On the Eve of Vice President Harris’s Visit, Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Advocates Gather at Closed Abortion Clinic
“Every woman is exceptional and has her own life’s course and the only solution for us as Congresswomen and Congressmen is to mind our own business.” -Congresswoman Gwen Moore
*Watch the event here* *Photos here*
Milwaukee, WI – Today, on the eve of Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Milwaukee to kick off her national Reproductive Freedoms Tour and the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, Congresswoman Gwen Moore and abortion storytellers and advocates joined Free & Just at Affiliated Medical Services in Milwaukee. Affiliated Medical Services was the only remaining independent abortion clinic in the state and served patients for three decades before it was forced to close shortly after the Dobbs decision restricted women’s reproductive freedoms and banned abortion across the state.
While abortion care has resumed in parts of Wisconsin, Affiliated Medical Services remains closed, and the attacks on our freedoms haven’t stopped. Wisconsin Republicans are planning to introduce yet another extreme abortion ban on the Roe v. Wade anniversary, and national Republicans recently elected a Speaker of the House who has championed legislation to ban abortion nationwide and celebrated the fall of Roe v. Wade. These abortion bans have prevented Wisconsin providers from giving care to their patients that they desperately want and need, even in dangerous and life-threatening situations. And the number of abortions in Illinois is rising as people are forced to travel out of state to receive the care they need.
“I too have had an abortion, and I had an abortion before Roe v. Wade. And I know what it means to try to hustle up the money and have to travel to get an abortion,” said Congresswoman Gwen Moore, who shared her own personal abortion story after Roe v. Wade was overturned. “Back then, it may have been a million dollars in my mind in terms of the effort that it took me to be able to do that.”
“We hear all these people claim that they love children so much, but they have no compassion for those children like Jenn’s child who would die in the womb. They have no compassion for a 10-year-old who’s been raped.” Congresswoman Moore continued, referencing anti-abortion politicians and their continued attacks on reproductive freedoms. “Which gets us to the topic of exceptions – every woman is exceptional. Every woman is exceptional and has her own life’s course, and the only solution for us as Congresswomen and Congressmen is to mind our own business.”
“I used to be a labor and delivery nurse for about a decade and provided later pregnancy abortion care for patients. And then I found myself in 2016 becoming a later-in-pregnancy abortion patient before the overturning of Roe v Wade,” said Jennifer Vollstedt, former labor and delivery nurse and personal abortion storyteller who received a fatal chromosomal abnormality diagnosis at 18 weeks pregnant. “At the time, I thought this was a right that was guaranteed for patients, and I did not think this was something that was threatened. I received the type of abortion that every patient across this country deserves to have access to should they need an abortion.”
“With a lot of guidance and counseling from my providers, and because of my previous experience in providing abortion care for patients under similar circumstances, this became a really easy decision for me,” Jennifer Vollstedt continued, becoming emotional, saying, “I knew I didn’t want my baby to suffer and I knew that I didn’t want to risk my future fertility or my life.”
“I don’t often like to talk about the specific circumstances of my abortion because I think it’s too complex, and it’s very easy to look at what I went through and boil it down to ‘with exceptions’” Jennifer Vollstedt continued, referencing debunked “exceptions” that patients often can’t access when they need care. “I truly think that any restrictions and bans on abortions are too black and white and put people in danger. We need to be trusted in this country to make these decisions for our own bodies.”
“The people who have abortions are rich, and they’re poor, and they’re Democrats, and they’re Republicans,” said Reverend Denise Cawley, a Unitarian Minister and former abortion clinic chaplain. “And every single ban and restriction on abortion, including the latest one I’m hearing about here in Wisconsin – every one of them affects real people.”
“There has been one thing that has stood out the most to me: people in our state of Wisconsin do not know what they can and cannot do with their bodies,” said Alenna Beroza, a medical student and future OBGYN, talking about her time serving in clinics and as a Pregnancy Options Wisconsin phone line volunteer. “These laws have made people confused and scared, from providers to patients. People do not know what they can share with their doctor, they do not know where they can turn with questions, and they do not know what is safe and unsafe.”
“As a female medical student interested in a career in OBGYN, these laws have been life shattering,” Alenna Beroza continued. “I am training to become a health care provider, and I attend school and live in a state where my values, my body, and my health care are at risk. There is no debate. Abortion is essential health care.”
You can watch the event here and photos from the event can be found here.
If you’re interested in speaking with any of the event’s participants, please email ashley@freeandjust.us
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About Free & Just
Free & Just is fighting to stop attacks on reproductive freedom and rights. We’re working with people across the country to share real stories to show the devastating consequences of attacks on our reproductive freedom. We all deserve the right to control our bodies and lives. That’s why we’re sharing our stories, raising our voices, and fighting for our future. Follow Free & Just on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.