I assume you’re up-to-date on the Christofascist ban on abortion that’s been legalized in Texas, but maybe you’re still wondering what to do about it.
First, here’s a tiny bit of good news: Thanks to public outcry, hosting company GoDaddy is forcing an abortion vigilante site — one that encouraged people to anonymously send in tips on other people’s private medical procedures — to find a new online home, citing terms of service violations. Activists had already flooded the site with garbage information, or maybe it wasn’t garbage information: I reported Texas Governor Greg Abbott for participating in abortions, and I don’t know that that’s not true. If you want to put in your two cents and report Abbott or some other woman-hating Republican before the site gets the boot, you can go directly to prolifewhistleblower.com or use an iPhone shortcut created by TikTok user Sean Black here. Obviously, we’ll have to see if this piece-of-shit website shows up on another service, so we can de-platform it there too.
For those of you who are in New York City and want to take to the streets right away, the activists of Refuse Fascism have announced a 2 p.m. “die in” protest in Times Square tomorrow (Saturday, September 4). Meet at the red steps on 47th and 7th. There’s also going to be a nationwide action next month, because the Women’s March and more than 90 other organizations are organizing marches in every state for Saturday, October 2, ahead of the Supreme Court reconvening on October 4. I’ll certainly be at a march in either New York or Washington D.C. Sign up now to participate wherever you are.
Donations are always a good idea. Planned Parenthood and NARAL are the stalwarts, but, on Twitter, Helmi Henkin and Kenia Maravilla put together a list of organizations that provide financial and emotional support to people seeking abortion care in Texas.
- Texas Equal Access Fund
- The Lilith Fund
- Fund Texas Choice
- Clinic Access Support Network (Houston)
- West Fund Texas
- Frontera Fund (Rio Grande Valley area)
- The Afiya Center (focused on Black girls and women)
- Buckle Bunnies Fund
- Jane’s Due Process (for teens)
- Whole Woman’s Health Alliance
- Can’t pick just one? Donate to 10 funds at once by clicking here.
Finally, there’s something important you can do for free, in a matter of minutes, every day: Call and text your senators to tell them they MUST kill the filibuster in order to pass legislation that’s critical for our democracy — especially voting rights and reproductive health rights, which are both under attack by the same extremist right wingers. I don’t care if your senators are diehard Republicans who you know aren’t going to budge. All elected officials track the communications they get from their constituents and, trust me, the extremists never stop calling. Don’t let those GOP senators delude themselves into thinking everyone agrees with them. Be a thorn in their side. As for Democratic senators, if you’re in West Virginia or Arizona, your persistent messaging is especially crucial because you’ve got Manchin and Sinema, respectively — senators who ran as Dems who are boldly helping Republicans undermine our democracy. Which is more important to you as a citizen? The protection of the Senate filibuster or your right to vote? Think about it, get angry, and give them a piece of your mind. The easiest way to both call and text is to use Resistbot — simply text the word RESIST to 50409 to get started.
And I do seriously mean you should do this every day! Once you get set up with Resistbot, you can send a text to your senator in under two minutes. The service is available 24/7, so just put a reminder on your phone, and share your texts with friends who need inspiration for their own messages. Remember, we are the majority. There’s no reason we should be terrorized by this loud and well-funded minority, but we need to show up!