Reproductive Rights

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Mission: We are a rapid response creative production team, made up of comedy writers, comedians and activists, on call 24/7 to make videos, artistic memes and create national actions that respond instantly to the breaking news surrounding reproductive rights issues. We will within minutes, or hours, blast the perpetrators dispensing damaging information about abortion, crisis pregnancy centers, birth control as well as taking down those who shame and stigmatize women for wanting, having and demanding safe and healthy sex lives on their own terms. At AAF (formerly Lady Parts Justice League), we vigilantly drop information about what’s at stake for reproductive access into pop culture spaces, AND we bring all the fun of pop culture back to reproductive health spaces to boost morale and provide aid and comfort. A crucial part of our mission is to support and raise awareness about independent abortion providers – clinics that bear the brunt of anti-abortion legislation and harassment. Our Tour is a year-round comedy and music tour that borrows from a USO format- bringing entertainment, elbow grease, and love to abortion providers and their communities. AAF creates a fresh space for people to take action who haven’t necessarily seen a place for themselves before in political or reproductive rights movements.

Website: https://www.aafront.org/resources/
Volunteer form: https://secure.everyaction.com/1RNbHRbbC0ini0T-bSm0IA2
Phone: n/a
Email: n/a

What volunteers do:

• art

• ASL interpretation

• audio production

• comedy writing

• costuming

• dance

• direction

• graphic design

• hair/makeup

• help fundraise

• host parties

• improv

• provide legal expertise

• motion graphics

• music

• organize evening events

• perform shows in community places to raise awareness about reproductive health while building relationships between clinics, advocates, and communities

• photography

• production design

• puppeteering

• singing

• Spanish translation

• video editing

• videography

• voiceover

• web design

Mission: To create and deliver high-quality medical/surgical treatment, physicians, and other related Gynecological/Prenatal healthcare services to improve the health and wellbeing of the individuals and communities we serve.We emphasize our philosophy of Patient Power, which means being an informed consumer of medical treatment with the knowledge and information that enables each individual to make appropriate decisions about medical care, whether in the area of general health, surgery, or birth control.

Website: https://choicesmedical.com/volunteer/
Email: https://choicesmedical.com/contact/
Phone: (718) 786-5000

What volunteers do:

• education and outreach

• patient escorting

• patient advocacy

Borough: Queens

Mission: Clinic escorts promote access to abortion through non-violent direct action. In partnership with independent abortion providers in the Bronx, we make clinic access as safe and calm a process as possible. Escorts identify, greet, and inform patients and companions, escorting them into clinics while minimizing interference of anti-abortion protestors. We are pro-abortion, anti-racist, and patient-centered.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ClinicEscortsNYC/
Email: clinicescortsNYC@gmail.com
Phone: N/A

What volunteers do:

• welcome patients to a reproductive health clinic

FYI:

• new volunteer screening required

• extensive training provided both before starting and during first shifts

• Spanish-speaking and Bronx-based volunteers especially welcome

• shifts are 2-3 hours, outside and standing

• commitment: 1-2 Saturday mornings a month

• volunteers embrace nonviolent direct action, no matter the behavior of abortion protestors

• volunteers share organization’s anti-racist values

Borough: Bronx

Mission: The New York Abortion Access Fund supports anyone who is unable to pay fully for an abortion and is living in or traveling to New York State by providing financial assistance and connections to other resources. The New York Abortion Access Fund believes that every person should be able to determine their own reproductive destiny and have access to the resources, rights, and respect to be able to do so. We believe that access to affordable abortion care is a critical component of full-spectrum healthcare services. We are working towards a world where abortion funds are not necessary because affordable, safe abortion care is part of mainstream medical practice and covered fully by all types of insurance. At our core, we believe that anyone seeking an abortion has the right to access one. We recognize that systems of oppression, including racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, and others contribute to systemic injustices in the healthcare system. NYAAF’s belief in physical autonomy is a core link between our belief in the right to an abortion, and our belief in the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people to access holistic health care and services. We recognize that people who identify as men can become pregnant and seek abortions; we strive to meet the needs of all people who seek our funding. We work to provide additional resources to callers beyond the scope of abortion funding, such as referrals for Medicaid enrollment, to demonstrate that we value the wellbeing of our callers beyond their need for an abortion. NYAAF also recognizes that many of our callers would choose to continue their pregnancies if they were in different financial circumstances. As such, NYAAF does not try to speak for the motivations of our clients by framing abortion as an issue of choice. Reproductive freedom is a matter of social justice, not just an individual choice. We trust and support the decision of the caller and take their lead in adopting the language they use in talking about their pregnancy and circumstances.

Website: https://www.nyaaf.org/volunteer
Phone: n/a (phone is for hotline only)
Email: info@nyaaf.org with “Volunteer” in subject line
What volunteers do:

• host or co-host a fundraising event to support NYAAF

• host political education events

Mission: Our mission is to defend and promote the fundamental principles and values embodied in the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, and the New York Constitution, including freedom of speech and religion, and the right to privacy, equality and due process of law for all New Yorkers. We believe that all New Yorkers have inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by the government or by majority vote. They are: 1) Freedom of speech, press, petition and assembly. Even unpopular expression is protected from government suppression and censorship. 2) Freedom of religion. Each of us has the right to exercise his or her own religion, or no religion, free from any government influence or compulsion. 3) Privacy. We have the right to be free from unwarranted and unwanted government intrusion into our personal and private affairs, papers and possessions. 4) Due process of law. We have right to be treated fairly by the government whenever the loss of liberty or property is at stake. 5) Equality before the law. We have the right to be treated equally regardless of nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, disability or socio-economic status. The NYCLU fights for civil liberties and civil rights through a multi-layered program of litigation, advocacy, public education and community organizing. Our clients are men and women, rich and poor, gay and straight, black, white and brown, young and old, religious and atheist, able-bodied and living with a disability, citizens and immigrants. When we vindicate their rights, all New Yorkers benefit.

Website: https://www.nyclu.org/get-involved/volunteer
Volunteer sign-up form: https://secure.everyaction.com/ssCbBhITCEGRQdrsRQZ1rQ2
Phone: 212-607-3300
Email: n/a

What volunteers do:

• online activism

• grassroots lobbying

• community organizing

• lobby with NYCLU in Albany (next day of action March 13, 2017)

• monitor protests

• writing/journalism

• research

• help fundraise

• graphic design

• multimedia support

• translate (Arabic , Chinese , French, Hindi, Korean, Kreyol, Polish, Spanish, Russian, Urdu)

• photography/videography

• education

Mission: NOW-NYC gives women a powerful voice.  As the largest NOW (National Organization for Women) chapter in the country, we play a key role in shaping the debate on the issues that impact women, creating policies, and holding government and business accountable to the women of New York. We work to defend reproductive rights, fight economic inequality, and end discrimination and violence against women.

Website: https://nownyc.org/get-involved/
Volunteer form: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/become-a-volunteer-for-now-nyc/
Clinic escort form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf1rggEy2xIPsfcQtNqaFn4MYIyLunZJp-culoH4tU5pnv-8Q/viewform
Phone: 212-627-9895
Email: contact@nownyc.org or queensclinicescort@gmail.com for escort volunteering

What volunteers do:

• phonebank

• protest

• lobby elected officials locally and in Albany

• act as clinic escort

• assist with fundraising

• photography/videography

• graphic design/web design

• communications

FYI:

• training provided for clinic escorts

• clinic escorts needed in Queens, every Saturday 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Borough: Manhattan, Queens