In my role at CGRE, I spend a lot of time worrying about the degree of polarization that we are witnessing in this country, and the sense that it is widening. Given the reality that most people want bodily autonomy, how do we find ourselves in a moment where some are supporting efforts to roll back reproductive, racial, and gender equity?
Supporters of reproductive rights have secured multiple electoral victories since the end of Roe, demonstrating voters’ widespread support for fundamental freedoms. But even with that strong support, anti-democracy politicians continue to push abortion bans and other attacks on access to care at the state level, buoyed by a 40-year strategy to eliminate reproductive rights. As a result of their efforts, 41 states currently prohibit some abortions after a certain point in pregnancy, and 14 states have banned the procedure outright. Meanwhile, political gridlock has stunted efforts to enshrine federal protections for access to care.
Organizations defending human rights and gender, reproductive, and racial equity are tasked with responding to misinformation and bad-faith arguments while already overwhelmed with attacks on care. CGRE created the Alliance Table funding strategy to utilize one of the greatest assets that we have in this time of polarization — the fact that the majority of people in this country support reproductive rights and access to abortion. This funding strategy is structured to support organizations’ efforts to bring together advocates and communities who have long acted independently to fight for a more equitable future for all through two key channels:
We refer to the many strategies that organizations employ towards this end as majority building. Two organizations that exemplify this work are Operation Liberty and Men4Choice, which engage veterans and men to support reproductive freedoms, respectively. While no one group of people is a monolith, both organizations excel at appealing to their audience’s fundamental values, such as the desire to be safe, healthy, and autonomous. Oren Jacobson, co-founder of Men4Choice, reminds us that, “According to recent polling, more than 6 in 10 men believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases. This translates to more than 60 million adult men in America who are pro-choice.” Using training, leadership development, and civic engagement tools, they are mobilizing organizers in Georgia, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona.
Mobilizing starts with deep engagement on the “toxic culture responsible for abortion restrictions and bans in the first place. It’s not good enough to just get more men to volunteer (which matters). Rather, we also need men to engage their peers and help shift the way men think, speak, and act on these issues as part of a broader effort to address dehumanizing and objectifying concepts that are part of our culture. These members don’t fully understand the harm abortion bans cause, see this as a woman’s issue (not their issue), don’t see a ‘natural’ entry point for them in the movement, and don’t have a ‘playbook’ for how to speak/act as allies in the fight.”
Men4Choice trains members to recognize that “this isn’t just about abortion but rather about freedom, power and control. They need to be grounded in the reality that no person is free unless they have the power to control their own bodies. They need to see themselves as stakeholders in this fight with something to lose and not just an ally. They need ‘permission’ to use their voice and they need guidance on how best to use their voice.”
The reality is, we’re all in this fight together, and appeals to new kinds of supporters must reflect that. Our movement’s storytelling must feel tangible and connect to lived experiences in order to resonate with broader audiences. In Oren’s experience, people are more likely to connect to powerful, personal experiences from a care seeker and their family than statistics or academic analysis.
Allison Jaslow, co-founder of Operation Liberty, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), and an Iraq War veteran, often frames her views in these personal terms: “My country trusted me with my troop’s lives in combat at 22. My country trusted me with life and death decisions on the battlefield. My country also trusted me with millions of dollars of warfighting equipment, but my country no longer trusts me to make decisions regarding my own body and healthcare?”
Through her story, Allison evokes powerful themes like government overreach to draw a picture for new stakeholders about how these attacks on access parallel broader concerns about protecting Americans’ fundamental rights. And these views seem to resonate across the armed forces. When IAVA veterans were asked whether they supported intervention from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to ensure access to reproductive care for veterans, 69% of respondents supported such efforts.
“Their voices then have the ability to break through to audiences that would perhaps otherwise be overlooked or ignored. Our priorities include continuing to ensure that the veteran voice is a part of the larger reproductive rights conversation in America, especially combat veterans. Who better to speak to freedom and what they fought for, just to watch it be ripped away?”
For many new allies, expressing support for abortion rights can be challenging — particularly if doing so opens you up to criticism from your own community. By resourcing organizations like those led by Oren and Allison that are doing this majority building work, we recognize a growing opportunity for organizations to build greater pipelines into the movement and show them they aren’t alone in navigating these discussions. The first step to engaging these new allies is by listening to them and learning from them.
And for funders who want to support this kind of movement building work but are unsure where to start, look to collaboratives. Collaboratives are robust, vibrant communities full of people committed to learning together, guiding each other, and fighting for the same values.
In the end, the greater the range of voices fighting to advance abortion access, the greater our chances to win. As funders, we must support efforts to show how reproductive rights and bodily autonomy affect each and every person.
Trishala Deb is the Director of National Programs at the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity. As an LGBT immigrant, she is grateful to be part of the growing majority.