"This is why speaking out is so important. The more women we know who have abortions, the more the stigma decreases. We need to hear their stories, we need to see that they are our friends. This is why I am so proud to be a part of the Chicago Abortion Fund."
The fall 2006 Ms. Magazine issue included hundreds of signers proudly declaring that "I had an abortion." 30+ years after Roe and we still need to proudly claim our abortions instead of them being merely fact. Can you imagine an ad that claimed "I had an appendectomy!" with thousands of signers? Why the need for our collective shouting? Is it because abortion is rare? No, it is one of the most common medical procedures for women. Is it because only single women do it? No, according to the Guttmacher Institute 60% of women obtaining abortions already have children [1]. Thus no need to "educate" these women. They know what pregnancy and childbirth is all about. Go ahead and force them to see an ultrasound South Carolina, Utah, Florida & others. They know what an 8-week-old fetus looks like. Their daughter's ultrasound photo is still on the refrigerator. Statistics show year after year that women of all types and of all religious backgrounds have abortions [2]. 27% of women obtaining abortions say they are Catholics.
This is why speaking out is so important. The more women we know who have abortions, the more the stigma decreases. We need to hear their stories, we need to see that they are our friends. This is why I am so proud to be a part of the Chicago Abortion Fund.
In early 2007, Gaylon Alcaraz, CAF Executive Director, announced CAF's innovative leadership group, My Voice, My Choice, made of past grantees aka women whom CAF helped with funding for their second trimester abortion.
In January 2008, Gaylon and the My Voice, My Choice leadership group launched CAF's CAN-TV show. Once a month this year, these women will talk about abortion. Perhaps about their own. Maybe a caller's abortion. They might even offer their opinion on current policies that create the conditions that make women "choose" to have an abortion.
CAF has also launched a You Tube channel for those of us who don't get CAN-TV. We will also dive head first into blogging. Imagine for a second what this means. A small group of young women, mostly African-American young women, who have had abortions are speaking out on television, on-line videos, and blogs. Never again will reproductive rights advocates wonder where the women who've had abortions are. They are right here, in Chicago, at CAF. Don't bother sending them an invitation for a seat at the proverbial table - They are already there.
Veronica I. Arreola
CAF Board Co-Chair
Searah Deysach,
Rachel Durchslag,
Angelique Grandone
LaKeesha Harris
Vee Likes
Lisa Memmel
Robyn Nardone
Jean Peterman, Co-Chair
Taiyesha Washington
1] http://jfi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/1/79
2] http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/women_who.html
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Previous Word From The Board:
choice: def. 1 : the act of choosing 2 : power of choosing
pro-choice: def. favoring the legalization of abortion
I began to call myself pro-choice somewhere around the age of 12. It wasn't until college that I understood the economics that goes into the word "choice" not to mention the racial implications. It wasn't until my late 20s and being pregnant that I embraced the phrase "reproductive justice."
The eight other women and I who serve on the board of the Chicago Abortion Fund are working for reproductive justice. By raising money through grants and donations we are adjusting the scales of justice towards one woman. She is young, old, black, Latina, married, divorced, a survivor of rape, and most of all in need of help. During the fiscal year 2007 CAF approved 218 women for funding assistance. 159 of those women took advantage of the grant that averages just over $300. 159 women each with their own story. Six of these women have joined CAF's My Voice My Choice (MVMC) leadership group. Through MVMC, CAF will work with women to not only train them to be the best advocates for themselves and their community, but also be a positive change agent.
Roe. v. Wade allows for women to obtain abortions, but in reality Roe has been overturned for years for poor women, young women, and women located who live in one of the Illinois counties that have no provider (according to NARAL Pro-Choice America, 90% of Illinois counties have no abortion provider). Access is key to choice and CAF assists in making choice a reality.
CAF also understands that many issues interconnect to affect what choice means to each woman we serve. Can she afford to have another child? Is there quality child care available? Does she have access to paid maternity leave? Is she healthy enough to survive a full-term pregnancy? That is why CAF is proud to work with allied organizations that don't work on reproductive rights, but do Make Choice Possible.
Please join us on September 26, 2007 as we gather to update supporters and celebrate our victories at our annual Fall event. Come and meet our new board members and learn how you can join us in Making Choice Possible.
Veronica I. Arreola
CAF Co-Chair
Searah Deysach,
Rachel Durchslag,
Angelique Grandone
LaKeesha Harris
Vee Likes
Lisa Memmel
Robyn Nardone
Jean Peterman, Co-Chair
Taiyesha Washington
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Previous Word From The Board:
As CAF board co-Chairs, we could not be more excited about our re-launch, in all it's aspects: the website you're now reading, the new look of all our materials, and significantly, our current Executive Director, Gaylon Alcaraz, who has been leading CAF for a full year now.
The Chicago Abortion Fund has sustained through many threats to reproductive freedom from the cessation of public funding for abortions and gag orders of the 1980s to the current, more subtle threats that come in the form of waiting periods, parental consent laws and restrictions on how physicians may practice medicine.
It has been 21 years since a group of activists, long involved in the women’s movement, recognized that the right to access an abortion was a right in theory only to the many women who could not pay for this medical service. Today, CAF continues to provide critically needed support to low-income women in the Chicago Metropolitan Area and across Illinois. CAF remains one of the few freestanding abortion funds in the country and is the only fund led by a woman of color. Over the years CAF has served over 16,000 women. Today, the average grant is approximately $308. Today, more women need our support than ever before.
CAF has faced some challenges over the past couple of years: staff turn-over, board attrition, even an office break-in. But over the past year Gaylon has done yeoman’s work toward bring CAF back to its current vibrancy.
Among Gaylon’s many accomplishments:
- Re-kindling numerous relationships with funders resulting in $70,000 brought in to the agency within the last 12 months;
- Writing the grant that garnered CAF the pro-bono services of Firebelly Design, the design studio that has designed our logo, materials and website;
- Archiving historic documents and updating the filing system;
- Rebuilding all financial records and donor database;
- Seeking and training 10 volunteers to assist with the client service line and agency mailings;
- Seeking and contracting a Strategic Planning Consultant who led the board through an in-depth organizational assessment;
- Placing CAF on several listservs to connect with volunteers, donors and potential board members;
- Attending innumerable meetings, caucuses, workshops and trainings to network with old and new contacts and keep CAF in the public eye.
If you're reading this, you've obviously discovered CAF's new website. We couldn't be happier with CAF’s new look and having this tool at our disposal to be in communication with clients, funders, donors, volunteers and the community at-large. As you surf our site, you'll find links describing our mission, vision and values; the words of some of our clients and other activists; a regular report from Gaylon; links to other allied organizations; and a place to make donations directly from the website.
We'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to CAF's entire board:
- Carolyn Gordon, co-chair
- Sara L. Manewith, co-chair
- Jeanne Peterman
- Veronica Arreola
- Susan Ashman
We are a small but mighty group that is committed to keeping CAF's doors and phones open to keep abortion available to local women. However, we cannot continue to do this work alone. As optimistic as we are about CAF's future, we are not fully out of the woods. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT in a variety of ways!
- Join our board!
- Donate!
- Volunteer!
The Chicago Abortion Fund remains utterly committed to making choice possible for ALL women in the Chicago metropolitan area. With your support, CAF will continue to educate; with your support CAF will continue to advocate; with your support women will be able to exercise their choice to control their lives.