The year 2015 has seen some of the most dramatic federal and state challenges to the legal and safe access women have to reproductive and sexual healthcare. At the center of it, Planned Parenthood. A partially federally funded organization that provides specialized healthcare to men and women, and primarily of a lower income. Due to malicious and false attacks against Planned Parenthood, many politicians have sought to defund all of PP via legislative grandstanding and posturing. Even though the “charges” brought against PP’s legality has since been struck down, the damage has been done in many states where they have voted to stop funding PP and/or greatly restrict the level of access women have to legal doctors clinics that provide safe and legal abortions. But these struggles have also lead to some of the most emotional and personal outpouring of stories and support for the organization and the work that they, and all abortion providers do.
Coincidentally timed, Not Funny Ha-Ha by Leah Hayes, a guidebook of sorts for abortions, was released this year by Fantagraphics and has become a runaway success as a highly regarded communicator of empathy, support, and straight forwardness on the subject of abortion.
We’re so proud that Leah has been invited by Planned Parenthood to provide a community storytelling workshop in Salt Lake City, and to speak at a regional conference this December in Kansas.
Thursday, December 3rd
Abortion Storytelling Workshop
Hayes has experience in art therapy and education and will lead workshop participants in crafting narratives about their experiences with abortion, and/ or illustrating them. Please come prepared with a story in mind that you’d like to write or illustrate. If you’d like to bring a draft, please do, but a draft is not necessary prior to the workshop. Your abortion story can be about having one yourself, supporting a friend or family member, being a clinic escort, or any other story touching on abortion care. Sponsored by the Planned Parenthood of Utah
The workshop free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.
Salt Lake City Public Library at 6:00 PM
Monday, December 14th
Reproductive and Sexual Health in the Heartland: What’s at Stake?
Sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri in honor of their 80th anniversary, is a gathering for health care, academia, government, social service, and private sector partners from the region concerned about sexual and reproductive health and rights. This full-day conference will bring together a multidisciplinary group of scholars, health care practitioners, public health professionals, public officials, and activists to offer unique learning and networking opportunities and to engage community members and leaders in critical conversations about the shifting landscape of reproductive and sexual health.
Free event, but registration is required and spots limited