Raise Your Voice Campaign with Rachel Dyer

Rachel Dyer, Power Building Team volunteer

She/her/hers

Introduce yourself. Why are you passionate about abortion care?

I am a PhD student in counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and also a person who has had an abortion. Struggling to access abortion care as a teenager in rural Wisconsin and negotiating the impact of abortion stigma on my understanding of myself have motivated me to become an abortion rights and access activist and scholar.

Why is mutual aid in abortion access so important?

Mutual aid means that we are committed to taking care of one another, particularly when our systems and governments are not. These systems have limited our ability to access abortion care. So it is on us to host people who have to drive hours to access an abortion, give them gas money, watch their kids, and pay for their procedures - the bare minimum that they need to ensure that they, and their families, are safe and healthy.

Why should we expand telemedicine abortion?

Self-managed abortions with abortion pills are safe, effective, and must become a mainstream option in the United States. Studies have found that there are no differences in risk between abortion pills accessed in person and those accessed via telemedicine. Access to abortion should be available via telemedicine all the time - not just during a pandemic!

What message would you like to send to abortion providers or those seeking abortions?

If you are seeking an abortion right now, there are resources for you. You are not alone - even though it might feel that way. If you are an abortion provider, you are a hero! With all of my heart, thank you.

We need each other now more than ever. This Raise Your Voice Campaign is part of Women’s Medical Fund’sFund-a-Thon for Abortion Access. Join the movement#FundAbortionBuildPower atfund.nnaf.org/wmfwisconsin by donating and participating in our virtual events.