|
Hello #ChangeMakers!
What do we do now? This is a question I’ve been asked many times since last week’s election.
My answer? Let’s start with this simple phrase: Think big, Act small.
With the possibility of many sweeping changes hanging in the balance over the next four years, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. To combat those feelings of helplessness, please keep in mind that it’s the small actions that each of us can take that will ultimately domino into effective outcomes. So let’s set some real, achievable goals that will help us to stay motivated and that will lead to the results we want to see.
To help with that, each week, we’ll be providing you with a suggested "Deed of the Week." These actions will be ones that don’t require the kind of time it takes to mobilize a rally or meet with your local congress member (though we’ll be helping you with those things too!!) and they’ll help you be a part of accomplishing something meaningful each and every week. Look for it in the “Do” section of our Deeds Digest. We hope that by engaging in these actions, you’ll be provided with a sense of power in the face of so much uncertainty.
This week, we’re joining The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy to support maintaining and expanding national access to affordable birth control. At the root of this challenge is expanding the conversation on contraception and its positive effects on society as a whole.
I often talk about the powerful role that contraceptive care played in my ability to rise up and out of poverty. As a young single mom and first generation college student, the contraceptive care and kind counseling that I received at a Planned Parenthood clinic near my home provided me with the ability to control my reproductive destiny and therefore, my future. Attending a community college at night while balancing two jobs and the care of my baby daughter, Amber, was all that I could manage. I have no doubt that, had I faced an unplanned pregnancy during that time in my life, it would have derailed the upward climb I had set myself upon.
This is the story of millions of women in this country -- Controlling our reproductive destiny is an important piece of controlling our economic opportunity. And our ability to do that isn’t just good for us as individuals, it matters to our economy as a whole. In fact, increasing women’s participation in the workforce is directly linked to boosting a country’s prosperity, and women cannot realize our full potential and equal place in this world if we can’t decide when and whether we’re going to have children.
As the saying goes, “when women do better, we all do better” and we are all served by policies that help women to thrive.
Empowering women with the means to control our reproductive destinies has to start early to be effective. The stakes are high in these early age groups as well, given that.only 38% of girls who have a child before age 18 get a high school diploma. And the conversation is important for college age women, too, with more than half of sexually active college-age women saying they would be more comfortable using contraception if more people talked about it in a positive way.
So let's all play our part in normalizing conversations about birth control. Let’s make that our “Do” this week - have a conversation with someone you know about birth control and why it matters. Help break the taboo around it and raise awareness of contraceptive options while doing it.
One step at a time, #ChangeMakers. One step at a time.
xo,
- Wendy
|
