Kaitlyn Joshua to Join Local Artists and Reproductive Freedom Advocates at Art Market Hosted by Free & Just in New Orleans

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2024 AT 1:30PM CT**

“Artists for Abortion Access” event series comes to New Orleans o spotlight Local artists demanding reproductive freedom 

New Orleans, LA  –– On Monday, October 14 from 1-5pm CT, Free & Just will host an art market featuring local creatives in New Orleans as part of its “Artists for Abortion Access” event series. Free & Just is partnering with local artists, advocates, and leaders in communities across the country who are standing up to attacks on abortion access and reproductive freedom. From concerts featuring local musicians, to art markets where local creatives can sell their goods, “Artists for Abortion Access” will spotlight community and cultural leaders and create space for real people impacted by abortion bans and ongoing attacks on reproductive freedom to share their stories. 

At 1:30pm CT, Kaitlyn Joshua and others will offer brief remarks highlighting how attacks on reproductive freedom harm women and families in Louisiana and across the country.

“Artists for Abortion Access” comes as attacks on all types of reproductive health care, including abortion care, IVF treatment, and birth control, continue to escalate nationwide. Despite their rhetoric, anti-abortion extremists have made it painfully clear that they will stop at nothing to restrict our freedom to make decisions about our lives and families. With “Artists for Abortion Access,” Free & Just is setting the record straight and amplifying the experiences of people harmed by these attacks. 

Join Free & Just on Monday to shop from local artists, connect with storytellers, and learn more about what’s at stake for women and families across the country.

WHO:

Kaitlyn Joshua, Community Organizer for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice

and patient storyteller who was denied emergency care in Louisiana 

Nancy Davis, patient storyteller who was forced to travel out-of-state for abortion care 

Counsel for the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP

Bree Anderson, Co-Founder of A’sani Heartbeat Foundation

Tyler Barbarin, Director of Grants and Development at the Louisiana Abortion Fund

Local storytellers, artists, and advocates 

WHAT: Art market featuring local artists, storytellers, and advocates

WHEN: Monday, October 14 from 1-5pm CT

Brief speaking program at 1:30pm CT

WHERE: Please RSVP to kelly@freeandjust.us for address and additional event details 

At “Ride to Decide” National Bus Tour Event in Shreveport, Mother Denied Emergency Abortion Care, Patients, and Community Leaders Demand Federal Action to Protect Reproductive Freedom

SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA –– Today, Free & Just’s “Ride to Decide” national bus tour arrived in Shreveport to highlight what’s at stake as extremist lawmakers work to ban abortion nationwide. The event was hosted at the former Hope Medical Group for Women, which provided abortion care to the community for forty-two years before being forced to close due to Louisiana’s harsh abortion ban.

The “Ride to Decide” bus tour comes as attacks on reproductive freedom escalate across the country. Support for legal abortion has increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, but that hasn’t stopped anti-abortion extremists and conservative lawmakers from continuing to undermine Americans’ access to abortion care, birth control, and IVF treatments. 

At the event, local patient storytellers and community members shared how attacks on reproductive freedom harm women and families in Louisiana and across the country.

“I saw firsthand what it is like to live under a strict abortion ban,” said Kaitlyn Joshua of Baton Rouge, who was turned away from two different hospitals while bleeding heavily and suffering a miscarriage. “We are on the frontlines of reproductive justice here in Louisiana, and it’s so energizing to see women, men, and families fighting to take our power back.”

Billy Anderson, an organizer with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice reflected on the role of the now-closed Hope Medical Group for Women in the Shreveport community: “The clinic where we are today has given women in the Shreveport area the opportunity to continue their lives. I want that for my friends and for my family.”

“Not only did my abortion allow me time to grow into the woman I am now, it also allowed me to be the mother I am today,” said April Smalley, a Shreveport mom who came to Hope Medical Group for Women for abortion care in her early twenties. “We deserve access to care and the privacy to make decisions about our own bodies. These are decisions that should be made by women, not lawmakers.”

The “Ride to Decide” tour is headed to Florida next, where storytellers in Miami, Tampa, and Orlando will spotlight the real-life impacts of abortion bans and attacks on reproductive freedom and share why federal action to protect access to abortion and reproductive health care has never been more important.

You can watch the event here. If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact kelly@freeandjust.us. 

Free & Just is committed to fighting for reproductive freedom. Join us in sharing stories, raising voices, and securing our future. 

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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.

At “Ride to Decide” National Bus Tour Event in Baton Rouge, Patients Denied Abortion Care in Louisiana Spotlight Harms and Demand Federal Action to Protect Reproductive Freedom

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA –– Today, Free & Just’s “Ride to Decide'' national bus tour stopped in Baton Rouge to highlight what’s at stake as extremist lawmakers work to ban abortion nationwide. The “Ride to Decide” bus tour comes as attacks on reproductive freedom escalate across the country. Support for legal abortion has increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, but that hasn’t stopped anti-abortion extremists and conservative lawmakers from continuing to undermine Americans’ access to abortion care, birth control, and IVF treatment. 

At the event, local patient storytellers and community leaders shared how attacks on reproductive freedom harm women and families in Louisiana and across the country.

“Women are being sent to other states for care, and that’s just unacceptable,” said Kaitlyn Joshua of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who was turned away from two different hospitals while bleeding heavily and suffering a miscarriage. “We need our families and our friends to get educated on this issue, and understand the intersectionality of abortion care and basic maternal health care – you can’t have one without the other.” 

“I am furious, I am angry, and I am disgusted,” said Nancy Davis, who was forced to travel nearly 1,500 miles to receive care in New York, when she learned that the baby she was pregnant with had acrania, a rare, but fatal condition. “This wasn’t just a denial of medical care – it was a denial of compassion, rights, and justice.” Outraged by her experience, she founded the Nancy Davis Foundation, which aids individuals who have endured trauma due to a prenatal developmental defect during pregnancy and advocates for reproductive justice.

“The restrictions imposed on women seeking abortion care in Louisiana are not just legal barriers – they are barriers to our autonomy, our health, and our rights,” said Bree Anderson, the co-founder of the A’sani Heartbeat Foundation, a local organization dedicated to advancing reproductive justice. The A’sani Heartbeat Foundation is named for Anderson’s daughter, who was born prematurely and passed away after eight days in the NICU. “These are not just policies, they are injustices that disproportionately affect women, especially those from marginalized communities.”

“I don’t have a personal story about abortion that I can share, but when Bree, and Nancy, and Kait, and thousands of other women are denied access to care – it happens to me,” said Dr. Alfreda Tillman Bester, the former Louisiana Secretary of Labor who served as General Counsel for the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP. Dr. Tillman Bester thanked the women for sharing their stories, and urged her fellow Louisianans to understand how dangerous abortion bans are.

Angela Adkins, the Executive Director of 10,000 Women Louisiana, who served as the Director of Operations for two of the last three abortion clinics in Louisiana, described her work as a clinic escort as attacks from anti-abortion extremists escalated. “This work, while it was very hard and extremely stressful, was the most rewarding work I’ve ever done.”

The “Ride to Decide” tour is headed to Shreveport, Louisiana next, where local storytellers will spotlight the real-life impacts of abortion bans and attacks on reproductive freedom and share why federal action to protect access to abortion and reproductive health care has never been more important.

You can watch the event here. If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact kelly@freeandjust.us. 

Free & Just is committed to fighting for reproductive freedom. Join us in sharing stories, raising voices, and securing our future. 

###

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.