MERJ Newsletter 6/9/2025
“No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.
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“The Trump administration does not care about what is medically necessary to save someone’s life. They don’t care about whether the children supposedly saved by rescinding this policy will grow up without their mother. They care about their perceived moral superiority. They care about controlling women.
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A letter from MERJ’s co-founder
June 9, 2025
MERJ is Three Years Old!
When George and I started Men for Equity and Reproductive Justice (MERJ) in 2022, we were responding to Texas Senate Bill 8, a decision to strip the right of birthing people to have agency over their own bodies. Three years later, we are experiencing the rise of fascism. History repeats itself, yet with different contexts and energies that grow to deepen the brutality of human suffering. We are watching a genocide in Gaza. We are listening to the cries of our neighbors being abducted by ICE. The solution is a world built with people at the center, not profit. That’s what we’re doing at MERJ!
Over the past three years, we have:
Met with 7 Reproductive Justice experts to challenge, educate and provide meaningful actions men can take to support reproductive freedom. Deepest respect and gratitude for Mike, Sevonna, Nathan, Abby, Amy and Diana, and Oren.
Donated thousands of dollars to Elevated Access and Middle Eastern Children's Alliance.
Developed a comprehensive website that can act as a space to learn about RJ organizations, books, videos, readings and.
Read seven books to refine and expand our awareness of our own biases and internalized toxic masculinity, and to illuminate a path towards critical work:"
You’re the Only One I’ve Told: The Stories Behind Abortion by Meera Shah
Ejaculate Responsibility: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion by Gabrielle Blair
Comics for Choice, edited by Hazel Newlevant
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction, by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger
Killing the Black Body, by Dorothy Roberts
Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organizing for Reproductive Justice by Jael Silliman, Marlene Gerber Fried, Loretta Ross, and Elena Gutiérrez
Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lives and The Truths We Use to Win, by Jessica Valenti
Bonded with many organizers who identify as men who care about reproductive freedom for all.
Worked over 200 hours as clinic escorts to provide others safe passage to access needed healthcare.
In the next three years, we will continue to:
Build a more expansive network of men who can show up: Donate, escort at a healthcare clinic, disrupt toxic masculine behavior etc.
Redistribute money in our communities to reproductive justice organizations locally and nationally.
Weave together direct service work, fundraising, reading, protesting, base-building and learning from our co-conspirators working for reproductive justice.
Thank you for all your support and let’s continue to fight! Love to you if you are willing to fight for it.
With Appreciation,
Justin Haas
MERJ Co-Founder
📖 4-Minute Power Read, from USA Today:
“Who would want to have babies under a Trump administration? Not me.”
Summary: In her searing USA Today opinion piece, Sara Pequeño criticizes the Trump administration’s decision to rescind a Biden-era policy requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions under EMTALA, calling it a move that endangers lives and prioritizes control over care. “The Trump administration does not care about what is medically necessary to save someone’s life,” she writes, arguing that their actions reflect a broader disregard for pregnant people’s health and autonomy. She highlights that this rollback, announced on June 3, undermines protections for life-saving abortion care and will worsen already high maternal and infant mortality rates in the U.S. Pequeño underscores the gravity of the issue by citing Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, who warned, “The Trump administration is willing to let pregnant people die, and that is exactly what we can expect.” Ultimately, Pequeño concludes with a powerful rebuke: “Why would anybody want to have a child under that Republican way of thinking?”
🎥📺 Video Power Watch:
“How Abortion Bans Continue To Jeopardize Lives,” on The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder
22 minutes
From their website: Jessica Valenti, author of the "Abortion Every Day" newsletter on Substack, joins Sam and Emma to discuss the alarming trend of abortion restrictions in the United States, the misleading nature of exceptions in abortion bans, the potential attacks on birth control access, the strategy of tying anti-abortion bills to anti-trans legislation, and the need for Democrats to be more assertive in defending reproductive rights.
💸 Amazing Organization to Support:
From their website: “National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice fights for equal access to reproductive health for our communities because all of us should have the power to make informed decisions about our bodies, families, and futures.” They also advocate against immigrant detention and for health equity regardless of immigration status, both of which are particularly important in this current political climate and moment!
📚 MERJ Book Club!
If you’re interested in joining the MERJ Leadership Team in reading and discussing this book, email us at action@endthepatriarchy.org and we’ll be happy to invite you to our book discussions!
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, by Dorothy Roberts
Originally published December 29, 1998; notes below from Bookshop.org page.
Killing the Black Body remains a rallying cry for education, awareness, and action on extending reproductive justice to all women. It is as crucial as ever, even two decades after its original publication.
"A must-read for all those who claim to care about racial and gender justice in America." —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
In 1997, this groundbreaking book made a powerful entrance into the national conversation on race. In a media landscape dominated by racially biased images of welfare queens and crack babies, Killing the Black Body exposed America’s systemic abuse of Black women’s bodies. From slave masters’ economic stake in bonded women’s fertility to government programs that coerced thousands of poor Black women into being sterilized as late as the 1970s, these abuses pointed to the degradation of Black motherhood—and the exclusion of Black women’s reproductive needs in mainstream feminist and civil rights agendas.
Other books we’ve read, and strongly recommend:
Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win, by Jessica Valenti
Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion, by Gabrielle Blair
Comics for Choice, ed. Newlevant, Taylor, and Fox
You’re the Only One I’ve Told: The Stories Behind Abortion, by Dr. Meera Shah
Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice, by Silliman, Gerber Fried, Ross, and Gutiérrez
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction, by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger
Help and Resources to Share with Anyone Needing an Abortion: (from ifwhenhow.org)
Find a local clinic by using the National Abortion Federation map.
If you have questions about your legal rights and self-managed abortion, the Repro Legal Helpline is a free, confidential source for legal advice and information. Visit ReproLegalHelpline.org or call 844-868-2812.
If you are under 18 and need information about your rights to an abortion, you can message or call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812. You can also read more about your rights on our Judicial Bypass Wiki.
If you have been arrested, contacted by the police, or fear you may be arrested for a self-managed abortion, our Repro Legal Helpline can provide immediate legal advice and support, and our Repro Legal Defense Fund can help with bail and legal fees. You can call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812, and for help with bail and other fees, visit ReproLegalDefenseFund.org.
Medically-reviewed, step-by-step directions for how to self-administer a medication abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol can be found on the Hey Jane website.
