second edition of an analog newspaper coming out this spring, the challenges of living and working in a restricted state, how we can work with each other across state lines, and more.

Bio Florida Access Network builds pathways for abortion access by advocating for reproductive justice, funding abortion care, and providing logistical support to make abortion access a reality. Shout Your Abortion is normalizing abortion and elevating safe paths to access. 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.

Links Florida Access NetworkFAN's blogNewspaper Issue 1Newspaper Issue 2FAN's newsletterLuca Molnar (local FL artist who partnered with FAN) Lizzie Suarez (local FL artist who partnered with FAN) Fuel Your FundFuel Your Fund interest formFAN's Instagram

ShoutYourAbortion.com

In this session of Abortion Academy we speak with activist and doctor Suzanne Veldhuis about her groundbreaking research and work with acompañantes and pro-choice physicians in Mexico. Velduis has been working closely with acompañantes – groups of activists who accompany pregnant people through their abortions outside of a clinical setting, creating a safe, holistic, and destigmatizing method of care. We talk with Veldhuis about how acompañantes networks work and why it is vital to center their work in the rapid expansion of self-managed abortion (SMA); how acompañantes, activists, and doctors can potentially work together to build a better system of care, and more. SMA is a revolution in abortion access and will be a major part of the future, no matter what politicians do – come learn more about how the acompañantes model can be adapted to other contexts, including your own.

BioSuzanne Veldhuis is feminist activist, physician, and researcher, originally from the Netherlands, who has lived in Chiapas, Mexico, since 2013. With over a decade of experience, Suzanne has worked extensively on projects related to sexual and reproductive health and access to safe abortion, both in Mexico and internationally. She currently serves as Advocacy and Research Coordinator and physician at Women on Web and is the co-founder of the Network of Pro-Choice Physicians Mexico. She specializes in self-managed abortion models and their articulation with the medical sector.

LinksAbortion Accompaniment Practices in Northern Mexico "Becoming the woman she wishes you to be": A qualitative study exploring the experiences of medication abortion acompañantes in three regions in Mexico

Línea Aborto Chiapas documentary Hegemonic Medicine and Self-Managed Abortion - full article Hegemonic Medicine and Self-Managed Abortion - commentary Acompañantes' perspectives on health system partnerships for medication abortion care in three Mexican states Workshop methodology (Spanish) Workshop methodology (English) PhD dissertation (Spanish only)

We are thrilled to host author, baker, and activist Becca-Rea Tucker, aka The Sweet Feminist. Becca found her activism lane with her IG creation The Sweet Feminist. A love for baking and sharing pro-abortion stories and support turned into a powerful and influential Instagram account, a cookbook, and a brand-new book The Abortion Companion – a beautiful guide written to help others through their abortion journeys. Becca will speak with us about her new book, her book tour, how she found her personal niche in activism. Join us to find out and figure out how your passion can align with your activism.

Links: The Sweet Feminist The Abortion Companion

In this session we discuss the barriers and state of access for young people in the US when it comes to abortion. We talk with Youth Access Counsel Katie Baylie (If/When/How) and the general state of access for young people post-Dobbs, including recent developments including the push to ban abortion support and the weaponization of "parental rights;" and will delve deeper into the specific barriers that youth are facing in the Southeast with Deb Coffey (Advocates for Youth), including threats to judicial bypass in Florida, proliferation of abortion bans in the region, and the recent shutdown of Planned Parenthood clinics.

Links: Advocates for Youth If/When/How